The North-West University (NWU) and its AI Hub are continuing to strengthen the institution’s digital capacity through an incentive programme aimed at encouraging academic staff to complete the AI and Assessment course. This initiative is a collaborative effort between the office of the Senior Deputy Vice-Chancellor: Teaching and Learning, the AI Hub, the Centre for Teaching and Learning (CTL), and People and Culture.
And the timing could not be better. With Christmas around the corner, academic staff will be pleased to hear that more than 750 Takealot vouchers – each valued at R500 – are still available to the next 750 lecturers who complete the course. To qualify for a voucher, lecturers must complete all 11 parts across the three sections of the AI and Assessment course.
According to Prof Anné Verhoef, director of the NWU AI Hub, the initiative is about far more than a festive-season perk. “The greatest challenge of AI in higher education remains the transformation of assessment in order to integrate AI meaningfully and to move away from a policing approach to its use. Professor Liandi van den Berg and I recently attended two international conferences on AI and higher education. The first was the EDUCAUSE conference in Nashville, Tennessee. It was clear from this event that American universities are investing considerable effort in training lecturers to integrate AI into their assessments. There is certainly no one size fits all solution, and the approaches are instead developed very specifically within particular academic disciplines,” he explains.
“The second conference was the Digital Education Council’s Global Summit in Hong Kong. Here it was evident that the Eastern world is placing strong emphasis on the potential of AI, especially in relation to entrepreneurship. Once again, the core challenge centred on how meaningful learning with AI can take place, and how such learning can be assessed. Professor Liandi delivered a presentation in Hong Kong on our (NWU’s) own course on AI and Assessment, which received significant praise. We have a highly unique course that is exceptionally well positioned, globally, to address the challenge of AI and assessment. We therefore hope that all our lecturers will complete it as soon as possible so that they can adapt their assessments for 2026.”
As the academic year winds down and the festive season approaches, the NWU’s AI and Assessment course offers more than an opportunity to earn a voucher – it provides a chance to step confidently into the future of teaching and learning. By completing the course, lecturers not only support the university’s commitment to innovation, but also equip themselves with the tools needed to design assessments that reflect a rapidly changing digital world. With international recognition, strong institutional backing, and a direct link to the NWU’s strategic priorities for 2026 and beyond, this initiative is an investment in both personal growth and the university’s long-term academic excellence. As you prepare for a well-deserved break, consider giving yourself – and your students – the gift of future-ready assessment.
