ISPA to Name SA’s Super Teacher of the Year

22 June 2011

The Internet Service Providers’ Association of South Africa (ISPA) has embarked on a search for the ISPA Super Teacher of the Year as part of its campaign to nurture high-quality computer skills training across the country.

The competition, which forms part of the ISPA “Train the Teacher” project, will reward the country’s most technology-savvy teachers with prizes such as laptop computers, Blackberry smartphones and all-expenses paid attendance at key IT conferences.

Recognising the growing need for computer skills training and the importance of computer-literate teachers, ISPA established Train the Teacher in December 2001. To date, ISPA has successfully trained nearly 2000 educators at more than 200 under-resourced and rural schools nationwide.

The annual Super Teacher of the Year Award invites educators to compete with projects through which they can promote and develop computer skills in their own schools and communities.

Twenty-six projects have been registered for the competition in the first phase of the awards. All of them have strong potential to effectively introduce computer skills in their communities. The competition is now entering phase two, where projects are assessed for their impact.

NetDay Association, the project management company for this competition, has requested that each applicant submit project plans and supporting evidence, indicating the progress they are making with their projects. On 31 July, competition submissions close so that assessment can take place in August.

Each project will be assessed according to the teachers’ use of newly-acquired computer skills in their own teaching practice as well as their use of their skills for the benefit of their colleagues, learners or wider community.

The top 10 candidates will be invited to the award ceremony held at iWeek, a premier Internet industry event, in September 2011.

Said Fiona Wallace, Chairperson of ISPA’s Teacher Training Working Group: “The quality of the entries for the competition has far exceeded our expectations. We can see through the awards how Train the Teacher is helping teachers to develop their personal and organisational skills, knowledge and abilities. We will continue to invest in education to help teachers maximise technology as an administrative and teaching aid.”

ISPA’s Teacher Training programme this year has received support from a growing list of sponsors including UniForumSA, Adept Internet, ASAP, eNetworks, MTN Business, Ensync and Vox Telecom.