Makhudu Machaba has won the #ispasuperteachers competition a 3 times now and has gone on to win other national competitions as well. This competition is clearly the start of great things! Hear what she has to say about why you should enter the #ispasuperteacher competition and then head on over to the regitration page here: www.ispasuperteachers.co.za

This year we have decided to change the format of the #ispasuperteachers competition from submitting projects to submitting ONE Wow lessonplan. Why did we decide to do this? 

In the past teachers were taken through a whole project  design and development process using ICT (Information and Communication Technologies). This was quite a lenghty process and the project was implemented with learners over a period of time in their classrooms. As it was quite time consuming, both the planning and development as well as the implementation of the project, quite a lot of teachers felt that they did not have enough time to implement their projects properly. Some teachers worked on their projects for quite a few years, fine tuning it every year and they usually managed to eventually get into the list of finalists! 

So this year we decided to make it easier for teachers to enter. As we all have to teach our lessons ANYWAY, submitting any one of our lessons is far more achievable in our busy teaching schedules. Most of us are using ICT in one way or another, either during the creation or the implementation of our lesson plans, so it make sense to open the competition and make it more accessable to ALL teachers. ​If you or your learners are in any way using laptops, cellphones, tablets, audio players, interactive whiteboards or any other form of tech, apps and gadgets, in any way, now is your chance to enter what you do and how you do it as a lesson plan for the competition. It should not (nessasarily) take you any extra time, unless you REALLY REALLY want to win! 

We know that some teachers are just starting off and others are doing mindblowing things with tech with their learners in their classrooms. ​This competition caters for both newbies and over achievers! As there are two categories, newbies and teachers with limited recources do not have to compete against gurus and well resourced teachers. As teachers will have a chance to share and soundboard what they are doing with their peers in the competition, you will learn an amazing amount from everybody and get some fresh ideas by looking at what others are doing. 

For this purpose we created a social learning Facebook group. Not only can you use it to trouble shoot any isues that may crop up, you can also learn more about different kinds of lesson plans and how we can use all the existing as well as new teaching models and frameworks to enhance our lesson plans. You will also get a chance to evaluate your own growth as an ICTchampion using your tech superpowers.

Lots of teachers are still scared to use ICT in their classrooms. Tech can be tricky and daunting. By creating tech infused lesson plans, your lesson plan can be used by other teachers in the future. It can give them some ideas and inspire them to innovate and dabble with different tools and apps to make their lessons come alive! All lessons will be made available freely as open education resources, after the competition for others to use in their subjects and topics. Your lesson plan may be just the thing to encourage others to start using ICT with their learners. 

If you want to print out the instructions download the PDF tutorial walkthrough here:

Let it not be said that we had a fake time!!!! Even though we did explore the world of fake news, went undercover and became trolls, we had an authentic learning and sharing time. As always everybody shared their experiences and wisdom and we all emerged to a safer online reality. Thank you WASPA for making this annual #waspa online safety workshop possible and giving all our teachers a time to share and learn from one another. 

The Gala dinner was indeed a very momentous affair as we were swept up and transported to another world of glitz and glamour on the waterfront! The ultimate hoghlight was of course the award ceremony where our top teachers, Matema Jacobeth Malatji, Leanne Bishop and Khatija Osman walked away with the coveted prizes. 

Let's look at a few of the moments that were captured.... 
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Welcome to all the #ispasuperteachers Finalists to this year's iWeek 2018 "fake" workshop. We will be going out of our way to be as "fake" as possible in order to understand online safety and other fearful challenges facing us as we gear up for the 4th Industrial revolution. But don't worry we will be doing it all "relatively" safely..... Mmmmmm. 

Today we are featuring another one of our #ispasuperteacher finalists, Dimakatso Sefora. She used storytelling with her learners and incorporated ICT in a simple yet highly effective way to motivate and inspire her learners. If you are still wondering if you must enter the #ispasuperteachr competition, listen to her story about her journey with technology and how she went about submitting her entry for the competition. 

The ISPA Superteacher Gala event has been a highlight of iWeek 2017 and we captured some of the moments. Thank you to all our sponsors who made it possible. ISPA, ZADNA for sponsoring the gala dinner,  WASPA for sponsoring Samsung tablets as well as the teacher workshop and accommodation, Hearshaw and Kinnes Analytic Laboratories for sponsoring  wireless two terabyte hard-drives  for the winners and Edit Microsystems for contributing big Shox Spin wireless speakers and the Mighty Pen Education magazine for sponsoring lifelong subscription to the edu magazine. 

For some of the moments, see the video capture of the iWeek fun. For the Gallery of shared photos, click here.

On Monday the 4th of September the #ispasuperteachers finalists for 2017 participated in a workshop especially designed to heighten their awareness and upgrade their skills with regard to managing their fame. ​

This innovative workshop was sponsored by the Wireless Application Service Providers' Association (WASPA). The teacher delegates were delighted to be joined by WASPA chairman James McNab, general manager Ilonka Badenhorst as well as Kobus de Vos who joined in the fun. While we are grateful for sponsorship of the event, it meant so much more that our donors joined us to find out more about the context in the educational environment. The teachers appreciated their involvement enormously.
 
Maggie Verster, an ICT in education expert, led the participants to consider a number of increasingly important questions like: 
• Why does a teacher (I) need a digital persona?
• Does it need to be public or private?
• What are the best ways to establish an effective online presence?
• How do I manage my presence? 
• How do I ensure my online safety and that of my learners?
• How do I manage all the demand that being online make on my time?

The participants did a digital audit to establish if they have an online digital footprint that portrays their expertise, not only as teachers, but as ICT champions. They were required to create a more visible, effective and safe online presence using the main social media platforms in a gamified and fun environment. 

By the end of the workshop, all of the finalists in the 2017 ISPA SuperTeacher Competition emerged as the digital rock stars that they are!
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If you would like to host this workshop at your school, call Anatolia on  084 054 6960 or email info@dei.org.za  for further information.

 ⁠⁠I obtained my B Ed Honours (Natural Science) degree at UNISA, whereafter I started working at Happyday Combined School in 2006. I have been responsible for the foundation phase at Toronto Primary in Polokwane,  Limpopo, since 2009.

I discovered early on that the love of reading has faded away amongst our learners and that it was caused by the lack of a good reading foundation as well as a lack of phonic awareness. It really affected me as a foundation phase Educator seeing them underperfoming, unable to pronounce words or even to answer simple questions.

I become demoralised as most of them sleep and seem bored during language lessons, using only readers and our chalkboards. These tools as support materials did not seem enough to achieve my classroom goals. This is when I discovered that visual and listening skills are vital building blocks for learning and decided to build my project around the use of technologies like ipads, laptops, interactive whiteboards and smartphones. In teaching reading and phonics, visuals plày an important role in stimulating my learner's attention which enables them to exploit language and reading opportunities. This devices also help my learners to confidently explore the world of sounds and video that platforms like You tube offers.

I used a Parents Whatsapp group to urge them to allow their children the use of smartphones in order to gain more teach skills like a familiarity with a digital keyboard.

By obtaining Certificate in Computer skills through Avuxeni college and lots of support from my mentors, Sadike and Kedibone, revious winners and finalists of the Ispa Superteachers competition, I was able to complete my project with confidence. My school's IT committee also supported me tremendously during computerlab sessions.

Connect with her on:

My name is Dimakatso Sefora, a HOD at Saron Primary School in NW Province. I started working in 1993 and furthered my studies at UJ to obtain my Bed Hons. I then took short programmes in computer skills for Windows and Office, eSkills for teachers, mobile technology in teaching and learning with Unisa and passed all with distinctions.

In 2014 I entered National Teachers Awards (NTA) (ICT Category) and obtained position 2 at Area Office. I then entered again in 2015 and got position 1 at Area Office and 2 at Region. In 2016/17 I motivated educators to enter the NTA and I adjudicated at Area Office level for the ICT category.

Our community (Royal Bafokeng) also uses me to train adults and educators after hours. I take learners after school to a community centre to learn  how to use computers. Subject advisors invite me to teach educators about ICT Integration.

About my journey
It was not an easy journey but I managed, through the support I got from the ISPA community and team. My project was about Teaching with Mobile Technology with the grade 7(E-FAL).Our school is situated in a rural village of Bafokeng where we don’t have resources. I motivated educators to buy themselves laptops and tablets to help me so that we use them for teaching and learning.