A Snapshot Survey of ICT Integration in South African Schools

Authors

  • Keshnee Padayachee University of South Africa

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18489/sacj.v29i2.463

Keywords:

Information Communication Technology, Education

Abstract

Information Communication Technology (ICT) integration in the classroom is often viewed as a panacea towards resolving South Africa’s education challenges. However, ICT integration in education in South Africa has been severely limited by operational, strategic and pedagogic challenges. In part, addressing the strategic and operational challenges involves understanding the current landscape of ICT integration in schools. There is scant information on the practical enforcement of ICTs in the classroom. The aim of this research is to determine the extent of ICT usage in South African schools in order to obtain an understanding of the practical enforcement of ICTs at the school level. This study combines both qualitative and quantitative data collection methods in order to provide a rich nuanced perspective of ICT integration in South African schools. The study found that the uptake of technology remains low, on average the frequency of usage per tool type was as follows: contextual tools (41%), sharing information and ideas tools (29%), experiential tools (26%) and reflective dialogue tools (18%). It was found that teachers are uncertain with respect to the enforcement of e-education while being encumbered by poor infrastructure and lack of skills.

Author Biography

Keshnee Padayachee, University of South Africa

Keshnee Padayachee is an associate professor in the School of Computing at the University of South Africa.

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Published

2017-10-13

Issue

Vol. 29 No. 2 (2017)

Section

Research Papers (general)

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