Dean of Informatics and Design named top ICT educator in Africa

Professor Johannes Cronjé, Dean of Informatics and Design at CPUT was recently named the top ICT educator in Africa.

The announcement was made at the 10th Annual African ICT Achievers Awards, which was held in Johannesburg on 28 November 2008. The awards recognise companies and individuals who have had a significant impact on the ICT industry in Africa.

Prof Cronjé’s passion for ICT in education along with his ground-breaking work in this field ensured that he clinched this prestigious award.

His interest in this field developed more than 15 years ago, when he was lecturing at the then Technikon Pretoria.

“I just believed that there must be better ways of getting high quality learning to take place than putting a talking head in front of a class,” he said.

This determination to impact on teaching and learning saw Prof Cronjé become a pioneer in ICT in education, with many of his innovations becoming standard practice in classrooms across the globe. In 1997 he ran one of the first Internet-based classrooms in the world and was also a pioneer of “peer teaching” in the field of ICT, where learners would sit two to a computer and assist one another.

“I further developed methods of teaching students outside regular contact time by using social software sites such as Facebook, LinkedIn, Youtude and Del.icio.us,” he said.

Prof Cronjé has also developed a popular website, Research Methods Online where students can access resources for their postgraduate studies. During the past few years he has also used his skills and knowledge to impact on the broader community.

“I regularly meet on a one-on-one basis with schools and provinces who invite me,” he said.

He was awarded a C rating by the NRF, has conducted extensive research in ICT, published extensively and presented papers at hundreds of national and international conferences.

He has also acted as a consultant in the area of using computers to reach out to various African countries.

Prof Cronjé said he is honoured by the award and “believes that it is an affirmation of the work” that his students have completed under his leadership. To date 150 of his students have been awarded master’s degrees, 35 have been awarded doctorates, while four have gone on to become professors.

Prof Cronjé plans to continue his work in ICT in education.

“My plans are to continue investigating, specifically the use of mobile devices and web 2.0 applications – that is cellular phones and Facebook – in education,” he said.

By Candes Keating. Marketing and Communication Department

Photograph: Prof Johannes Cronjé, Dean of Informatics and Design, displays his African ICT Achiever award.

Written by CPUT News
Email: news@cput.ac.za