Writing matric? Here’s where to find free study tools

Matric finals are a few weeks away, and pupils are scrambling to digest the huge amount of work, the pressure, and the result expectations that come with it.

Visit mwafrika.life for more information.

And, said Teneo Online School Phase Head Tracey Clayton, free tools are aplenty to help students get where they need to be without having to fork out for an expensive tutor.

She said past papers are a treasure trove and that the Department of Basic Education, or DBE, has years of them stored online with the marking memos included.

Clayton said more than just learning off the papers should include a bit of drama. Pupils should recreate examination conditions by imposing the same time pressure they will face in the real paper and then critically mark their answers against the official memorandum.

“If you work through them under proper time pressure and then mark yourself against the memo, really honestly, seeing exactly where the marks went, that’s most of what a good tutor would have you doing anyway.”

The value of past papers

Pupils can also pool their knowledge through small study groups and make better use of the teachers they already have access to. Instead of approaching a teacher with a broad statement that they don’t understand Mathematics, for example, Clayton said pupils should identify the exact calculation, concept or question causing difficulty and ask for targeted assistance.

Free resources including Siyavula and the Khan Academy offer beneficial study materials. “The free stuff is genuinely good,” Clayton said. “Past papers, Siyavula and Khan Academy have put material in front of learners that used to be locked behind paying for it.”

But another inexpensive study tool can easily get lost among apps, websites, and videos that have become the go-to. It’s the simple pen and paper. Research suggests there may be value in going old school and writing by hand rather than doing everything on a keyboard.

Once pupils have found the material they need online, they can put the phone down and work through it on paper. Answers can be written without immediately checking the solution, calculations worked through line by line and diagrams drawn from scratch. Something as basic as a notebook can also become a running record of questions or concepts that keep challenging them.

Small study groups can help with exam prep. Picture iStock

Once a past paper, memo, or set of questions has been printed or copied, studying doesn’t depend on a continuous internet connection or having data available for every session.

Overcome connectivity hurdles

And this is where Clayton said the abundance of free educational material online runs into a bit of a challenge. “But it only helps if you’ve got a device, and data, and somewhere quiet to actually sit and work, and for a lot of families here, that’s not a given,” she said.

Free therefore does not necessarily mean accessible. A pupil may have access to years of past papers, video lessons and other educational material but still need the device, connectivity and space to use it properly.

But again, this does not have to be a lamentable hurdle. Pupils with access to Wi-Fi at school, a library or elsewhere can download material for later use. Friends can share papers or downloaded resources, and a study group can also mean sharing knowledge rather than trying to figure everything out alone.

Clayton said technology has helped narrow the gap between learners who can pay for additional academic support and those who cannot, but it has not eliminated it.

“So it narrows the gap. It doesn’t close it,” she said. “Access to the device, the data, the quiet corner is just as important as much as the content.”

Read full story at source