University of South Africa Partners Vodacom Business for Digitally Connection
The University of South Africa (UNISA) has hired Vodacom Business as part of a two-year contract to offer students and staff of the university future-ready digital solutions. In order to guarantee that high-quality distance learning is a reality, these solutions will provide UNISA students and staff with free and dependable access to necessary online resources and tools.
Reverse Billed Data (RBD) from Vodacom Business is the initial solution being used at University of South Africa. Students will have free access to UNISA’s website, online material, apps, and data services thanks to RBD. This implies that students and staff will always be able to access these digital resources, regardless of their own personal airtime or data level, while UNISA only pays for appropriate consumption. This is an innovative pricing model that gives users access to data paid for by the institution.
The Connected Digital Education Platform, created by Vodacom Business and Microsoft South Africa, is the second solution from which UNISA will profit. Students and staff at UNISA will get free access to a number of Microsoft Office 365 virtual communication and collaboration products, including Microsoft Teams and Microsoft Office, through this platform. Lecturers can also use the platform’s planning software to create courses and other content in advance and automate labor-intensive administrative duties. This improves the quality of the instruction being given.
Poppy Tshabalala, Managing Executive of Public Enterprise for Vodacom Business, said that the relationship was a continuation of the vital work Vodacom Business has been doing to develop a future-proof education system.
“In 2020, we successfully joined forces with several higher-education institutions to ensure their students and staff has the data and digital tools necessary to continue online learning during the period when teaching and learning in physical buildings was impossible.”
While this addressed an immediate need to digitise education in the face of COVID-19 lockdowns, such partnerships have tackled a longer-term need to transform the education sector for a digital-first future. “Students empowered by our digital solutions can continue their learning, unimpeded, from wherever they are, while sharpening their digital literacy,” adds Tshabalala. “This sets them up for success as meaningful contributors to a technologically advanced future.”
Any extra data requirements over and beyond those covered by the Reverse Billed Data solution are likewise covered by the platform solution. This is accomplished utilizing the Vodacom Business EduBundle, which grants free access to educational websites listed by UNISA, and the Vodacom Business Anytime Data Bundles, which provide discounted 30-day 10GB data bundles with 20GB of Night Owl allocations for access to any other online resource.
“Our digital solutions enrich the distance-learning experience, making it affordable for students and staff alike, while equipping them with the tools needed to effectively teach and learn online,” notes Tshabalala. “Partnerships like this will play a key role in improving connectivity in the education sector, democratising access to quality education. Additionally, with quality education and digital literacy as the cornerstones of a future-ready nation, these partnerships are essential to our country’s future economic prosperity. Vodacom Business is proud to be playing its part in this important ecosystem.”