Browsing by Subject "ICTs"

Now showing 1 - 6 of 6
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    Open Access
    Case study: South African Review of Sociology
    (2009-02-28) Gray, Eve; Willmers, Michelle
    This case study describes the use of ICTs in the publication of a scholarly society journal, the South African Review of Sociology, in a context in which the Scientific Editor is a senior member of an academic department at the University of Cape Town. It provides insights into the challenges and opportunities that are faced in society publishing in a South African context.and explores the problems faced when editorship of a journal is held by a senior academic who receives little or no institutional support in the publishing endeavour. The case study reveals the difficulties faced by small society publishers struggling to ensure the survival of established journals that represent significant knowledge capital, but which are undermined by an environment characterised by a lack of national and institutional support for scholarly publishing; rapid technological development; shrinking library budgets and increasing international competition.
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    Open Access
    How the use of information and communication technology enables school teachers to generate educational outcomes: case of South Africa
    (2020) Koranteng, Kesewaa; Chigona, Wallace
    Problem Statement: ICT is said to improve educational efficiencies and aids in addressing educational shortcomings in the developing world context. Although ICT holds the potential to greatly improve teaching, why and how ICT has the probability of transforming teaching, for actors and within the developing world context remains uncertain. The potential impact of these tools may be affected by contextual and socio-cultural factors. Socio-cultural factors may have a negative consequence on students' learning and can increase educational inequalities, especially in developing countries. The challenge is that existing research does not clearly explain how educational outcomes are generated through the use of ICT within the social-cultural context of teachers. Purpose of the research: The objective of this study was to examine how educational outcomes are generated through the use of ICT in a developing world context, at a micro-level – an individual. The aim was to investigate how the use of ICT enables opportunities for school teachers to generate educational outcomes. Research approach: The study adopted an interpretive approach using a qualitative method. The study adopted a case study method. The study drew on the Capability Approach (CA) as supplemented by individual differences conceptual framework and taxonomy of ICT affordances as a theoretical lens to explain why and how ICT affects teaching, for whom and in what context. The study analysed the patterns between opportunities determined by affordances, individual differences that affect how ICT is used and educational outcomes. The study used a purposive sampling method to select seven schools. From the seven schools, fifteen teachers, seven principals, seven ICT coordinators or personnel in charge of ICT, and two heads of e-Learning in Western Cape education districts. Data was obtained through background documents, semistructured interviews and direct observations of teachers. Key findings: ICT enabled teachers to generate three outcomes: (i) teaching capability outcomes that led to improvements in content delivery, communication, and lesson preparation relating directly to teaching, (ii) basic human capability outcomes led to the needs of the teachers regarding their well-being being met (iii) communication capability outcomes led to teaching communities consisting of teachers that share resources and expertise. Individual differences of teachers, personal data (such as age, ICT skills training, education and level of expertise in the subject taught), social factors (rules and policies), shaping and influencing factors (such as personality type and role model) and environmental context (such as habits, customs, beliefs and cultural values) determined how teachers used ICT to enable capabilities. Various factors (such as infrastructure, learner engagement and excitement as well as ICT skills training) affected the choice of teachers to act on the opportunities afforded by ICT to generate educational outcomes. The value of the study: The study makes three contributions. First, the research suggests theoretical propositions for explaining how the use of ICT enables teachers to produce educational outcomes. The study developed a conceptual framework by integrating Amartya Sen's CA, individual differences conceptual framework and taxonomy of affordance to explain how educational outcomes are generated through the use of ICT in the developing world context. The study found the ICT artefact, features, supportive function (such as training and support) and affordances enabled opportunities, the teachers acted on these opportunities to generate efficiencies in teaching, their well-being and the broader educational community within the context of individual differences. Second, the study provides recommendations for planners and implementers to address issues on the actual realisation of ICT benefits by creating effective strategies that aim at improving implementation of ICT in schools. These strategies should look at the opportunities generated from ICT and how teachers use these opportunities to achieve educational outcomes. Additionally, recommendations were provided for e-Learning coordinators who wish to deploy ICT and integrate it into schools' curricula to equip teachers with all the components of TPACK (Technology, Pedagogy and Content Knowledge). Additionally, e-Learning coordinators should provide a space for teachers to experiment, highlighting existing practices and providing support to achieve their personal goals, which are part of their value system. Third, empirical evidence and theory in this thesis contribute to the knowledge of ICT in education assessments by offering a better explanation of the capability outcomes in ICT in the education field.
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    International environmental scan of the use of ICTs for community engagement in higher education
    (2009-02-28) Hodgkinson-Williams, Cheryl; Gray, Eve; Willmers, Michelle; Steenkamp-Fonseca, Raymond
    This position paper provides a brief overview of how higher education institutions (HEIs) internationally are using ICTs to enhance their engagement with the broader community and highlights some applications which could be useful for South African HEIs.
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    Open Access
    National environmental scan of South African scholarly publishing
    (2009-04-30) Gray, Eve
    Undertaken as part of the OpeningScholarship project at the University of Cape Town (UCT), this position paper reviews the national environment for the use of ICTs for research dissemination and publication in the South African higher education sector. Taking UCT as a case study, the paper reviews the use of ICTs for scholarly communications for research, teaching and learning, and community engagement in the university against the background of international developments and best practice.
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    Resistance to the implementation of learning management systems by lecturers in higher education in a developing country context
    (2019) Sakala, Lucy Charity; Chigona, Wallace
    Problem Statement: The implementation and use of Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) has been ascribed as a transformative drive across the world, especially to improve the human capacity development of individuals in Higher Educational Institutions (HEIs). However, developing countries are still struggling to harness the productive capacity of their ICT resources. The ICT index of ‘access, use and skills’ in developing countries is less than 50%, whilst that for developed countries is above 75%. Whilst HEIs have incorporated ICTs, the uptake of the Learning Management Systems (LMS) is low, with the expected objectives remaining largely unachieved and the full potential of the technologies not realised. A myriad of challenges have contributed to the low uptake of ICT projects in resource-limited settings ranging from limited ICT expertise, cost and complexity of implementation, inadequate training, lack of top management support, poor organisational culture, limited infrastructure and resistance to change. Whilst these challenges play a significant role in limiting uptake, the role of user resistance to LMS implementation in HEIs has not been fully explored. Purpose of study: This study offered an explanatory critique of user resistance and its implications on low uptake of LMS in HEIs. The objective was to examine how resistance behaviours manifested from lecturers during implementation of an LMS in an HEI of a developing country context. The study identified different forms of lecturer resistance behaviours and examined how they manifested to cause low uptake of the LMS. It also analysed the nature of responses and/or strategies from management and ICT implementers towards the lecturer resistance behaviours during LMS implementation. Furthermore, the study examined how contextual factors influenced manifestation of resistance practices in relation to habitus, capital and field positions of lecturers, management and ICT implementers. Research methodology: The study adopted an interpretive research paradigm and drew on Bourdieu`s Theory of Practice (TOP) framework and the Multilevel Model of Resistance to Information Technology Implementation (MRITI) as theoretical lens, to analyse the manifestation, interaction and logic of user resistance towards LMS implementation in HEIs. The study analysed data from semi-structured interviews and project documents to highlight issues of incorporating ICTs into teaching and learning. More data and field notes came from participant observations during the implementation of the LMS (Moodle). The case of Omega University in Zimbabwe was used as a representation of an HEI in a developing country context. Key findings: User resistance affected the implementation and uptake of Moodle. The different forms of resistance behaviours that manifested from lecturers during Moodle implementation were disinterest, minimal use, refusal to use, pessimism, withdrawal, avoidance, prioritisation and delegation. The forms were classified into four episodes; apathy, passive resistance, covert resistance and active resistance. Aggressive forms of resistance were not found in this study. Delegation of responsibilities was a unique form in that it falsified and misrepresented acceptance of Moodle despite harbouring resistance tendencies; like two sides of the same coin. Resistance behaviours manifested during Moodle implementation due to initial conditions that interacted with objects and triggers of resistance to generate perceived threats in lecturers. Initial conditions were Omega`s management model, its ICT structure and ICT culture, whilst the objects of lecturer`s resistance were mostly towards ‘Moodle advocates’ and less towards ‘Moodle features’ or ‘Moodle significance’. Therefore, lecturer resistance behaviours were directed towards external rather than internal factors with regard to the LMS. The triggers of lecturer resistance were grouped into management, infrastructure and personal triggers. Perceived threats from lecturers were either fear of loss of relevance, status, jobs or increased workloads. The positive responses and/or strategies from management and ICT implementers were acknowledgment, reward innovation, rectification, effective training and user consultations, whilst the negative responses were inaction, dissuasion, enforcement, no reward for innovation, ineffective training, and absence of change management. Due to other underlying contextual factors, the nature of these responses neither reduced lecturer resistance nor enhanced the low uptake of Moodle. Contextual factors in form of differences in habitus and forms of capital influenced lecturer resistance as well as practices of management and ICT implementers during Moodle implementation. Lecturer resistance was caused by the following habitus: prior exposure to technology, age-related habitus, technophobia and pedagogical beliefs and the following forms of capital: qualifications, position, academic titles and employment status. The practices of management and ICT implementers were driven by the habitus of implementing, supporting, training of ICT projects, providing ICT infrastructure as well as developing and enforcing ICT policies. The following forms of capital motivated management and ICT implementers` practices: prestige, honour, level of Moodle expertise and university positions. Contribution of the study: The study contributed to knowledge, theory and practice. First, the study provided a deeper conceptualisation of user resistance towards the implementation of ICT projects and suggested theoretical propositions to explain how lecturer resistance manifested during the implementation of LMS in HEIs. Second, the study developed a unified conceptual framework by integrating Bourdieu`s TOP and MRITI to explain resistance practices during LMS implementation in HEIs. Third, the study provided recommendations for managers and ICT implementers in Zimbabwean HEIs and similar contextual settings, to address user resistance issues by creating effective responses and strategies aimed at improving the design, implementation and uptake of LMS in HEIs. Additionally, recommendations were provided for HEIs who wish to achieve ‘technological determinism’ and/or ‘techno-centrism’, to implement policies that equip intended technology users with all the knowledge components of TPACK (Technology, Pedagogy and Content Knowledge). Finally, technology implementers should resolve exogenous issues in the institution before system implementation to avoid users directing focus on endogenous factors. This intervention and understanding may lead to the realisation of the full potential of ICT projects and achievement of expected objectives in HEIs of developing countries.
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    Open Access
    Students make a plan: understanding student agency in constraining conditions
    (Taylor & Francis, 2009) Czerniewicz, Laura; Williams, Kevin; Brown, Cheryl
    Drawing on Archer's perspectives on the agency/structure relationship, this paper explains situations where students in varied, challenging circumstances find ways to negotiate difficult conditions. It reports on a 2007 study undertaken through a survey at three quite different universities in three South African provinces, addressing inter-related questions on access and use. Our findings are that on-campus access is generally reported favourably, and off-campus access is problematic and uneven. There is a cluster of students using their cell phones to access the Internet, and using their cell phones for academic purposes, and this is true across socio-economic groups (SEGs). It is especially striking that students from low SEGs do so. The findings show the choices students are prepared to make and the strategies which they find in order to engage online or access the Internet to support their studies. Archer's nuanced approach to agency and structure helps us begin to make sense of the way that students exhibit a more complex and nuanced way of engaging with the availability of different kinds of technologies, as well as making considered decisions about using ubiquitous technologies in unexpected ways and for purposes for which they may not have been intended. Her concept of reflexivity provides a way of describing how those choices are made in relation to structural conditions and enables us to explain how students are 'persons' showing an inventive capacity to circumvent the constraints imposed by structures.