Marlena Kruger obtained her doctorate in education from the University of Johannesburg in 1999, and has spent over 25 years working at public higher education institutions.
She joined the CTI Education Group as the Dean of Faculties in August 2012, and spent close to three years actively involved in the rolling out and distribution of tablets, as well as the training and development of lecturers and students at more than 12 higher education campuses across the country.
Realising the need for a unique brand of education focused on balancing all aspects in your life, she resigned from the and started MindUnique Education in 2015.
It took a further two years for her to launch her latest project, TechnoLife Wise Foundation, in 2017.
This non-profit organisation is aimed at promoting the living of a healthy ‘techno-life’ in a world where technology can leave us living us like zombies, Marlena said.
“We live in a world where technology is handed to children before they can read, and people still wonder why so many children are growing up with attention span issues,” Marlena said.
Technology has also negatively affected the corporate world and environments in learning institutions, and in light of this, Marlena and her team have come up with something they call the WoWe bag.
The WoWe is a pouch in which you place your cellular device. It is then locked away for the duration of your test, examination, interview and so on.
“We feel the WoWe bag is a pretty big step towards ensuring people actually separate their minds from technology and focus on the task they have at hand,” Marlena said.
Marlena’s husband Andre, who has assisted in the journey Marlena has undertaken with both MindUnique and TechnoLife Wise, also feels strongly about the pouches, even though they’re just prototypes for now.
“The pouches are a little big for now, but we have already begun work on decreasing the size so that it’s more practical for people to use,” he said.
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