XXIX The light gets brighter

All would agree that just one lab

  Can never be enough

Although at first one thinks it’s fab

  To serve all learners – tough

 

A thousand learners in a school

  Uncommon – not at all –

With twenty P Cs in a pool

  Big pool – the pebble small

 

For each computer that there is

  Some fifty learners wait

All want to build their expertise

  It’s quite a desp’rate state

 

This means – for each – a few minutes

  Perhaps once in a while

The learners can pay lab visits

  Enough for just a trial

 

But once the trial experiment

  Completely runs its course

They need something more permanent

  Turn I T on full force

 

The school may need a second lab

  To supplement the first

This would provide a double stab

  To quench the I T thirst

 

The experts argue ‘gainst this move

  And claim it’s not the best

They say they now can clearly prove

  It’s wrongly been addressed

 

I T’s value comes to the fore

  Those in the know proclaim

When it is placed in labs no more

  But classrooms are the aim

 

Computing that’s ubiquitous

  The term that experts use

Means that a school is so anxious

  With I T to infuse

 

An option is for one to place

  One P C per venue

And add to that an interface

  To access the menu

 

The learners then have free access

  To software they select

Which now speeds up the learn process

  Vast knowledge gaps correct

 

A teaching aid that’s so useful

  To those who educate

For data – a projection tool –

  A gadget truly great

 

Perhaps it’s linked to a white board

  That interactive is

It is indeed hard to afford

  But does the learner please

 

The teacher must prepare quite well

  And know the software too

Involvement by the kids will tell

  They’ve thought the lesson through

 

If PowerPoint is what they choose

  Their lessons to prepare

The old style black boards they’ll refuse

  And use their new hardware

 

But PowerPoint needs expert skill

  Which teachers must acquire

They must their time with practice fill

  If to this they aspire

 

There’s other software that they too

  Can use to demonstrate

Indeed there is much they can do

  The child to educate

 

An open book knowledge would be

  A world view kids would get

If one links only one P C

  To the vast internet

 

In other cases more than one

  P C goes in the room

Imagine what could then be done

  The learners well to groom

 

In Maths it is a useful tool

  Discussion to incite

For drill and practice quite useful

  The child’s input invite

 

The teachers of Geography

  Use it for G I S

While learners of Biology

  Apply it with finesse

 

In language studies it’s useful

  It on-line does connect

A diction’ry is most helpful

  The spelling to correct

 

P Cs for Science the kids can use

  The earth’s laws emulate

Through worlds of wonder they can cruise

  As they investigate

 

White boards that are interactive

  Can change the classroom scene

Enhance skills that are cognitive

  In ways never foreseen

 

On white boards it is feasible

  Reactions to create

In Chemistry – it’s possible –

  Explosions simulate

 

Those schools that simply can’t afford

  Expensive implements

Can use the smart and magic board

  For their experiments

 

From room to room you thus must move

  More P Cs to install

Their impact all the time improve

  Until you’ve covered all

 

In Europe one computer serves

  Five learners more or less

In Africa a child deserves

  A similar redress

 

Most schools have ratios far from this

  A long way still to go

They must catch up or else will miss

  The chance they have to grow

 

Access by learners – now and then –

  By no means ideal

Aim for a ratio – one to ten –

  Far more desirable

 

When ten kids must one P C share

  Each week two hours or more

If sometimes they work in a pair

  It could be more than four

 

Curriculum delivery

  Would then be meaningful

I T not the periphery

  A pillar of the school

 

That means that for an av’rage school

  – One thousand attendees –

You’ll need a large computer pool

  A hundred good P Cs

 

In some schools in the U S A

  A one to one ratio

It does not work so well they say

  Performance still is low

 

But on inspection one does find

  The emphasis is skew

Curriculum is left behind

  They need a vision new

 

The Khanya vision stipulates

  Curriculum’s the goal

This message it reverberates

  The project’s very soul

 

From this it should be very clear

  The surface has been scratched

Still further Khanya must schools steer

  Until its goal is matched

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