Rebecca Lekoko

By Rebecca Nthogo Lekoko

This chapter explores ways in which technology can complement quality foundational education in Botswana. Quality here implies acquiring good foundation for future learning and appropriate lifeskills. Indicators of good foundation are monitored performance as pr the national policy including learners’ positive attitude towards learning. Learning is systematically organized with clear requirements for progression from foundational to upper levels of education. Botswana’s foundational education is the first 10 years of schooling. Currently, poor performance at the national Primary School Leaving Examination (PSLE) examination persists, amplifying unsatisfactory performance in foundation education. In the current inclusive practices, parents as co-players can be actively involved to strengthen and complement foundational years of education. Community Learning Centres (CLCs) can be used to facilitate involvement of community members like parents. CLCs are present in almost each village and readily available as platforms for community participation hence their potential to be podia for ubiquitous learning platforms. Ubiquitous means provision of continuous learning in and outside the school environment. For CLCs to truly function as podia for ubiquitous learning, they should be equipped to provide digital learning (must have computers, necessary software and reliable internet connection); they must be accessed for free and using flexible times; they must give credit to community members as custodians of cultural learning needed to promote the principle of ‘balance’, that is, accommodate principles of formal and one’s cultural learning. Existing centres such as Kitsong Centres, Lifelong Learning Centres, Community Libraries and Community Halls can provide a diversified system of Community Learning Centres (CLCs) to serve as podia for ubiquitous learning. With direct investment and recognition, CLCs can complement or strengthen foundational years and indeed serve as centres for ubiquitous and lifelong learning.

Part of the book: Education at the Intersection of Globalization and Technology

By Rebecca N. Lekoko and Tiny K. Toto

Service learning has now taken center stage to address the need for education with social impact. Service learning is a pedagogical outreach strategy used by higher education institutions (HEIs) to promote the coparticipation of learners with community members in addressing real societal challenges. More academic courses require this practical approach, as is the case in the Department of Adult Education at the University of Botswana. These courses are place- and problem-based, meaning they are carried out in carefully selected places, and community libraries can provide a confluence for these. In Botswana, these libraries are found across the country, in urban and rural villages, positioning them as neutral, friendly, and cultural environments to accommodate projects that satisfy not only the need for education with social impact but also the much-needed life skill of lifelong learning (LLL) for all. LLL, together with other principles of adult education deemed relevant, constitutes frameworks for planning and running service-learning activities, which are discussed in this chapter. Service-learning activities are driven by life needs, such as the lack of skills to engage in self-employment/entrepreneurship; uplifting existing livelihood projects such as food gardening, small livestock, fishing, health and family issues, and others. Students can partner with community groups such as families, social service groups, cultural centers, community-based organizations, businesses, religious organizations, and government ministries to explore these service areas. Community libraries would offer a safe place for these groups to work together on identified projects. The chapter highlights recent developments in Botswana’s community libraries that position them as vital conflux places for HEIs’ service learning. Additionally, the merging of adult education principles with libraries’ information literacy values suggests an operational framework for driving the types of service-learning activities discussed in this chapter. Conditions for community libraries to serve as effective service-learning centers are also outlined.

Part of the book: Construction of a Learning Society