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Abstract

One of the most common problems of using Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in education is to base choices on technological possibilities rather than educational needs. In developing countries where higher education is fraught with serious challenges at multiple levels, there is increasing pressure to ensure that technological possibilities are viewed in the context of educational needs. This paper argues that a central role of educational technology is to provide additional strategies that can be used to address the serious environmental and educational challenges faced by educators and students in higher education. The educational needs manifest in South African universities include addressing general lack of academic preparedness, multilingual needs in English medium settings, large class sizes and inadequate curriculum design. Using case studies from one higher educational institution, this paper shows how specific and carefully considered interventions using ICTs can be used to address these teaching and learning concerns. These examples serve to demonstrate some ways in which teaching and learning may be enhanced when uses of educational technology are driven by educational needs. The paper concludes that design of educational technology interventions should be driven by educational needs within the context of a broader teaching and learning strategy which requires buy-in of both educators and learners.

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Introduction

It has been suggested that information and communication technologies (ICTs) can and do play a number of roles in education. These include providing a catalyst for rethinking teaching practice (Flecknoe, 2002; McCormick & Scrimshaw, 2001); developing the kind of graduates and citizens required in an information society (Department of Education, 2001); improving educational outcomes (especially pass rates) and enhancing and improving the quality of teaching and learning (Wagner, 2001; Garrison & Anderson, 2003).

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CHALLENGES FACING HIGHER EDUCATION IN SOUTH AFRICA

General challenges

Currently, higher education in South Africa is under increasing pressure to meet the social

transformation and skills needs of the new South Africa (Kistan, 2002). At the same time it is

under immense external and internal pressure to improve on its policy and delivery performance

(De Clercq, 2002).

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EDUCATIONAL CHALLENGES IN SOUTH AFRICAN HIGHER EDUCATION

As is the case in higher education globally, South African higher education is under pressure to

increase participation from diverse groups of students and to produce the skills required for a

rapidly changing society. In the UK, for example, participation in higher education has increased

since the 1940s but participation of higher socioeconomic groups still exceeds that of lower

socio-economic groups (DFES report, 2004).

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Specific teaching and learning challenges

The major teaching and learning challenges facing higher education revolve around student

diversity, which includes, amongst others, diversity in students’ academic preparedness,

language and schooling background. Teaching and learning in higher education in general can

largely be characterised as follows:

[…] instruction that is too didactic, a lack of personal contact between teachers and

students and among students, assessment methods that are inadequate to measure

sophisticated learning goals and too little opportunity for students to integrate knowledge

from different fields and apply what they learn to the solution of real-world problems.

(Knapper, 2001: 94)

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RESPONDING TO THE CHALLENGES

Since the teaching and learning challenges are multi-faceted, multi-pronged approaches are

needed in order to attempt to solve some of these problems. Dede (1998) postulates:

[…] information technology is a cost-effective investment only in the context of a systemic reform. Unless other simultaneous innovations in pedagogy, curriculum, assessment, and

school organization are coupled to the usage of instructional technology, the time and effort

expended on implementing these devices produces few improvements in educational

outcomes – and reinforces many educators’ cynicism about fads based on magical

machines.We infer from Dede that there are several inter-related factors that influence improvements in

educational outcomes. Thus together, pedagogy, curriculum, assessment and organisation

contribute to bringing about improvements in the educational process.

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CONCLUSION

South African universities face increasing pressure from government to meet the needs of social

transformation in education. South African government policy on social transformation in

education requires increasing the representation of Black South Africans and women among

students and graduates and significantly improving the graduation rates and throughput of Black

South African students. Given the social-historical context of South Africa, meeting the educational challenges associated with this noble goal requires re-conceptualisation of how

educational technologies are applied so as to make an impact. The paper has proposed a model for teaching and learning activities that are associated with media forms. The model has been substantiated with examples of the application of educational technologies to teaching

mathematical literacy, academic literacy, management of large classes, and ways of influencing

curriculum design. Our argument is that technology alone is not a solution to the educational

challenges faced in South Africa. The challenges lie in identifying and conceptualising ways that

educational technology can usefully contribute to student learning experiences, curriculum and

pedagogical designs. The paper demonstrates and argues that educational technology has a key role to play in South African higher education as one of the strategies for addressing teaching and learning concerns. This challenges learning designers to rethink the role of educational technology within broader educational interventions that are shaped by educational needs rather than being technologically driven.

International Journal of Education and Development using Information and Communication Technology

(IJEDICT), 2007, Vol. 3, Issue 4, pp. 131-142.