At first, it was a way of combatting the isolation brought on by lockdown. A way for a few lecturers and senior students in the Faculty of Education at the University of Johannesburg (UJ) to come together virtually and learn something new. It was a space of innovation and collaboration, and an antidote to those early months of Covid-induced solitude and uncertainty.
But in no time at all, it evolved, and today the brand-new UJ Scratch Coding Club is using technology to advance the careers of its student teachers and, in turn, the experiences of the young lives they will teach. It’s bringing the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) into South Africa’s classrooms and into our collective future.