Humanities Academic Creates SMART Online Platform During Lockdown

BY: .

Clinical Sociologist in the School of Social Sciences, Dr Mariam Seedat-Khan has created an online platform to help teachers and parents find digital resources and learning tools for their learners and children to use during the lockdown.

Adults can also use it to learn a new language, enrol in an online course or develop new skills.

Seedat-Khan developed teaching and learning interventions over a protracted period, which resulted in a management tool, Simply Managing Academic Related Tasks (SMART) that provides individuals with learning tools and techniques that they can utilise throughout their lives. SMART has been running for the past 18 years.

‘The reality is that parents now have to become teachers or be facilitators of the learning process. The challenge lies in accessing learning resources that are appropriate for their children. Many of the online platform groups can run into thousands of rands because of subscription fees,’ said Seedat-Khan.

She decided to launch a free online platform on Facebook where through global and local networks, everyone can benefit from the learning tools on offer.

Before posting and sharing the learning tools on the SMART Facebook group, Seedat-Khan researches and verifies the information to ensure that there are no hidden subscription costs before uploading them. ‘We are living in challenging times and it forces us to be innovative and to find new and innovative ways of delivering knowledge. Learning doesn’t have to come to a standstill,’ she said.

The Facebook group Simply Managing Academic Related Tasks can be accessed via https://www.facebook.com/groups/110650675636634.

‘I am delighted that the SMART group has so many new members. Thank you for your support. Ultimately, my objective is to continue the learning process through the lockdown - by promoting and collating free, online resources for you. I am extremely grateful for the positive feedback, the thoughtful contributions and for the requests already received,’ she added.

Words: Melissa Mungroo

Photograph: Supplied