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An update on learning and teaching at the UFS

24 March 2020

Dear Student,

We know that many of you might be feeling anxious and uncertain about how the University of the Free State (UFS) is going to take learning and teaching forward during these extraordinary times. On Monday, 16 March 2020, the Rector and Vice-Chancellor, Prof Francis Petersen tasked the Teaching and Learning Management Group (TLMG) to develop alternative ways of taking learning and teaching forward. The TLMG, under the leadership of the Centre for Teaching and Learning (CTL), has been hard at work at developing a new approach.

Like most other universities, our best alternative to continue our learning and teaching is to move online. We are aware that moving online poses many challenges for our students since many of you do not have frequent and reliable access to the internet, or data when you are off-campus, or do not own the necessary devices to learn optimally. We are also aware that learning in a new way will mean that students and staff will need to create spaces for themselves to learn and work at home/off-campus. It does appear that we will be working online for an extended period of time, and we want to assure you that we will be here to support you in this journey as best we can.

The Keep calm, Teach On, and #UFSLearnOn campaigns are aimed at creating the best possible support for lecturers and students, respectively,
by adapting existing support and practices most suited to our new online environment. The new approach has the following components:

Providing and developing support for lecturers to move learning and teaching online.
Creating appropriate communication and support measures to help you learn as effectively as possible. The first of these is the Keep calm and #UFSLearnOn transition resource which will be shared with you through various platforms.
Repositioning existing support systems to create a learning and teaching environment that considers the diverse needs and circumstances of our students.

As a start, here are the Keep calm and #UFSLearnOn dates on which resources will be released:

25 March: This first edition will focus on helping you assess your current realities, and kick-start the planning for learning to continue.
1 April: Release of Edition 2; this edition will be focused on getting connected and understanding how you will be learning when academic activities resume.
8 April: Edition 3 to be released; the third edition will focus on the skills you need to be a successful student in the new environment.
15 April: Edition 4 to be released; this edition will focus on helping you to stay and finish strong. This edition will also provide you with the university’s reassessment of the situation, which will be determined by the country's presidential lockdown situation.

17 April: Academic activities will resume

We are very aware that for many of you access to devices, data, and networks is a challenge. As part of Universities South Africa (USAf), the UFS is negotiating to get our digital learning website zero-rated to minimise your costs. You will be receiving a survey link to provide us with information on the additional support you might need to connect and learn.

We know our students are resourceful and resilient to succeed in extraordinary circumstances. In the meantime, take some time to rest and recharge.

Best wishes,

Dr EL van Staden
Vice-Rector: Academic
University of the Free State

News Archive

UFS researchers help find opportunities to create knowledge

2016-09-15

Description: Mobile libraries Tags: Mobile libraries

The initiative hopes that the mobile libraries
will continue to contribute towards literature
awareness and access to books at rural
schools in the Free State.
Photo: Supplied

Did you know that only 3 392 primary schools in South Africa have libraries? In the Free State the statistics are shocking. Only 277 primary schools have libraries, while 1 087 carry on without them. One of nine provinces in South Africa, the Free State is regarded as a rural province. The South African Primary Education Support Initiative (SAPESI), in partnership with other sponsors, has committed to expanding access to books by donating mobile libraries to service schools across South Africa. In the Free State, the project is embraced by the Free State Department of Education, which employs the mobile operators and library assistants to service these libraries, driving many kilometres of gravel road to visit remote farm schools and other under-resourced schools. SAPESI has set a goal to supply 75 mobile libraries to provide 2 000 schools with access to books by the year 2020.

Discovering the value of the mobile libraries
Although the mobile libraries in the Free State have been functioning since 2007, no formal research had been conducted on their work. Towards the end of 2014, the Free State Department of Education and the Flemish Association for Development Cooperation and Technical Assistance (VVOB) commissioned the UFS to carry out a participatory action research project. Dr Lynette Jacobs, Head of the School of Education Studies at the University of the Free State’s Faculty of Education and her team engaged with role-players at district and provincial level in a Participatory Action Research project.

The research project aimed to describe the work that mobile libraries do, and appraise its influence on learners and schools, towards improving their functionality. In addition, this project aimed to build research capacity within the district teacher development centres.

Highlights of the mobile library project
The way the Free State Department of Education embraced and supported the initiative by Mr Tad Hasunuma and SAPESI, was inspiring. Each of the five education districts has two fully equipped library buses that periodically visit schools. The stock on the buses is regularly replaced by books that SAPESI receives from the international community. Specific books are also loaded for teachers to use as resources. One of the outcomes of the research project was that guidelines were developed for teachers on how to use books in addition to curriculum material in the classroom. At district level, the teams reflected on the work that they were doing and implemented improvement plans to provide an even better service. Findings of the project were presented at the XIV Annual International Conference of the Bulgarian Comparative Education Society that focused on education provision earlier this year. It was lauded by representatives of the international education community as an example of good practice to provide education to marginalised children.

Reading helps enrich children’s lives
The research project concluded by stating that the aim of the mobile libraries was to provide learners and teachers at rural and farm schools with reading books, and they were doing as best they could. While the mobile libraries cannot make up for possible challenges related to teaching and learning or in infrastructure, the learners and the teachers are regularly provided with good resources to encourage reading and stimulate literacy development.

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