Dr Jacqueline Batchelor

First and foremost I am a teacher, a recognised innovative teacher within the boundaries of teaching and learning with varieties of ICT and a facilitator in innovative teacher development.  I have received accolades on local, national and international forums for my innovative teaching practices. I am a mobile learning specialist who conceptualizes and executes learning events that pilot new technologies in formal teaching environments in collaboration with research institutes and research partners.

Postgraduate Teaching includes: MEd and PhD (ICTs in Education).

Teaching in Research Methodology programmes:   BEd Honours (ICT mediated learning design foundations); Faculty of Education Masters and PhD Programme.

Postgraduate Supervision: Dr. Batchelor supervises a number of postgraduate students at both Masters and PhD level in the field of educational technologies in education.

I tirelessly work towards increasing awareness of the unharnessed potential that mobile devices present in the teaching environment. I encourage school leadership to be more active in articulating their stance on integrating emerging technologies in the classroom and support them by developing guidelines and policy when employing mobile technology in schools. I am an educational researcher with an interest in how the face of education is constantly changing. I share in the pressures teachers endure when required to continually adapt their practice as required by changes in practice and policy.

A more ambitious aim is to liberate the minds of teachers and learners on the African continent to take their rightful place as active participants in developing discourse about preserving their indigenous knowledge and challenging existing practices, whilst conceiving new approaches to teaching and learning with emerging technologies. I acknowledge these interests to be overambitious and in reality I might affect change in only a few areas, but to be committed to research is to work with a purpose towards a set goal of knowing something with a deeper level of understanding and making it accessible to others with similar interests.

The University of Johannesburg is amongst the top rated institutions of higher learning recognised for their transformation, social cohesion and the elimination of discrimination. The Faculty of Education in particular are engaged with the student cohort in a caring manner. My particular research endeavours thus far are aligned with the strategic goals of this faculty focusing on the use of mobile technologies to drive research and innovation within developing context. As a practitioner-researcher with strong national and international ties, I can design, develop and generate education technology collaboration initiatives across borders.​