The first Samsung e-Learning for the 21^st-century Educator training session was launched in Pretoria on Monday, 5 June 2017.

This exclusive training programme, which is aimed at equipping educators with tools and techniques to effectively use smart technology in their classrooms, is sponsored by Samsung Electronics and facilitated by Enterprises University of Pretoria (Enterprises UP). The programme is set to ignite a catalytic experience that will transform these educators into drivers of technological change in the country and beyond.

'Following an infrastructure and connectivity audit held between 2011 and 2016, which recommended that local infrastructure be improved to connect schools with the internet, Samsung Electronics activated 30 Smart Schools across South Africa. As a result, the lives of more than 50 000 learners and educators have been transformed across the country,' Ms Helen Mashilwane, Samsung Electronics Marketing Manager, explained.

The Smart Schools project provides education environments that utilise the most advanced IT and smart technology to help educators develop an interactive learning environment with their students. In order to assist educators with this critical role, UP's Department of Science, Mathematics and Technology Education has, together with Enterprises UP, developed an applied e-learning training programme. 'The programme was designed and is presented within the Living Lab for Innovative Teaching at UP (LLITUP) and incorporates the current developments in mobile teaching for 21^st-century educators within the Samsung Smart Schools environment,' according to the course leader, Dr Ronél Callaghan.

The programme is presented as a hybrid short course – three days' face-to-face training followed by online collaborative learning activities over a period of two months – and will be attended by 54 educators who teach by using advanced technology in their classrooms.

'I hope that all the educators who attended the training had a wonderful time during the contact sessions,' said Mr Sung Yoon, President and Managing Director of Samsung Electronics South and Southern Africa. 'Technology is about embracing problems and finding effective and clean ways of fixing them. Together with the educators, we at Samsung are committed to effective smart e-learning that fuels opportunity and growth. I wish them well.'

The Samsung e-Learning for the 21^st-century Educator training programme will run until the end of August and the delegates who successfully complete the programme will be presented with certificates by the University of Pretoria. Plans are also underway to celebrate the educators' achievements and details regarding a graduation and awards ceremony will be announced in due course. Samsung Electronics, in partnership with Enterprises UP, looks forward to the further roll-out of this brand-new e-learning experience that has the potential to connect educators and students to infinite learning possibilities.

For more information on Enterprises UP's wide range of short courses, visit www.enterprises.up.ac.za/Upcoming-Courses/. More information on the Samsung Smart Schools can be obtained by visiting Samsung Electronics.