Globally, many nations have put in place policies on technology enhanced teaching and learning in an effort to keep abreast with the rapid advancement in technology. However, the use of technology in education has been slow in many third world countries, inclusive of Zimbabwe. COVID-19 restrictions inadvertently accelerated the adoption of digital instructional interface devices (DIIDs). Smartphones are preferred DIIDs because of their popularity amongst children as well as teachers. However, their successful penetration as DIIDs is largely dependent on teachers’ dispositions as key agents of curriculum implementation. Zimbabwe is known to have a 52% smartphone penetration rate for all citizens. The study was therefore carried out to determine the penetration rate of smartphones in science teachers, and also to probe teachers’ views on learners being allowed unlimited access to smartphones. The study adopted descriptive survey design from a quantitative research approach. Data was collected from 179 science teachers through a self-developed electronic questionnaire that was administered through the Kobo Toolbox online survey application. Results show that the smartphone penetration rate in science teachers is 87%. Multitasking and indecent exposure are the main forms of learner deviance that make teachers more reluctant to accept smartphones as DIIDs. In the presence of school-wide and classroom policies that cater for both merits of smartphone use and ease of policy enforcement, Zimbabwe science teachers are however ready to fully embrace smartphones as useful DIIDs.
The physical and economic sustainability of using built environment wind turbine (BEWT) systems depends on the wind resource potential of the candidate site. Therefore, it is crucial to carry out a wind resource assessment prior to the deployment of the BEWT. The assessment results can be used as a referral tool for predicting the performance and lifespan of the BEWT in the given built environment. To date, there is limited research output on BEWTs in South Africa, with available literature showing a bias towards utility-scale or conventional ground-based wind energy systems. This study aimed to assess the wind power generation potential of BEWT systems in Fort Beaufort using the Weibull distribution function. The results show that Fort Beaufort wind patterns can be classified as fairly good and that BEWTs can best be deployed at 15 m for a fairer power output as roof height wind speeds require BEWTs of very low cut-in speeds of at most 1.2 ms −1 .
The physical and economic sustainability of using Built Environment Wind Turbine (BEWT) systems depends on the wind resource potential of the candidate site. Therefore, it is crucial to carry out a wind resource assessment prior to deployment of the BEWT. The assessment results can be used as a referral tool for predicting the performance and lifespan of the BEWT in the given built environment. To date, there is limited research output on BEWTs in South Africa with available literature showing a bias towards utility-scale or conventional ground based wind energy systems. This study aimed to assess wind power generation potential of BEWT systems in Fort Beaufort using the Weibull distribution function. The results show that Fort Beaufort wind patterns can be classified as fairly good and that BEWTs can best be deployed at 15m for a fairer power output as roof height wind speeds require BEWT of very low cut-in speed of at most1.2ms−1.
Smartphones are new generation educational tools usable by science teachers for both socialization and communication, and academic use. Concern is however on how such devices are used by the teachers who are central to curriculum implementation. The study was therefore carried out to establish the characteristics of science teachers' interactions with their devices (usage patterns) in Zimbabwe. The User Gratification Theory guided the descriptive survey design from a quantitative research approach that was employed in collecting and analyzing data, collected through the Kobo Toolbox online survey application. The findings show that smartphone use is more popular for socialization and communication than for academic purposes and the usage patterns vary with age. Late career science teachers use smartphones mainly for socialization and communication while accessing social media and leisure material are very popular with the early career science teachers. Smartphones are also popular as 'pocket libraries' for early career science teachers while reading news is popular with the late career science teachers.
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