Tshwane University of Technology

From Researching Virtual Initiatives in Education

Two available logos for Tshwane University of Technology

Tshwane University of Technology is abbreviated as TUT.

The Tshwane University of Technology's main office is in Pretoria, South Africa. Its campuses are located in Tshwane (Pretoria, Soshanguve and Ga-Rankuwa), Nelspruit, eMalahleni (previously called Witbank) and Polokwane (previously called Pietersburg)(Source: About Us web page). Its campuses are called Ga-Rankuwa Campus, Soshanguve Campus, Nelspruit Campus, Polokwane Campus, eMalahleni Campus, Arcadia Campus, Arts Campus. (Source: Contact Us web page

The Tshwane University of Technology's web site is at http://www.tut.ac.za

More details

History

Tshwane University of Technology (TUT) was formed by a merger of Technikon Pretoria, Technikon Northern Gauteng and Technikon North West:

"TUT was established on 1 January 2004, with the merging of the former Technikon Northern Gauteng, Technikon North-West and Technikon Pretoria. At the time of the merger, the uniquely South African institutional designation of "technikon" was dropped in favour for the internationally accepted "university of technology" designation."

Source: "About Us" web page

Students

This University annually enrols approximately 60 000 students. "Its student body is one of the most demographically representative in the country in terms of both race and gender, reflecting the Rainbow Nation in all its diversity. With almost 22 per cent of contact students accommodated in residences, the University is by far the largest residential higher education institution in Southern Africa."

Source: "About Us" web page

Students' resources and support

• The university's Library and Information Services, which is a member of the Gauteng and Environs Library Consortium (GAELIC), the largest academic library consortium in South Africa
• The university's WebCT
• The VUMA! Portal was created to connect students with students from universities across Africa. Its features are blogs, discussion forums, polls and wikis, are aimed at encouraging collaboration and sharing.

E-learning

Tshwane University of Technology has a separate chapter for distance education in its prospectus for 2008: Courses > Part 9 - Distance Education (ISSN 0258-7343). This PDF shows us all of the courses and programmes TUT's students can enroll in through distance learning or blended learning (contact hours are limited).

This University also has a separate page for its Department of Telematic Education on the page "Teaching and Learning with Technology (TLT)":

• Electronic testing (PDF)
• Interactive Multimedia (PDF)
• Video recordings (PDF)
• Mobile learning (PDF)
• Web-based courses (WebCT)

Interesting as well are the projects "Talking Hands", in which distance education technologies for the hearing impaired are being investigated. Telematic Education, with its vast experience of educational technologies, initiated this project to support and enhance the schools in its immediate community.

References / Links

1. Official site of Tshwane University of Technology
2. In CONTEXT, the press release and introduction to the university (PDF).
3. The university's WebCT
4. Library and Information Services
5. Study South Africa > Tshwane University of Technology
6. Wikipedia's page on Tshwane University of Technology
7. TUT LIFE, the students' site
8. The VUMA! Portal

> South Africa

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