Rethink Education Mxit app launches Afrikaans version

Afrikaans is the third most spoken language in South Africa, and one of the two languages that South African high school students can choose to write their matric examinations in. Founder of Rethink Education, Douglas Hoernle, identified that although there is a growing preference among some learners to study in Afrikaans, there is a shortage of digital curriculum content available in Afrikaans.

"We decided to start offering our content in Afrikaans as part of our strategy to offer high quality education resources to all South African students," commented Hoernle.

"Rethink Education leverages technology with interactive, exciting content which helps learners master their studies effectively and efficiently."

The mathematics and science content was developed by the Rethink Education content team over a period of two and a half years. All content was developed based on the South African Curriculum Assessment Policy Statements (CAPS) and covers the full Grade 8-12 mathematics and physical science curriculum. The content was initially developed in English and was then translated by a team of Afrikaans translators.

"An average high school learner does not engage with technology like one would expect. They're not interested in electronic textbooks, Word or Excel. They are far more engaged when using social chat-styled community platforms. The app uses this style preference by delivering 'bite-sized bits' of content, presented through a conversational interface, similar to the way a learner would interact with one of the popular social networks of today," explains Hoernle.

How the Rethink Education app works:

• Educators and learners can download the Rethink Education app for free from the app section within Mxit (Mxit can be downloaded from http://get.mxit.com/download).
  
• On entering the app, learners can select their language, grade and subject of choice from the maths, science, chemistry and physics options.
  
• An educator avatar guides and prompts the learner through the syllabus with various bits of information and questions.
  
• The lessons, also known as 'cogs', are supported with numerous videos and diagrams to help learners engage with the chapter content.

The app will be available in more African languages in the near future, and Hoernle is also looking at broadening the range of subjects offered on the platform.

Says Andrew Rudge, head of Mxit Reach: "The Rethink Education app is by far the newest and most exciting approach we've seen to help encourage the uptake of maths and science amongst learners. This form of responsive learning is ideally suited to Mxit and provides the possibility of reaching hundreds of thousands of learners across South Africa, irrespective of the mobile device they use."

The app, which has adopted over 477,000 active users since its release in November 2013, has received very positive feedback from learners via the app, with one maths student praising the app for encouraging learners to improve their maths skills in order to advance career prospects. High school teachers have also commended the app for its explanations, visuals and ability to help students work through theory before class, so that more time can be spent practically working through content during class.