Background. The use of social media for professional practice is an emerging trend for healthcare professionals; however, limited literature exists on the phenomenon. Social media usage is prevalent among students, as it is incorporated into many health professions education curricula. This poses potential ethical dilemmas. Objective. To examine the nature of social media usage and knowledge of ethical considerations by occupational therapy (OT) students for professional purposes. Methods. A quantitative, cross-sectional survey was administered to the entire cohort of OT students (N=128) enrolled at the University of KwaZuluNatal, Durban, South Africa in 2016. Data were analysed descriptively using Microsoft Excel 2013 (Microsoft, USA). Results. The most commonly used device to access social media was mobile phones, with WhatsApp and YouTube frequently used for both general and professional purposes. Uses included accessing social media for developing professional skills and knowledge, and in fulfilling academic requirements. Ethical dilemmas were evident among students, who indicated that social media ethical considerations should be incorporated into the curriculum. Conclusion. The study highlighted that most students use some form of social media as part of their professional practice, which has the potential to be used effectively to enhance learning opportunities. Future studies of a qualitative nature could shed light on students' perceptions of social media and practical implications for practice.

In the Integrated Strategic Planning Framework for Teacher Education and Development, a South African policy, the Department of Basic Education (DBE) and the Department of Higher Education (DHET) call for the formation of professional learning communities and envisage support for teachers and access to enhanced professional development opportunities at the local level. However, the formation and operation of professional learning communities in a South African context is still unclear. In this article we use the concept of professional learning communities to examine the extent to which 2 teacher learning communities operate as professional learning communities. We used interviews, observations, survey questionnaires and document analysis to generate data. The findings of the study reveal that the 2 teacher learning communities were initiated by the DBE and not by teachers. However, the size of 1 teacher learning community and the nature of its functioning seemed to adhere to the characteristics of a professional learning community while the other did not. The findings indicate that professional learning communities that operate in developing contexts might be functional when all the stakeholders play a meaningful role in supporting professional learning communities.

Background: English Second Language (ESL) learners have difficulty constructing sentences due to internalising information in their home language and thereafter translating it into English. Learners who have difficulty speaking English generally encounter problems writing it, which hampers their creative writing ability.Objectives: The purpose of the research was to identify a teaching strategy to facilitate ESL learners with creative writing. This study explored the influence of flashcards on the creative writing skills of Grade 1 ESL learners and improved the researchers’ teaching practice.Method: This qualitative study depicted an action research design and utilised an inductive approach to data analysis. Convenience sampling was used when selecting the participants who were 31 Grade 1 learners in a school in Pietermaritzburg. The flashcards were used during the implementation stage of the action research process as an intervention to enhance learners’ creative writing skills.Findings: The findings indicate that learners who participated in the study had improved in their written assessments. There were three themes identified, which included misspelt words, incorrect use of tenses and ungrammatical sentence construction. Flashcards revealed the correct sentence writing techniques by depicting sentences. Learners’ written pieces were more logical and they participated actively during lessons. This enhanced the researcher’s teaching practice, which catered to both visual and auditory learners.Conclusion: The findings suggest that the use of flashcards had a positive effect on ESL learners’ creative writing skills. This encouraged participatory teaching and learning, which can be of benefit to many teachers seeking to engage learners using alternate learning styles.

COVID-19 forced academics to transition from face-to-face to remote teaching using various online platforms. This article focuses on my experiences of teaching a research module during the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. The social, cognitive and teaching presences from the Community of Inquiry Framework for a successful higher education experience was used as a lens for the study. The data are generated from my reflection on teaching, the WhatsApp chat transcript and student emails. My reflections on teaching a research module suggest that the teaching, social and cognitive presences were experienced to a certain extent. The findings indicate that training and trials in preparation for transition to online teaching are important. In this study trials to familiarise academics and students with online teaching influenced the establishment of teaching presence positively because challenges related to online teaching were identified and addressed before the commencement of the actual online teaching. Therefore, when making instructional decisions, it is crucial first to diagnose and address challenges regarding online platforms. However, being accustomed to traditional face-to-face teaching, dominated by oral communication and telling methods, influenced the social presence negatively. Online collaboration among students was unclear. Notably, my social presence experiences suggest that teaching during and beyond COVID-19 requires a pedagogical approach that relies heavily on the social and collaborative component of learning as a point of departure for the development of online teaching and learning practices. The Community of Inquiry Framework used in this study could be helpful for higher education institutions to evaluate academics and students' experiences of online teaching and learning, particularly when the institution is planning to redesign and implement online courses.