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Development and sustainable impact the result of action learning journey

22 February 2024 | Story Leonie Bolleurs | Photo SUPPLIED

Action Learning Workshop 2024 — Along with Prof Richard Teare (far right) are some of the workshop attendees, which consisted of a group of 15 students, academics, and community organisation leaders.

The Directorate Community Engagement at the University of the Free State (UFS) recently hosted Prof Richard Teare, the President of the Global University of Lifelong Learning (GULL). During his visit, he presented a workshop on action learning.

GULL, established 17 years ago, offers lifelong learning opportunities for people in communities and workplace organisations around the world. It provides frameworks and awards in support of lifelong learning.

Prof Teare described what the process of action learning entails and how it differs from the notion of ‘training’. According to him, action learning occurs when people learn from each other, create their own resources, identify their own problems, and form their own solutions. He stated, “The process is so enriching that every learner is able to identify personal and life-transforming outcomes. These commonly include expressions of enhanced self-confidence, self-belief, renewal, enthusiasm for learning, a new sense of direction and purpose for career and life – along with news skills, insights, and the sense of being equipped for the future.”

The workshop, attended by a group of 15 students, academics, and community organisation leaders, had an element of self-directed development, according to Dr Karen Venter, Head of the Division of Service Learning at the University of the Free State (UFS). “Participants learned how action learning can enable self-directed personal and professional development,” she said.

Skills and leadership characteristics

GULL pathways were also profiled to outline some of the innovative ways in which it can be used to facilitate continuous development aligned with professional certification. It offers three generic pathways, each with five levels (or certification points) leading to professional bachelor’s, master’s, and doctoral degrees,” explained Dr Venter.

“In practice, community leaders who have obtained one of these professional degrees can now become change agents for community development in their own community organisations, using the action learning pathway and certification offered by GULL,” she said.

Dr Venter added that a group of students from the UFS – the Active Community Citizens through Engaged Scholarship for Sustainability (ACCESS) group – embarked on a Professional Bachelor pathway certified by GULL last year. Not only did the group of 11 students successfully earn certification, including one Level Two certificate, five Level Three diplomas, three advanced diplomas, and one bachelor’s degree at the Engaged Scholarship Awards 2023, but they also developed a range of skills and leadership characteristics during the process. These include eco-brick making, vermiculture and gardening, eco-entrepreneurship, soap and candle making, and creative recycling, to name a few.

Furthermore, the pathway is underpinned by community-based research to drive initiatives of student structures towards implementing impactful community engagement in three clusters, namely sustainable environment, well-being, and social justice.

Addressing SDGs and embracing Vision 130

Lifelong action learning is one of the innovative approaches for the development of graduate attributes. In this light, the outcomes of not only the action learning workshop, but also the learning opportunities presented by GULL, align with the UFS Vision130. “Using action learning for bringing social change, students can address the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and embrace the values of the UFS’ Vision130 – impact, care, excellence, sustainability, accountability, and social justice,” stated Dr Venter.

One of the attendees communicated the experience as follows: “I learned that action learning is a process for self-determined personal and professional development – the change starts with me developing myself and then sharing it with others.”

For further opportunities presented by GULL, visit the website here.

News Archive

Eye tracker device a first in Africa

2013-07-31

31 July 2013

Keeping an eye on empowerment

"If we can see what you see, we can think what you think."

Eye-tracking used to be one of those fabulous science-fiction inventions, along with Superman-like bionic ability. Could you really use the movement of your eyes to read people's minds? Or drive your car? Or transfix your enemy with a laser-beam?

Well, actually, yes, you can (apart, perhaps, from the laser beam… ). An eye tracker is not something from science fiction; it actually exists, and is widely used around the world for a number of purposes.

Simply put, an eye tracker is a device for measuring eye positions and eye movement. Its most obvious use is in marketing, to find out what people are looking at (when they see an advertisement, for instance, or when they are wandering along a supermarket aisle). The eye tracker measures where people look first, what attracts their attention, and what they look at the longest. It is used extensively in developed countries to predict consumer behaviour, based on what – literally – catches the eye.

On a more serious level, psychologists, therapists and educators can also use this device for a number of applications, such as analysis and education. And – most excitingly – eye tracking can be used by disabled people to use a computer and thereby operate a number of devices and machines. Impaired or disabled people can use eye tracking to get a whole new lease on life.

In South Africa and other developing countries, however, eye tracking is not widely used. Even though off-the-shelf webcams and open-source software can be obtained extremely cheaply, they are complex to use and the quality cannot be guaranteed. Specialist high-quality eye-tracking devices have to be imported, and they are extremely expensive – or rather – they used to be. Not anymore.

The Department of Computer Science and Informatics (CSI) at the University of the Free State has succeeded in developing a high-quality eye tracker at a fraction of the cost of the imported devices. Along with the hardware, the department has also developed specialised software for a number of applications. These would be useful for graphic designers, marketers, analysts, cognitive psychologists, language specialists, ophthalmologists, radiographers, occupational and speech therapists, and people with disabilities. In the not-too-distant future, even fleet owners and drivers would be able to use this technology.

"The research team at CSI has many years of eye-tracking experience," says team leader Prof Pieter Blignaut, "both with the technical aspect as well as the practical aspect. We also provide a multi-dimensional service to clients that includes the equipment, training and support. We even provide feedback to users.

"We have a basic desktop model available that can be used for research, and can be adapted so that people can interact with a computer. It will be possible in future to design a device that would be able to operate a wheelchair. We are working on a model incorporated into a pair of glasses which will provide gaze analysis for people in their natural surroundings, for instance when driving a vehicle.

"Up till now, the imported models have been too expensive," he continues. "But with our system, the technology is now within reach for anyone who needs it. This could lead to economic expansion and job creation."

The University of the Free State is the first manufacturer of eye-tracking devices in Africa, and Blignaut hopes that the project will contribute to nation-building and empowerment.

"The biggest advantage is that we now have a local manufacturer providing a quality product with local training and support."

In an eye-tracking device, a tiny infra-red light shines on the eye and causes a reflection which is picked up by a high-resolution camera. Every eye movement causes a change in the reflection, which is then mapped. Infra-red light is not harmful to the eye and is not even noticed. Eye movement is then completely natural.

Based on eye movements, a researcher can study cognitive patterns, driver behaviour, attention spans, even thinking patterns. A disabled person could use their eye-movements to interact with a computer, with future technology (still in development) that would enable that computer to control a wheelchair or operate machinery.

The UFS recently initiated the foundation of an eye-tracking interest group for South Africa (ETSA) and sponsor a biennial-eye tracking conference. Their website can be found at www.eyetrackingsa.co.za.

“Eye tracking is an amazing tool for empowerment and development in Africa, “ says Blignaut, “but it is not used as much as it should be, because it is seen as too expensive. We are trying to bring this technology within the reach of anyone and everyone who needs it.”

Issued by: Lacea Loader
Director: Strategic Communication

Telephone: +27 (0) 51 401 2584
Cell: +27 (0) 83 645 2454
E-mail: news@ufs.ac.za
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