ICT-Enabled Education in Africa

Abstract

This essay prompts critical thinking on the way ICT-enabled education programs in Africa have been conceptualized and implemented. It reflects mainly on the experiences of the African SchoolNet movement over the past decade. It highlights important lessons and demonstrates the beneficial effects of technology-enhanced learning programs on African learners and teachers who have had the privilege of being included in SchoolNet initiatives. However, it also shows that the accumulated interventions and programs to date remain insignificant in scale to catalyze a resounding shift toward resolving the crisis in Africa’s education systems; it makes the case for integrated system-wide, locally led approaches that soberly takes account of the challenges imposed by globalization. The chapter traces the historical evolution of frameworks to promote African inclusion in the information society, and allusions are specifically made to the emergence of the NEPAD eSchools, and the Global eSchools and Communities Initiative of the UN ICT Task Force, which hold the potential for advancing the frontiers of learning in Africa. Here, the author emphasizes, however, that these new initiatives need to draw on the accumulated learning and experience of the SchoolNet movement over the past 10 years in Africa to succeed. Finally, the chapter raises the dearth of evidence-based research made in Africa by Africans who would verify or refute the case for stronger investment in ICTs for education. It then proffers suggestions on areas for further research.

Reflections on COVID-19 and the viability of curriculum adjustment and delivery options in the South African educational space

“…Furthermore, it is left to observe how South Africa's educational sector navigates around the somewhat unimplemented national policy framework on how to integrate technological convergence and advancements into tangible and best practices for the educational sector. With the uncertainty of the COVID-19 pandemic, there is the need for revisiting these policies (Council on Higher Education 2000;Department of Education 2004;Isaacs 2007;National Working Group 2002), and frameworks on proper utilisation of online systems to continue the seamless transition from campus-based approaches to virtual nationwide. As stated in the White Paper on e-Education of August 2004, implementation of policies around e-teaching and learning must 'transcend the mere exchange of information and [be] transform[ed] into a range of [creative and inclusive] learning activities that meet educational objectives [to ensure] the meaningful interaction of students with information' in South Africa (Department of Education 2004:14).…”

“…Scholars have argued that the use of e-teaching and learning is advantageous to the development of cultural, critical and operational skills for both students and facilitators (Azeez & Van Der Vyver 2018;Isaacs 2007;Kaliisa & Picard 2017;Mayisela 2013;Mpungose 2020b;Msomi & Bansilal 2018;Zimba et al 2020). Facilitators are also expected to be equipped with the knowledge about internet-mediated academic encounters seeing they are vital to achieving maximum success for e-teaching and learning in South Africa (Motala & Menon 2020).…”

Using Blackboard Collaborate for Law Pedagogy Amid a Spiraling Covid-19 Pandemic in a Historically Disadvantaged Black South African University

“…South Africa has continued to champion massive deployment of online learning tools via network technologies throughout the academic institutions, especially the tertiary institutions (Isaacs, 2007). Hence, tools to access online resources such as computers like desktops, laptops and smartphones are being deployed for educational purposes in South Africa tertiary institutions (Aheto, 2018).…”

Beyond notification: Filling gaps in peer production projects

“…In 2015, 57 million South African children of primary school age were still out of school (UNESCO, 2015), and South African primary schools were placed 132 out of 144 countries with regard to quality teaching (World Economic Forum [WEF], 2013). Although it has been reported that only 6% of classrooms have computers connected to the Internet (Isaacs, 2007), access to the Internet via mobile phones is significantly higher and Wikipedia is the sixth most visited website in the country (Alexa, 2017). All but one of South Africa’s eleven official languages has a Wikipedia edition, 2 and a number of projects initiated by volunteers and supported by Wikimedia Chapters and User Groups have been developed to make Wikipedia accessible offline.…”