Coding bootcamps have become a popular alternative route for training ICT professionals, which may help to fill the critical skills gap. We studied how coding bootcamps speed skill development and respond to transformational changes that higher education institutions is battling with. Communities of practice paradigm was adopted as essential to Bootcamp students' success as they all gather for a common goal of being developers. We collected data from South African bootcamp websites, read academic articles, and used topic analysis. We discovered that coding bootcamps are short-term, lasting anything from three months to a year, and that they support a student-centered learning environment with minimal social and financial strain on the students. In an effort to give them a second opportunity, some bootcamps specifically recruit members of particular genders and people from disadvantaged backgrounds. This is done under the assumption that they have been left out by tight and strict structures. There is evidence that these graduates are chosen by industry despite the fact that bootcamp venues are unmoderated. We argue as a conclusion that coding bootcamps have a lot of promise in helping to realize the SDGs established by the United Nations. But in order to create curriculum that is appealing to society and industry, we encourage partnership between HEI and bootcamps. The study added more voice on literature on bootcamps in South Africa.

Hackathons can be defined as platforms for fostering the innovation of small, focused teams who come together to collaborate in solving a particular problem built through a new or existing technology. A community-based hackathon for problem identification was explored in a bid to advance Sustainable Development Goals (SDG's) on ending poverty, attaining equitable quality education and the promotion of sustained inclusive and sustainable growth as articulated in, “The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development” by the United Nations continue to be inspire impactful research on how to attain these by the target year 2030. The aim of the study was to identify the problems faced by local communities; craft proposed solutions to create a knowledge base which could be used as input for the capstone projects in the year 2023 at university X. This study used focus groups within the hackathons to gather data from three communities in the KZN, GP and WC provinces of South Africa as part of its effort to understand the application domain and associated requirements. In the paper we present the results of the hackathons. The study found that the attaining of sustainability in communities through poverty eradication and the promotion of sustained inclusive and sustainable growth can only be achieved if communities sit at the centre of initiatives that seek to improve the lives of ordinary community members. Secondly the study showed the important role communities can play in their development and the power of collaboration between the local community and the universities in solving societal problems. The study also displayed the clear benefits of communities of practice and presents a foundation to sustainable development projects in the community. The study also found that communities are not short of brilliance and with some assistance they can identify and classify their problems as well as develop paper prototypes in a bid to solve the identified problems. The researchers conclude that future collaboration between the local communities and universities could be a game changer for the inclusion of real-life challenges for an authentic student learning experience.

The student-centred learning approach seeks to place the student at the centre of the instruction method to drive learning. The student-centred approach has benefits such as improvements in students’ communication and collaboration skills, advances in students’ ability to think and work independently, better aptitude in problem-solving, and lastly an ignited interest in educational activities. The research study seeks to introduce student-centred learning at a rural university X in the Eastern Cape (EC) province of South Africa to tap into these benefits derived from this learning method. EC province is hugely classified as a rural province and as such is not spared from the challenges such as poor network infrastructure, poor quality of education, poor technology uptake, and a poor quality of life faced by several rural communities in South Africa. The research study adopted a correlational survey design to explore significant relationships between student-centred learning and skills such as IT skills and language aptitude. Data was collected using a closed-ended questionnaire to understand the phenomenon under study. The research found several challenges that hinder the successful implementation of studentcentred learning but the most significant ones, in this case, were observed to be poor IT skills and poor English language aptitude. Also, students’ previous learning background influenced the implementation of student-centred learning as some students tend to rely heavily on their instructor for teaching and learning which can result in students losing their confidence in their abilities.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, universities had to change to online teaching and learning at short notice. This presented a number of challenges to both lecturers and students. One of the challenges for lecturers is a lack of continuous feedback from students. In a traditional class, the lecturer gets non-verbal feedback from students, for example nodding heads, and verbal feedback, for example questions and comments. It is difficult to lecture without these feedback mechanisms. To overcome this challenge, a weekly rating system was implemented to provide students with the opportunity to give continuous, anonymous feedback to the lecturer.

The importance of research as a vital tool for problem-solving and enriching livelihoods cannot be overstated and yet most South African universities introduce the component of research at the post-graduate level leaving out students who do not enroll for postgraduate studies without this critical skill. The lack of a dedicated research module at the undergraduate level is critical as it hampers critical thinking, entrepreneurship innovation and negatively impacts problem-solving to address societal-based problems. The case of University X in the Eastern Cape province in South Africa is that of a remote and rural university that is challenged by many negative factors ranging from, but not limited to; poverty-stricken students, poor infrastructure, and a weak staff complement in terms of qualification level as well as their research output. The problem of low research activity and knowledge generation keeps holding the university back and hence the need to look at ways to improve research activity both at undergraduate and postgraduate levels. The purpose of this study is to explore methods that can be used to encourage research development at the undergraduate level to close the research skill gap currently being experienced by the 85% of students who do not progress with their postgraduate studies. An experimental research design was used to assess the contributions of project-based assessment as a tool for transferring research skills at the undergraduate level. In this study, 122 respondents (control group =38, experimental group = 84) participated in the study. Respondents from the experimental group were given project-based assessments and traditional tests, while those from the control group were given traditional tests only. A questionnaire was then given to both groups to compare the contribution of project-based assessments as a tool for transferring research skills. The findings showed that project-based assessments improved students' research skills and also that they promoted students to engage in research activities. Researchers recommended that the project-based assessments be developed in a balanced way that will expose students to research in totality.

The use of educational technology which can be defined as the facilitation of teaching and learning by the creation and usage of technological processes and resources has seen a significant increase in higher education institutions. The effectiveness of the educational technology is closely linked to its adoption rate. In this article the researchers examine the lack of adoption of education technology on an instant student, lecturer feedback system. A Web Application is built to track interactions between students and the supervisor during the Capstone project as well as provide instant regular feedback to lecturers after every class conducted. The paper zooms in on adoption rates as well as the system’s fitness for purpose and concludes by recommending a framework for adoption.