Latest News Archive

Please select Category, Year, and then Month to display items
Categories
UFS News Media Release Research
Years
2017 2018 2019 2020 2021 2022 2023 2024
Months
January February March April May June July August September October November December
Previous Archive
18 January 2018 Photo Free State Cricket.
Kovsie cricketer, Raynard van Tonder, impresses at U19 World Cup
Raynard van Tonder, captain of the South African under-19 cricket team, is a BSocSci student at the University of the Free State. Izel Cilliers, a BCom student at the UFS, was included in the women’s squad of Cricket South Africa’s national academy programme.
Raynard van Tonder, captain of the South African under-19 cricket team, has had an excellent start to the U19 Cricket World Cup in New Zealand.

The Kovsie student smashed 143 runs in his team’s 169-run victory over Kenya in the teams’ first outing in the tournament on 14 January 2018.

Player of the match

Van Tonder’s century came from just 121 deliveries and earned him the player of the match award.

With that, the 19-year old recorded the third-highest score ever by a South African in under-19 one-day internationals, matching AB de Villiers’ 143 he made back in 2003.

The South African youngsters will next be in action on Wednesday 17 January 2018 when the team faces the defending champions, the West Indies.

Van Tonder, who is studying for a BSocSci at the University of the Free State (UFS), is going places with his cricket. Last year he played in 19 international fixtures in which he scored six 50s and one century – a brilliant 131 not out against the Windies.

He had already made his first-class debut whilst still in matric in Grey College in 2016.

Member of Cricket SA academy programme

He scored 22 and 39 not out in his first-class debut and scored an impressive 63 in his very first A-list match.

On 15 January 2018, Van Tonder was named as a member of the national academy programme of Cricket South Africa.

Izel Cilliers, a BCom Kovsie student, was included in the women’s squad.

The programme runs from 21 May until 27 July 2018 and aims to prepare young players for the demands of professional cricket.

News Archive

CTL experiments with mobile technology in teaching and learning
2016-05-23

Description: CTL experiments with mobile technology Tags: CTL experiments with mobile technology

On the left is Nokukhanya Nkosi, Researcher and Project manager at the Centre for Teaching and Learning presenting Annah Nggoepe her brand new laptop as part of the project which assesses the impact of personal mobile devices on teaching and learning.
Photo: Supplied

Video clip

Same curriculum. Add technology. Wait and see what happens. This research project which is funded by the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) seeks to understand the impact of personal mobile devices (PMD) in teaching and learning.

The University of the Free State (UFS), in conjunction with the University of Cape Town, the University of the Witwatersrand, the University of Johannesburg, and Sol Plaatje University, was approached by the DHET to spearhead this national collaborative project. Investigating whether the financial investment of a PMD on either the part of a university or of students adds value to the teaching and learning experience is the overall objective of the project.

Contemporary education
The Centre for Teaching and Learning (CTL) at the UFS have been taking an active part in the project since 2015, focusing specifically on the use of personal mobile devices in teaching and learning by both staff and students.

At the student level, the study will focus specifically on not just the obstacles that first-generation students face in terms of using technology in teaching and learning, but how institutions can support these students through access to these devices.  “In 2015, the CTL conducted the Digital Identity Study of students which highlighted the view that students at the UFS deemed laptops to be the most important PMD in their studies,” said Nokukhanya Nkosi, Researcher and Project manager at the CTL.   

In April 2016, thirty students were presented with laptops funded by the project grant. For the next two years, the CTL will assess whether these laptops enable greater flexibility and effectiveness of teaching and learning, both inside and out of the classroom for these students.  

Rise of the digital classroom
Annah Ngoepe, a second-year Geography and Environmental Management student taking part in this study, commends the shift from using only textbooks in the past to incorporating technology. “The laptop has the latest applications and programmes, which are convenient for me as a student, because they help in my learning. I can also download textbooks, get summaries of the textbooks, and even other people’s views on a particular subject online.”

Tiana van der Merwe, Deputy Director at the CTL, anticipates that, after two years, the Centre would be able to make not only institutional recommendations, but also recommendations to the National Department of Higher Education.

We use cookies to make interactions with our websites and services easy and meaningful. To better understand how they are used, read more about the UFS cookie policy. By continuing to use this site you are giving us your consent to do this.

Accept