The didactic model of the school changed instantly. No longer were teachers standing in front of a chalkboard explaining concepts to learners. Interactive whiteboards were installed in all the classrooms together with surround sound and the teachers used e-pens instead of chalk. Teachers create their own multimedia lessons that involve all modern aspects of video, music, skype lessons, and discussions, social networking with peer-teachers and with their learners, creating blogs or designing their own websites. Teachers use a range of support material that enhances their teaching and they integrate these resources into their lesson plans. With the result, lessons are now captivating.

The i#RHS project was the brainchild of the principal, Mrs. M Henning. She opened the project to anyone who wanted to serve on a Task Team. We visited a school that had implemented digital learning and on 14 November 2014, the decision was taken to initiate the innovation at RHS. Below is the implementation plan of the innovation:

November 2014: Disseminating meetings with parents for each grade. November 2014: Vision meeting with staff December 2014: Additional parent meetings with parents who missed the November meetings. December 2014: Staff started working on their planning for 2015. January 2015: Management meeting consolidating the process and plotting the plan for the academic year. January 2015: Staff training on the Interactive whiteboards. January 2015: Staff training on TYB and Moodle. February 2015: Meeting with the District Director and a delegation from the District. February 2015: Meeting with all the subject facilitators of both primary and secondary schools. March 2015: Meeting with an official from the ICT Provincial office. March 2015: Three meetings with a coordinator from the MEC (Provincial Minister’s) office.

March 2015: The Provincial Minister, Lesufi Panyaza officiates the i#RHS launch. April 2015: Invited principals and managers from various schools in the District to share the innovation with them. May 2015: The Director of the Tshwane North District bring principals from her leading schools to observe the program in classrooms. May 2015: ICT Summit conducted for all schools in the District July 2015: Participated in the EDU-WEEK E-LEARNING CONFERENCE. September 2015: The Glen High School from Pretoria visit the school with their entire staff over three weeks. September 2015: Saint Catherine’s Private School visits our school to observe innovation. October 2015: Krugersdorp High School connects because they were inspired by our school. October 2015: AB Phokompe Secondary School visits our school to observe innovation. Regular meetings with all team members, constant liaison between the service providers and the task team.

The establishment of a full-time IT Champion who provides teacher, learner and admin support. The establishment of an IT office with the necessary tools to provide technical support. Regular and on-going teacher training and development. Questionnaires which both learners and teachers complete to monitor and sustain effective pedagogy.

The initiative is a team effort by all the teachers of Randfontein High School. Our partner companies MIB Technologies and Eduboard introduced us to Intellivate who partnered with us for this project as well as establishing an e-Learning Academy with us.

All the stakeholders of the school community were involved from inception. The educators were instrumental in their contribution. The learners were eager to accept the project. Their contributions forged a partnership with teachers as co-researchers. The School Governing Body members saw the impact the vision would make on the future of our learners and their governance was supportive and encouraging throughout the project. Parents were extremely supportive. There was absolutely no objection to the project at the dissemination meetings. The cost of a digital device did not pose a concern at all.

Our approach was inclusive and we presented parents with a variety of options to procure devices. The District Director was delighted that were making an impact in digital education in the Gauteng West district. In fact, we have a continuous relationship of collaboration and management teams, as well as teachers from various schools, visit the school to observe the project.

1.Poverty alleviation. Just because our learners are from poor backgrounds doesn’t exclude them from learning that is superior and relevant. The project empowers them to be digitally savvy and competent to continue tertiary studies after Grade 12 or find employment.

2. Their overall academic results improved. Literacy and numeracy rates have improved. This is evident in the standard of our assessment tasks and in our Matric results.

3. Learners are engaged in their learning. They learn by discovery and are able to make quality decisions. They are creative and goal-directed. They have become researchers who learn as a result of having resources we would never have had, right in their hands.

4. Teachers enjoy their practice. This renaissance has made an indelible mark on Randfontein High School. Teachers share their expertise, write blogs, and even reach beyond the confines of a classroom.

5. Financial benefits. Instead of spending money on paper, ink cartridges, copiers, the purchase of textbooks and countless hardcopy resources, finances are invested in the digital project. This is sustainability!

Finances. This is a myth which we busted. The entire operation costs R2 million. People said that it could not be done. Soothsayers suggested we implement the project one grade per year. This is expensive. Our negotiating skills and sourcing the correct service providers is what made it possible. Our fee structure is low and yet we balanced the costs of conventional running of a school our size. It is now cost effective and we managed to pay off the R2 million in two years.

The following are noteworthy:

-All teachers, irrespective of age, can be trained successfully.

-Financial obstacles can be beaten by good management and negotiation skills.

-Disseminating information to parents requires skill and tact.

-Negotiation skills with service providers and suppliers are key elements of a successful operation.

-Limitations, especially in education, are fallacies.

-The global movement is towards digital pedagogy.

We are now a global school, in a position to link with schools throughout the world. If we can do it, then any other school can do it

Our application of ICT can be modeled by other schools. In 2015 we invited Principals from the surrounding schools to observe the project and to sit in classes to experience the digital approach to teaching. Two schools followed our model, Krugersdorp High School, and The Glen High School. Randfontein Primary School installed the same interactive boards into ten of their classrooms.

We hosted an ICT Summit at our school and invited teachers to observe applications which were subject specific. We also participated in the Edu Week Digital Innovations Exhibition at Gallagher Estates in Johannesburg and conducted a session on digital resources, space, and pedagogy. We constantly have management teams visit our school to observe the project.

The lessons learned are numerous. The issue of saving time, costs and teaching to maximize results is the most sustainable lessons. Teachers have become conscious of utilizing resources that are sustainable. Our learners are the proof producers as they are positioned ahead of other learners. They will be employable in a digital world and their skills of application development and game designing might appear insignificant now, but will certainly be the springboard to their futures.

Poverty is what they are experiencing at home and in their families. However, the irony is that at school their education is on par with that of learners at institutions where they pay ten times more. Our learners are not out of place when they meet with their peers from other schools. Despite their socio-economic backgrounds, they are grounded and trained to compete and contribute to meaningful relationships.

Randfontein High School is a trendsetting school with a 100% Matric pass rate for 9 consecutive years. The i#RHS project is an ICT innovation focusing on digital resources, digital space and digital pedagogy at the school. The project covers all grades and all subjects and is based on the “bring your own device’ model. The utilization of interactive whiteboards, data projectors, a student portal, and Wi-Fi connectivity are the components of a digital environment where learning and teaching take place so that our students are prepared for life beyond high school.

A task team was set up with various designations. A full-time IT specialist has been employed to provide support to teachers. Technical support has been divided into three sectors: (i)Teacher support, (ii) learner support and (iii) administrative support. Teachers are trained on a weekly basis on a Wednesday. A monitoring document and process has been established