The didactic model of the majority of schools in disadvantaged communities has changed instantly. Teachers are no longer standing in front of a chalkboard explaining concepts to learners. Interactive whiteboards have been installed in all the classrooms together with surround sound and the teachers use 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.

The ICT in Education Project is the initiative of the Department. In the year 2014, the fifth newly appointed Provincial Minister of Education, Mr. Andrek Panyaza Lesufi announced that ICT and e-Education strategy will be the cornerstone of the transformation to improve education outcomes in Gauteng province, in particular, learner achievement and attainment-rapidly and at scale. The innovation entailed the introduction of ICT in Education which spells out the need for 6 vital ingredients and these include connectivity, e-content, teacher training on ICT usage, refurbishment of classrooms, school administration and more importantly learner engagement and attainment.

The stakeholders involved in the innovation include amongst others, The Gauteng Department of Education(GDE) with the Member of the Executive Council, Deputy Director-Generals, Chief Directors, Relevant District Directors, and Principals. The responsibility of the GDE was to ensure that the project is implemented successfully.The Gauteng Department of Infrastructure Development (GDID) whose responsibility was the refurbishment of the classrooms, The Gauteng Department of Finance (GDF) whose responsibility was to provide guidelines on payment processes related to the project. State Information Technology Agency (SITA) whose responsibility was to provide support on Information Technology roll-out and the State-owned entity, Universal Service and Access Agency of South Africa (USAASA) and a service provider, Cloudseed assisted with connectivity at schools.

In 2014/15 financial year immediately after assuming the office, the newly appointed MEC tabled the Gauteng Department of Education Five Year Strategic Plan to the Provincial Executive for approval in which the ICT in Education is pillar 6. Following the approval of the plan, the MEC immediately introduced the GDE ICT and e-Education strategy to the Executive Committee which was supported and adopted for implementation in 2015.

The Gauteng Department of Education (GDE) has noted an improvement in the culture of teaching and learning as teachers are becoming innovative in their lessons and in the way they engage the learners in the classrooms. There is evidence of enhanced performance in schools where Information and Communications Technology (ICT) were introduced. The majority of teachers are becoming free from administrative duty which usually compromised the quality of teaching time as lesson preparation was made easy by the e-content for teaching. The GDE has also observed an increase in the usage of SA-SAMS (South African School Administration and Management System) module which provides a platform for recording data electronically rather than manually and time is saved in the process.

-The project was implemented toward the festive season which has pros and cons. The concern encountered related to procurements of equipment as most companies were closed for the festive season and this was rectified during the following season.

-The project was not delivered within defined timelines and budgeted cost. During the implementation, it was observed that tight deadlines defined by members of the work stream to reach certain milestones were not realistic. Most leaders of different work streams did not adhere to the project plan due to dates changing.

-The Provincial Minister of Education (MEC) has to ensure that the project plans are sing-off and monitored regularly.

-The challenge with regard to the flow of information from the Task Team to the districts and schools emerged as there was inconsistency in their reports.

-To narrow the gap, it was suggested that school principals should form part of the Technical Task Team.

Leadership and guidance including the necessary infrastructure and financial resources and teamwork are critical in ensuring that such innovation becomes a success.

The ICT in Education project can definitely be replicated in other Provinces and Countries which seek to implement the use of ICT. As part of knowledge management regarding the ICT project, both electronic and hard copy files of the strategy documents, evaluation and progress reports, governance and project charter, implementation plans, cost of the project, processes etc. have been created to ensure that knowledge generated is preserved and easily accessible for any individual or organisation who would like to learn more about the project.

The GDE has been requested by the National Department of Basic Education to assist with the roll-out of the ICT projects in other provinces. This project can be adapted to suit a small or large scale organization as the implementation was in twofold: piloting to 7 schools and expanding to cover 375 No Fees Schools in Gauteng Province.

•The rollout of infrastructure is meaningless if there is no buy-in from the intended beneficiaries such as learners, educators, school governing bodies and leadership especially the principal. Imbizos (large meeting gathering) were held to ensure buy-in.

•Any ICT project has elements of change management and personnel often experience fear and uncertainty about what the future holds for them. During implementation, consistent assurance by the executive assisted in allaying fear and enabled teachers who had a phobia for technology to embrace the project.

•The involvement of principals of different schools as part of the Task Team helped to ensure that they were empowered on all matters related to the project and enabled the principals to communicate from an informed position. Change management was also introduced.

To ensure the sustainability of the project, Task Teams were set up with various designations at Head Office, Districts and School level. To ensure sustenance and support to schools, ICT Specialists at Districts have been trained to provide support and monitor the implementation of the project. ICT Committees have also been set up at schools to identify challenges and escalate them for intervention. Technicians have been deployed to provide on-site support at the school level. Teachers are provided with the necessary support on a weekly basis depending on the type of assistance required. All newly recruited teachers are required to attend ICT training facilitated by the Matthew Goniwe School of Leadership and Governance.