This is an archive page

US mini logoHome | A-Z Index | People | Reference | Contact us

Sussex school makes live webcast to South Africa


* 14 May 2003 *

Sussex school makes live webcast to South Africa

A Sussex school will be taking part in a live webcast with a school in South Africa on Thursday, May 22, as part of an innovative approach to a course on citizenship.

The project, set up by the University of Sussex, will link 250 Year Nine students of William Parker School in Hastings and students at Boepathutse Junior Secondary School in South Africa's Gauteng Province. It will involve the teenagers comparing their local environments, the local journeys they take and their views on life in their own town.

Supervising the event will be trainee teachers from the University of Sussex's Postgraduate Certificate in Education  (PGCE) course and their mentors, who are practising teachers in schools in Sussex.

Organiser Dr John Parry, PGCE citizenship curriculum tutor, says:  "Citizenship has just been introduced into the National Curriculum and includes the notions of global citizenship, sustainable development, the role of the media and the use of information technology. 

"By setting up this webcast with South Africa, we're addressing several of these issues at once. These 14-year-olds are going to be presenting live to pupils thousands of miles and oceans of culture away.  It will be an exciting event for all those involved."

The day has been strictly timetabled and involves the pupils preparing their own material for eight two-minute webcasts. Pupils in South Africa are due to respond with their own webcasts, to be shown on a large screen at William Parker School.

Dr Parry, who set up the event with the help of Link Community Development, an organisation that forges educational links between South Africa and other countries, says; "This will be an innovative teacher-training exercise reaching beyond the usual classroom situation."




* Notes for editors *

For more information, contact Dr John Parry on 01273 471332, or mobile: 077 1929 9449 jmparry@btopenworld.co.uk

Press Office contacts: Jacqui Bealing or Peter Simmons
Tel. 01273 678888, Fax 01273 877456, J.A.Bealing@sussex.ac.uk or P.H.Simmons@sussex.ac.uk.

 




* Useful links *

Information for Journalists   Previous press releases   University Homepage


This is an archive page

  Contact the University | Disclaimer | Feedback