University Botswana Journals
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ADULT EDUCATION AS A PROGRESSIVE CATALYST IN BOTSWANA ORGANISATIONAL SETTINGS
Get PDFAdult education is multidimensional and multidisciplinary, which makes it more accommodative andmore responsive to learning challenges that besiege societies, hence its multiple providers in Botswanaand other parts of the world. It is defined by (Kasworm, 2014 and Houle, 1995) as the practice ofteaching and educating adults or process by which men and women (alone, in groups, or in institutionalsettings) seek to improve themselves or their society by increasing their skill, knowledge, orsensitiveness. The adult population in almost all nations has exigencies that should be met, mostly inthe age of advanced technology and intricate challenges that require the complex decision makingprocesses. As noted by Frimpong (2013), adult education is huge, diverse and so broad that any attemptto “box it in” creates more confusion and complexities. It is about anything that makes learning takeplace among anybody perceived as an adult by his/her society. In the world of rapid changes in thepeople’s lives on all the continents, all citizens should have an opportunity to develop themselvesthrough acquiring knowledge and know-how, so as to better pilot their life transition, to improve theirquality of life, to develop their potential and to experience the joy of learning (Belanger, 2011). Thisconceptual paper examines the economic, social, technological and political impact that adult educationhas in various organisations in Botswana. The main question that this conceptual paper seeks to answerpertains to the relevance and aptness of adult education in the modern age
CAPABILITIES OF USING MOBILE PHONE TECHNOLOGY IN SECONDARY SCHOOLS: ADAPTABLE POSSIBILITIES FOR BOTSWANA
Get PDFThe purpose of the study was to investigate how mobile phone technology could enhance teaching andlearning, and also how developed countries have adopted the use of this contemporary technology in theirsecondary school systems. The paper shows a variety of effective ways of using mobile phone technologyin the classroom environments. The assertion in this paper is that mobile phone learning technologies canbe enhanced through stakeholder development, visionary leadership, robust technology capacity and policychanges. The paper also proposes an Activity Theory Framework that is specific to mobile phonetechnology integration in settings where teaching and learning are purposive and controlled, such as schoolsettings
THE ACADEMIC WRITING DIFFICULTIES OF UNDERGRADUATES: THE CASE OF THE UNIVERSITY OF BOTSWANA STUDENTS
Get PDFThe paper has examined writing problems encountered by University of Botswana first year undergraduate students doing a compulsory writing course. Writing was assumed to be one of the most difficult activities for learners, especially that they do it in English which is a second language to them. The study has, therefore, brought to surface the difficulties the learners face as they grapple with the course. To address the problem, data were collected from the students doing a writing course titled ‘Writing in English’ through a combination of methods, such as administering a questionnaire, classroom observation and examination of the students’ assignment scripts. The study found that although the majority of the learners enjoy writing as an academic exercise by helping them to express their ideas, views, opinions; and desire to have more practice in crafting a thesis statement, sentence constructions and paragraph development, they are grossly deficient in areas of vocabulary, grammar, mechanics, sentence constructions and expressions. To analyse data effectively, The Social Constructivist Theory was used. Recommendations were made that students be given more practice in academic writing, especially sentence constructions, crafting a thesis and paragraph development. It was further recommended that writing tasks be activity based and that students be engaged in cooperative learning. This was done with the hope that students’ writing difficulties would be minimized and that more meaningful writing would take place in the classroom
SOCIO-CULTURAL RELIGIOUS CONSTRUCTIONS ON WOMEN FERTILITY AND THEIR IMPLICATIONS IN THE CONTEXT OF HIV AND AIDS IN SWAZILAND
Get PDFThe latest Swaziland HIV Incidence Measurement Survey, or SHIMS 2, funded by the United States President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief shows that Swaziland has nearly halved the number of new HIV infections among adults since 2011. This achievement is largely attributed to the rapid scaling up of the number of people accessing antiretroviral therapy, (ART). While new HIV cases are declining generally, women are at least three times more likely to contract the disease than their male counterparts (UNICEF 2017). This is attributed to high levels of sexual violence, widespread poverty and patriarchal norms that limit women's decision-making on their sexual health. This paper therefore argues that socio-cultural religious constructions on women fertility, embedded in patriarchal structures and systems that uphold and reinforce inequalities between women and men, put Swazi women at a health risk. It is these constructions that are largely responsible for the high prevalence of HIV and AIDS amongst women. Shaped by the patriarchal worldview, Swazi society places a high value on childbearing as a means to perpetuate the bloodline of the father, and for social cohesion; hence the importance of women fertility. Framed within an exploratory and critical feminist research paradigm, the paper advocates for a reorientation of the patriarchal thinking on women fertility, as a means to effectively deal with the high prevalence of the virus amongst Swazi women
THE AFRICAN HUMANITY IN THE ERA OF HIV AND AIDS: A RE-READING OF THE LIBERATION-MOTIFS IN EX 3:7-10; 20: 2 IN THE SADAC CONTEXT
Get PDFThe purpose of this paper is to access the significance of the original setting-in-life of Exodus 7:3 -10; 20: 2 as reservoirs of the ‘good-news of God’s powerful interventions among people who suffer adversities. This portion of the Exodus story and the underlying liberation motif are linked to the African contexts. Africans like the beleaguered Israelites await God to send charismatic leaders like Moses to collaborate with him to heal the infected and affected African populations. The paper argues that the same God who saved the Israelites from bondage is still accessible to Africans who are currently being oppressed by pandemics of all types; the worst being the inexorable HIV and AIDS epidemic. As a biblical-theological response to the cankerworm, the paper explores what the African nations in the SADC region are doing to eliminate the epidemic. The paper concludes on a clarion-call on the African scientific community, the medical professionals, social engineers and aid-donors to embrace God's benevolence as they struggle to assist the southern African states re-invent the wheel of progress in Africa's public health sector. Prayer is the "master-key" to God's door. African peoples are therefore enjoined to seek the face of God in prayers for divine intervention in these days of lamentation and grief
THE RE-READING OF THE NEW TESTAMENT BY AFRICAN PENTECOSTAL CHARISMATIC CHURCHES WITHIN THE CONTEXT OF HIV AND AIDS
Get PDFWhen, in spite of evidence-informed biomedical facts that HIV has, to date, no cure, individuals give testimonies of miraculous healings on the basis of a reading of selected biblical texts and discontinue antiretroviral therapy, it raises critical questions that certainly warrant scholarly inquiry. This is the primary focus of this paper; it is not about the truth or falsity of miraculous cures from HIV but acknowledging the visibility of a growing phenomenon characterising neo-Pentecostalism in Africa today. To argue my case, I revisit the place of the Bible in the spiritual lives of faithful believers against the background of a changed religious landscape - the availability of antiretrovirals and advanced scientific discoveries on the management of HIV and AIDS. The idea is to reason out why beliefs in miraculous cures from HIV persist to this day given that people openly disclose their sero-status during televised healing ministries as a strategy to receive their blessings (cf. James 5:16) and testify of the total eradication of the virus from their bodies on the basis of texts such as Mark 5:19 and 2 Timothy 1:8. I therefore see those texts emphasising a renewed commitment to Jesus Christ as Lord and Saviour (Mark 9:23; 10:52; Luke 8:50; James 5:14-15; 1 Peter 2:24; etc.) for healing as the basis of unyielding interpretations embedded in a re-reading of the New Testament. This is an understanding that reinforces those “pinnacles of faith moments” orienting believers towards deferring coping strategies within the context of HIV and AIDS. I conclude by taking the position that, the theological thinking of neo-Pentecostal Churches is one of the greatest challenges of the millennium heightening the polarisation of messages communicated about the epidemic in Africa today
The Use of Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) for Enhanced Teaching: The changing role of instructors
Get PDFThe use of ICT in teaching and learning has changed the role of instructors, enhanced the quality of instructional activities, and increased accessibility of education to privileged groups. This study assessed the extent to which University of Botswana (UB) instructors use available ICTs and find out if these have any impact on their teaching. The study was situated within the Information and Communication Technology for Enhanced Teaching (ICT4ET) framework. The study used both quantitative and qualitative research methods to collect data. The sample (N=63) was drawn from the UB teaching staff. The findings of this study indicated that the majority of instructors at UB use ICTs available at the institution, albeit the prevailing technological challenges. Instructors appreciate the role technology plays in teaching and learning processes in terms of making these processes more interactive, enabling instructors to easily manage large classes, work from any place; and reducing pressure caused by limited time for face-to-face
