Browsing by Author "Mayisela, Catherine Thabisa"

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    Exploring the role of Web 2.0 applications in the acquisition of digital literacy by first-year students at a South African University of Technology
    (2025) Mhlongo, Mandlankosi Franscis; Mayisela, Catherine Thabisa
    Despite the growing use of digital technologies in higher education, particularly in the university of technology (UoT) under investigation, many first-year students find it challenging to actively engage with online learning because of a lack of competence in digital literacy. This suggests that developing digital literacy is becoming more important for higher education students' success. This study adopted a skills-based approach, recognizing the core technical and information literacy practices and skills students need to effectively carry out their learning activities across their courses and beyond. The aim of this study was to explore the utilisation of Web 2.0 applications to facilitate the development of digital literacies among first-year Engineering students at a UoT. These applications include many different social media applications and websites, including blogs, discussion forums, wikis, social media networks and social bookmarking. A sequential mixed-methods strategy was adopted in this study to collect both pre-course (quantitative) and post-course (qualitative) data from a purposive sample of 275 first-year Engineering students. The pre-course questionnaire solicited data on students' lack of digital literacy to establish their digital literacy training needs. Over the course of two weeks, a digital literacy course was delivered with the goal of supporting students with navigating the transition between high school and university. After that, three focus groups were held with 27 students to explore the skills developed and their perceptions about the usage of Web 2.0 apps in facilitating their digital literacy acquisition. The pre- and post-course questions were developed using Ng's concepts and the three dimensions of digital literacy (technical, cognitive, and social-emotional). The intricate dimensions of student digital literacy were further analysed using Ng's framework. Additionally, the framework for digital literacy developed by Martin was used to explain how students' digital literacy developed as a result of their usage and competence with technology. Significant findings are that YouTube played a pivotal role in facilitating students' development of digital literacy. In comparison, discussion forums and blogs were not effective because students were uncomfortable posting or commenting in English, (the medium of instruction) and not their native language. Also, students felt that the duration of the digital literacy course was too short. The results of this study could inform attempts to enhance students' abilities to succeed in digital learning, including curriculum development, pedagogical approaches, and digital literacy programmes. It is recommended that: (i) the digital literacy course be extended over a longer period; and (ii) educators integrate digital literacy into the curriculum with the goal to support students from disadvantaged backgrounds who lack basic digital literacy.
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    Investigating faculty-based communities of practice for technology-augmented pedagogical practices at Eduardo Mondlane University: A case of innovators and adopters
    (2022) Miguel, Elódia Júlia da Graça; Mayisela, Catherine Thabisa; Carr, Tony
    Institutional inhibiting factors, and lack of motivation and support at the University of Eduardo Mondlane (UEM) result in lecturers not teaching using technology-augmented approaches. This research study investigates how a faculty-based EdTech-UEM professional development model could potentially foster Communities of Practice (CoPs) for technology-augmented pedagogical practices in UEM faculties. One way of addressing the technology-augmented pedagogical practices is to understand motivations, pedagogical practices, support and barriers of lecturers to adopt them. Lecturers (innovators and adopters: early adopters and late majority adopters) who participated in the four workshops on EdTech professional development, reported instances of innovators exhibiting peer leadership in group-learning activities during the workshops. The CoPs theoretical framework was used to investigate social learning and support among the innovators and adopters. After the workshops, which coincided with the beginning of the pandemic, 18 lecturer participants of the workshops were purposefully selected, and semi-structured interviews were conducted with the goal of better understanding the support needs among lecturers (innovators and adopters) after the workshops as well as discussing the best ways to overcome potential barriers and challenges in technology-augmented pedagogical practices and provide a conducive environment for the emergence of CoPs in the adoption of technology-augmented pedagogical practices. The workshops were before the pandemic and lecturers implemented what they learnt during the pandemic. It was serendipitous as the workshops helped them to prepare for ERT even it was not the aim of the initiative that completed before the pandemic started. The interviews were recorded and transcribed, and the empirical data was analysed through an interpretive approach. The interpretive method looks at how people make sense of their experiences, as well as how they construct and attribute meaning to their worlds. The result of the interpretive analysis was based on the description of qualitative themes formed and related from each other in multiple case studies of both innovators and adopters. The anonymity of their responses was guaranteed.