“The illiterate of the 21st century will not be those who
cannot read and write, but those who cannot learn,
unlearn, and relearn”.
Alvin Toffler

Overview: a work in progress
 Legislative mandate: the White Paper on e-Education
 National Curriculum Statement
 Skills for 21st Century
 Thutong and Web 2.0
 Communications
 Information searching
 Space types
 The future

Broad Principles of the White Paper
 improve systemic efficiency
 redress inequalities
 widen access to high quality, relevant and diverse resources and
learning opportunities to all teachers and learners
 expose all learners, in advantaged and disadvantaged areas, to
enriched educational experiences
 provide to all learners and teachers the means of communication
and collaboration to enhance teaching and learning
 give all learners the opportunities to excel in a 21st century
environment

Six Pillars of the White Paper
 infrastructure in all schools and for all support personnel including
maintenance, sustainability, security, technical support and initial
training
 connectivity to all schools, FET Colleges and district offices to a
closed network linked to the Internet
 ongoing professional development (teacher training and teacher
development programmes) for teachers, principals and support
personnel
 maintenance and further development of the Education Portal and
content development
 research, monitoring and evaluation
 Community involvement

Operational principles of the White Paper
 long-term growth
 responsive to curriculum and teacher/learner demands
 relevant, quality learning and teaching support material
 content that is relevant to the lives and learning context of South
Africa - content for learners and educators from disadvantaged
schools and particularly rural areas
 safe space for communication and collaboration
 at no cost to end-users

Principles of the National Curriculum
 Social transformation
 Outcomes-based education
 High knowledge and high skills
 Integration and applied competence
 Progression
 Articulation and portability
 Human rights, inclusivity, environmental and social
justice
 Valuing indigenous knowledge systems
 Credibility, quality and efficiency

Critical Outcomes in the National Curriculum
 Problem solving, decision making, critical and creative
thinking
 Work effectively in a team
 Organise and manage themselves and their activities
 Collect, analyse, organise and critically evaluate information
 Communicate effectively
 Use science and technology effectively
 Understanding that the world is a set of related systems
 Variety of learning strategies

21st Century Skills: (enGauge)
 Digital-Age Literacy
Basic, scientific, economic, ICT and technological literacies
Visual and information literacies
Multicultural literacy and global awareness
 Effective Communication
Teaming, collaboration, and interpersonal skills
Personal, social, and civic responsibility
Interactive communication
 High Productivity
Prioritising, planning, and managing for results
Effective use of real-world tools
Ability to produce relevant, high-quality products
 Inventive Thinking
Adaptability and managing complexity
Self-direction
Curiosity, creativity, and
Risk taking
Higher-order thinking and sound reasoning

What is the Thutong Education Portal ?
 To provide teachers, school managers and administrators, and
national and provincial education officials access to high quality
resources and information of direct and specific relevance to the
South African National Curriculum Statement and
associated education policies.
 To ensure ease of use, enabling users to find what they need in the
most intuitive ways possible.
 To create strong and vibrant online communities of practice amongst
the above target audiences.
 To facilitate discussion and sharing of information and ideas
amongst peer networks.
 To encourage South African teachers to develop and improve
education by sharing the country‟s common intellectual capital.

New vision and Web 2.0
 dedicated spaces in ways that are intuitively logical to the primary
target audience of teachers
 communication tools
 comprehensive search facilities
 resource sharing opportunities

Communication Collaboration Creativity

Thutong Resource Statistics
Primary Resources
 April - 10 816
 May - 11 366 14000
12575 12716 13020
June - 12 575
No. of Resources
11366
 12000
10816
10000
 July - 12 716
8000
 August - 13 020
6000
4000
2000
0
April May June July August
Month

Thutong Member Statistics
Primary Members
 April - 1117
 May - 1893 5000
4400
4500
 June - 2314
No. of Members
4000
3436
 July - 2721 3500
3000 2721
 August - 3436 2500 2314
1893
2000
 September - 4400 1500 1117
1000
500
0
April May June July August September
Month

Home Page and registration

Curriculum and Examinations

Typical Learning Space

Communication tools

Topic Search
This facility displays a list of main topics for that learning area/subject,
with the ability to view results for that topic or filter further by selecting a
sub-topic to view linked resources.

Resource Type Search
Users have the option of choosing one of the resource types to filter
results, after which the search moves on to searching by Topics.

Keyword (tag) Search
This searches keywords defined for individual resources. It uses what
is known as a „folksonomy‟, or collaborative tagging, where users can
collaboratively create and manage tags to annotate and categorize
resources.

Learning Outcomes Search
This search facility displays a list of outcomes specific to the
subjects/learning areas in an identified learning space.

Search results
1 The Name/Title of the resource, which acts as a hyperlink to the Resource itself.
2 A truncated version of the document‟s abstract or description. No more than 200 characters are
revealed in the results summary.
3 The URL if it is a link to a resource on another web site.
4 A link to „View Resource Details‟
5 Media type (.doc; xls, ppt, link)
6 Resource Pool (DoE acquired resources, approved resources, non-assured resources)
7 Ability to “Add to Favourites”
8 Ability to “Add comment”
9 Star rating

Resource Sharing
Only available to
Learning Space Manager

Professional Development

Education Administration

Education Management

Other spaces – we are growing!
 Enviro Space
 Kids Space
 Foundations for Learning Space
 Matric Help Space
 Dinaledi Schools Space
 School Safety Space
 Enrichment Space
 Reading and Literacy Space
 Rural Schools/Multigrade Classroom Space
 2010 Soccer Space
 Correctional Services Space
 Early Childhood Development Space
 Subject Advisors ICT Space
 Curriculum Management Committee Space
 School Governing Body Space
 Partnerships Space
 Gallery Space
 Non-Official Languages Space
 Special Days Space

Overview: a work in progress
 Legislative mandate: the White Paper on e-Education
 National Curriculum Statement
 Skills for 21st Century
 Thutong and Web 2.0
 Communications
 Information searching
 Space types
 The future

So… please become part of the Thutong Community
Joy Rosario
Department of Education
rosario.j@doe.gov.za
http://www.thutong.org.za