By Sindiso Dube
A local publishing company, Spring Hub Publishing in partnership with an Indian-based company has launched a free mobile learning application called Nytra which has been described as ‘value-adding to students’ by the ministry of Primary and secondary education.
Nytra means eye, ziso in Shona or ilihlo in Ndebele. It’s an application that brings textbooks to life by mainly using the powerful sense of the eye as it integrates the modern learners’ love of short videos, gadgets, and the educative content that they need to absorb.
The Nytra digital content is embedded in the publisher’s Spring Up textbooks that have been approved as following the New Competence-Based Curriculum and is therefore very relevant to the learners of Zimbabwe.
The application was launched in early December in the capital in a bid to elevate electronic learning for students during the times of Covid-19 where students are learning from their respective homes.
“This application is meant to augment the learning experience of learners inside and outside of the classroom in this modern era where access to digital platforms is increasingly exponentially.
“As a publisher, we believe we have a social contract with the learners, parents, and the ministry to ensure relevant and modern ways of learning and teaching are .That is what we were trying to achieve with the introduction of this application. Nytra has been met with a lot of appreciation from relevant stakeholders- learners and teachers were all quick to state that it made understanding of abstract concepts better and learners were better positioned to answer related questions following use of the application,” said Nyunyai Machiwenyika, the managing director of Spring Hub Publication.
She added that the application is in line with the ministry’s e-learning agenda of digital learning as well as that inclusivity.