The Covid-19 pandemic has highlighted the need to revisit and adjust the curriculum in faster and more innovative ways. There is also a greater need to prepare our third-year students for the ‘new normal’ and likely economic depression. The scenario prompts an increased focus on the fourth industrial revolution (4IR) skills, such as creativity, problem-solving and critical thinking, and entrepreneurship at tertiary institutions. 

The application of ICT in an educational context provides the opportunity to expand the current curriculum to be more student-centric. However, this can be challenging to implement in large classes, especially during a global pandemic. Therefore, my teaching philosophy and teaching methods highlight my focus on:

• Teaching responsibility,

• Using experiential learning as a basis for teaching and learning,

• The inclusion of innovative technology-enabled pedagogies,

• Achievement of graduate attributes, such as entrepreneurship, and 4IR skills,

• Including the latest industry standards and

• Student mentoring and support.
  
  

 I have undertaken to redesign the curriculum for all courses that I teach, including Business Analysis, System Delivery Management, Enterprise Architecture and Infrastructure Management as well as Information Systems Strategy formulation. 

Understanding student needs 

I have developed a student needs survey to assess student needs and incorporate the feedback into the design of courses. The survey assesses the level of digital literacy, academic literacy and contextual factors that may influence learning. It provides useful resources for students to address areas where they are not yet proficient. The survey also allows them to identify contextual factors that may influence their learning and the opportunity to formulate solutions to address the challenges that they have highlighted.  

The literature indicates that students prefer experiential learning and immediate feedback (Bullen & Morgan, 2016). Teaching and learning using outdated pedagogies, such as ‘Powerpoint and talk’, do not provide students with the level of engagement that they require. Therefore, experiential learning provides the basis for my teaching and learning as it focuses on learning through experience. My class sizes exceed 250 students and this requires a large amount of administration to ensure that they obtain the necessary 21st-century skills and graduate attributes. My Teacher Intro Powtoon on the left introduces my students to exclusive online learning in the first semester of 2021 in a fun way. 

Many of my students are the first to attend tertiary education and are from marginalised communities; therefore my teaching needs to take into consideration the lack of financial, emotional and psychological resources available to some of them. Some of my students have been pregnant, were victims of violence and are unable to afford to attend class lectures. So I am not only a lecturer, I am often a counsellor, a mentor and a motivator. Usually, I am the one who gives tough love and they may not often appreciate it or understand it when I push them to do better. I do this because I honestly care enough to want only the best for them. They often come back after they’ve graduated and are employed to say thank you. I am still in contact with many of my students via LinkedIn.  

For the Information Systems Strategy (IFS 361) course, which was primarily taught using face to face based learning in the previous years, a course redesign was undertaken. iKamva was redesigned to include lessons to more effectively show learning outcomes and requirements for every week. 

I have also recognised the need for students to have a consolidated place to find learning resources in an easy and effective way. I have created a student learning website and a resource to assist students with online assessment preparation.  

I have also created a staff teaching and learning website to assist colleagues to create more effective online teaching and learning spaces.