Johan Wassermann

Rethinking the Usefulness of Twitter in Higher Education

Abstract Research has been abundant in generating studies on pedagogical revolution and innovation via technology in higher education institutions, specifically the incorporation of social media in pedagogical practice. The potential for using social media has been proven in studies around the world. The objective of this study was to examine the usefulness of Twitter as a communication tool in Information Technology courses taken by students at the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN) in the Durban region of South Africa. The methodology for this qualitative study is a design-based research. Findings overall showed that students preferred more traditional ways of academic support such as face-to-face conversations, telephone calls and emails rather than using Twitter to communicate with their Academic Development Officer or their peers. Conclusions drawn from the study indicate that the way social media is used in higher education should be reconsidered and used only to complement traditional practices.

The prisoner of war camp at Umbilo during the Anglo-Boer War

This article is in part motivated by the lack of knowledge and understanding of the Umbilo POW Camp, deficiencies it will attempt to address by presenting a concise institutional biography of the establishment. It was also motivated by the fact that the institutional culture of the Umbilo Camp was atypical of all the other Boer POW camps, and dissimilar, too, from POW camps of more contemporary conflicts. Furthermore, the Umbilo Camp formed part of an extensive camp system created in and around Durban during the Anglo-Boer War. Approximately 25,000 Boer civilians were incarcerated in concentration camps at Merebank, Wentworth, Jacobs and Pinetown, while refugees, especially from the Transvaal, were housed in camps at Lord’s Ground and Victoria Park.10 While the concentration camps are underpinned by a rich and diverse historiography,11 this is not the case with POW camps, which are completely overshadowed by what has been written about the former.

‘Sowing the seeds of rebellion’: Chief Bhambatha kaMancinza and the Anglo-Boer War, 1899–1902

The mere mention of the name of Bhambatha kaMancinza,1 chief of the Zondi people, and resident of the Umvoti district in Natal with Greytown as its commercial and administrative hub, conjures up memories of rebellion against the collection of the poll tax and other forms of colonial rule.2 One-hundred years later the Bhambatha Rebellion is being commemorated in various ways.3 Early in 2005, a one-day colloquium was held on the re-interpretation of the rebellion which attempted to look at the event from, among others, an indigenous knowledge system perspective.4 Following in the wake of this, several KwaZulu-Natal-based newspapers ran a series on the rebellion. Published in both English and isiZulu, this was aimed at the general reader and Grade 11 learners in particular.5 Yet another response was the South African Post Offi ce’s decision to issue a stamp and a fi rst-day cover to commemorate the rebellion.6 Currently, a stage production, a musical and the Bhambatha Institute – ‘a centre for political thought’ – is being envisaged by the KwaZulu-Natal government.7 The political climax of the centenary commemorations, however, has been the tribute paid to Bhambatha by President Thabo

An investigation of UKZN students’ adoption and utilisation of personal cloud technologies

The personal cloud is a rapidly emerging technology with applications in both the personal and education domains. Despite the rapid emergence of the personal cloud, there exists limited research into the adoption and utilisation of personal cloud technologies, particularly by university students in a developing country. Using the questionnaire responses of 137 students at various university levels, and using the Personal Cloud Adoption Model (PCAM) as a theoretical lens, this article reports on a study that investigated the factors influencing the adoption of personal cloud technologies by students at the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN), Durban, South Africa. the authors argue that whilst the personal cloud is crucial in the future of higher education, there are certain institutional challenges that must be overcome before the benefits of the personal cloud in higher education are realised. the need for an appropriate paradigmatic change by universities, in order to effectively use these new technologies, is discussed.

A Story of a Journey in Implementing an E-Assessment System at a South African University

ABSTRACT Following the challenges faced in the selection and implementation of e-assessment tools for student assessment, I undertook a journey of implementing an e-assessment system within the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN). This article describes the path traversed and highlights the potholes and expressways on this road towards e-assessment implementation. Thus, the aim of this article is to present the journey, faced by an academic, in the process of implementing an e-assessment system. This study adopted a narrative inquiry approach. The findings indicate both student and academic acceptance of this form of e-assessment, with students showing particular excitement in this novel assessment mode. This journey serves to highlight the importance of determination, resilience and perseverance in applying a new form of technology within an academic context. Furthermore, support of senior management is also essential to its success. Essentially this article shows that the successful implementation of e-assessment at a university is possible but reliant on motivated academics and institutional buy in.

Historical literacy in a context of patriotic history: an analysis of Zimbabwean history textbooks

Abstract History is one of the five compulsory subjects in Zimbabwe since 2001. This compulsion speaks to the value with which the government regards the subject especially in teaching the youth about the Chimurenga (War of Liberation). The discourses of war have intensified in Zimbabwe since the late 1990s leading to the growth of a historiography of patriotic history. In this paper we set out to identify the purpose of school history in Zimbabwe through analysing the contemporary history textbooks. The literature that we reviewed focused on the concept of historical literacy and history textbooks. We conceptualised that historical literacy refers to the benchmarks an individual attains through studying history such as knowledge; conceptual understanding; source work/historical method; historical consciousness and historical language. We purposively selected a sample of three history textbooks on the basis that these textbooks reflect the nature of historical literacy that the history learners should attain. We then applied the qualitative textual analysis methodology and specifically the discourse analysis method to analyse the preface, narrative text, visuals, sources and exercises. The findings show that the analysed textbooks promote a historical literacy dominated by knowledge at the expense of the other benchmarks. This is evidence of a content-heavy curriculum, but the fact the findings follow one narrative (an African nationalist narrative) speaks to the discourses of patriotic history coming from the government. Therefore although the textbooks were produced in the early 1990s, they have continued to be used in the schools almost twenty years later because they promote a historical literacy that works in tandem with patriotic history.

The Anglo-Boer war in the borderlands of the Transvaal and Zululand, 1899 - 1902

The low intensity warfare in the borderlands of the Transvaal and Zululand during the Anglo-Boer War is, despite lasting for the duration of the war, a neglected area in the historiography of the conflict. This article, which employs the conceptual framework of borderlands, attempts to address this. In doing so, the conflict, the way it transcended the geography of the region and the way it impacted on all the inhabitants of the area, are investigated. In the process, the nature of the conflict, which for the most part centred on the raiding of livestock in addition to attacks and raids on homesteads, farms, isolated shops and outlying military and government posts, is laid bare. The final outcome of the war in this area was the dismantling of the borderlands of the Transvaal and Zululand in favour of the Colony of Natal.

COOPERATION AND CONFLICT – THE BRITISH ARMY, THE NATAL GOVERNMENT AND THE PROSECUTION OF NATAL REBELS DURING THE ANGLO-BOER WAR

The Natal Afrikaner1 rebels hardly feature in the historiography of the Anglo-Boer War of 1899–1902. The Times History of the War in South Africa dismisses their rebellion in one sentence,2 while the Natal Mercury of 25 April 1900 correctly points out that the number of rebels and the scale of the rebellion are rather insignificant when compared with that of the Cape Colony. In the latter, where in contrast to Natal, Afrikaners formed the bulk of the white population, the dynamics of the rebellion was very different. The large number of Afrikaners resident in the Cape Colony acted as a magnet for the Republican forces and as a result, large numbers of Afrikaners took up arms against Britain. From their side, the British authorities acted with a vengeance towards the Cape rebels, executing and imprisoning large numbers.3 Scientia Militaria: South African Journal of Military Studies Vol. 36 (2) 2008: pp. 77-98

“Caught between the Boers and the British” – Northern Natal Afrikaners and the Boer Occupation of Klip River County (October 1899-June 1900)

No Abstract. Scientia Militaria, South African Journal of Military Studies , Vol 34, Nr 1, 2006

Learning about controversial issues in school history: the experiences of learners in KwaZulu-Natal schools.

Under Apartheid, History was taught according to a positivist model in which it was claimed that “objective truthful History” was passed on to learners. Consequently, since both learners and teachers were expected to subscribe to History in an uncritical manner, educational engagement with controversial issues hardly ever occurred and multiple perspectives to topics were not explored. At face value at least, the idea was created that History was taught in a neutral manner. In reality, school History was dominated by an Apartheid paradigm, an Afrikaner Nationalist framework and content to support this. As a result History was used as a tool to legitimise Apartheid. Since 1994, the Apartheid educational legacy has been dismantled and a new curriculum, the National Curriculum Statement (NCS), and a new educational philosophy, Outcomes Based Education (OBE), have been implemented.