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PROJECTS
Digital Technologies, Coding and Robotics Programme for Educators
“The 4IR is a new epoch in social and economic life. Success in the 4IR will depend on our ability to unleash the full scientific, industrial and creative capabilities of South African society. In other words, the fundamentals of this revolution are consistent with the aims of our developmental state: economic competitiveness and societal wellbeing”
Report of the Presidential Commission on 4IR
There is global recognition that education systems need to evolve to better equip both Teachers and Learners with relevant skills and competencies to navigate a fast-changing, increasingly uncertain and complex future. The DBE has identified Robotics; Coding; Machine-learning; Nanotechnology; 3D printing; Genetics; and Biotechnology as central subjects to functioning in a digital and information-driven world. The 4IR has “necessitated a closer look at the skills that can assist in ensuring that young people become productive citizens in all sectors of the economy”.
Despite the Promise of AI, Robotics and Coding for SA Schools, significant hurdles confront the introduction and roll out. In line with our focus is on developing an alternative and responsible methodologies for the generation, application, and advancement of Research and Development (R&D) solutions to the Continent’s current and future challenges, the CER, in partnership with the Johannesburg Business School (JBS) Innovation Hub is currently researching and designing a Digital Technologies, Coding and Robotics Programme for Educators. The Aim is to :
- Conduct a systematic review of global strategies and methodologies in up-skilling, adapting and building the capacity of new and existing teachers to facilitate effective onboarding and delivery of Digital Technologies, Coding and Robotics Education across all four phases of schooling.
- Conduct a detailed evaluation and assessment of the state of Digital Technologies, Coding, and Robotics Curriculum and Instruction in a selected sample of 100 Schools in Gauteng Province, focussing teacher competencies, perceptions and areas of discomfort in the Teaching of Digital Innovation, Robotics and Coding
- Develop and Deliver a Qualification Oriented Teacher Training Curriculum in Digital Technologies, Coding and Robotics for Educations across the all phases of schooling
- Develop a Web and Cloud-based Application for teacher training, curriculum content delivery, research and development, monitoring, and evaluation.
- Develop a Rollout, Uptake Strategy and Implementation Plan targeting National, Regional and Continental Teacher Development Markets.
Digital Innovation and AI Incubation Programme for
Township SMMEs in Gauteng:
Pathways to Enhanced Business and Operating Models.
Small, Medium, and Micro Enterprises (SMMEs) have been recognized as crucial drivers of economic growth, job creation, and poverty alleviation in South Africa since the mid-90s. The National Development Plan (NDP) envisions SMMEs generating the vast majority of new jobs by 2030. Furthermore, the President’s Economic Reconstruction and Recovery Plan emphasizes SMMEs as central to industrialization, localization, and export-led growth. Sadly, the high mortality rate of SMMEs continues to hinder their transformative potential.
To address these challenges, our Centre for Emerging Researchers (CER), in partnership with the JBS Innovation Hub and the Gauteng Department of Economic Development, launched the Digital Innovation and Artificial Intelligence Tools for SMMEs Programme. This initiative aims to empower SMMEs across Gauteng with the digital skills and tools necessary to thrive in the rapidly evolving economic landscape.
Our inaugural cohort of SMMEs, recruited from diverse regions throughout Gauteng, has successfully participated in this transformative program. These entrepreneurs represent a wide range of industries and hail from areas including Winterveld, Thembisa, and Carltonville. We eagerly anticipate expanding the program to reach even more SMMEs in the coming years.
The Graduation Ceremony will celebrate their achievements and mark a crucial milestone in their journeys toward sustainable, digitally-driven businesses.
Leveraging Digital Transformation to Build an Army of Platform
Workers/Technopreneurs amongst Township Youth
The Centre for Emerging Researchers (CER) has forged a strategic alliance with the JBS Innovation Hub to harness the power of Digital Transformation, aiming to cultivate an Army of Platform Workers/Technopreneurs within Township Youth.
Targeting 500 NEET and unemployed graduates, with a particular focus on young women who have completed Grade 12 and remain at home, the initiative proposes two core programs.
Program 1 entails comprehensive training in Computer Programming, Software Development, 4IR tools, and Technopreneurship.
Program 2 focuses on Drone (Unmanned Aerial Vehicles – UAVs) training, covering design, manufacturing, piloting, and applications across sectors such as agriculture, public safety, creative industries, surveying, and construction.
This hybrid Training, Capacity Building, and Technopreneurship initiative, with a duration of 12 months, will be administered collaboratively by the Centre for Emerging Researchers and the Innovation Lab at the University of Johannesburg.
Improving Educational Outcomes in TISH Communities
A Research Project into the Dropout rate in Schools and Post-Schooling Opportunities ”: A Comprehensive Study Towards the Development of a New Student Succes Strategy in township communities.
The Centre for Emerging Researchers (CER) is collaborating with CRET on a research initiative targeting the escalating dropout rates in South African schools, TVETS, and universities. The project seeks to delve into the root causes of this issue and comprehend the diverse experiences of stakeholders involved, including students, educators, administrators, and funding bodies.
By analyzing these factors comprehensively, the aim is to uncover potential strategies to mitigate dropout rates and enhance student success.
Ultimately, the project aims to formulate an innovative response strategy tailored to uplift educational outcomes in township communities grappling with persistently low success rates.
Pedagogy of Liberation:
Pedagogy of Liberation
Oral History and Untold Stories Research Project
History is a clock that people use to tell their political and cultural time of day. History is also a compass that people use to find themselves on the map of human geography. History tells a people where they are and what they are. Most important, history tells a people where they still must go and what they still must be” Dr John Henrik Clarke.
Project Description:
Significant parts of our history and liberation heritage remain largely silenced, undocumented, and absent from our nation’s imagination.
Our Veterans’ life stories, filled with valuable lessons, remain largely absent from the curriculum at all levels of education and public discourse. As a result, our nation is losing its liberation, cultural, and intellectual heritage faster than it can be preserved.
The stories that desperately need to be told remain untold. As our veterans continue to pass away, they take with them songs, photos, diaries, stories (both tragic and victorious), their thoughts, hopes, dreams, and aspirations. These need to be communicated through books for children, youth and adults, documentaries, short films, and portraits.
In an era where our children are constantly and often opportunistically told to “forget about the past and be forward-looking,” we argue that nothing has been more detrimental to the African than accepting the proposed disregard for our history and culture. Our project is a response to this erasure.
The Centre for Emerging Researchers is currently carrying out Oral History and Untold Stories Research Project that is aimed at documenting , visualizing , communicating and disseminating the uniquely rich history and heritage of the African Liberation Heritage, at home and in the diaspora, in order to draw lessons for the future that lies ahead for African people in world history.
The Project aims to document , visualize , communicate and disseminate through History and Life Orientation Curriculum at all levels of schools.
South Africa’s apartheid legacy is still hobbling research – a study of geography shows how.
Predatory Samaritans, miseducation and an indentured settler-colonial state.