Harnessing Technology for Cultural Transformation: A Case Study From South Africa

2021 ◽  
Vol 4 (12) ◽  
Author(s):  
Nompilo Tshuma
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
South Africa ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Change Agents ◽  
Cultural Transformation ◽  
Cultural Norms ◽  
Academic Change ◽  
Critical Issues

Taming the technology used for teaching and learning in higher education can take different forms. These taming activities are dependent on the context – and critical issues that affect higher education within those contexts – as well as the agency of academics to address those issues. The focus of this paper is on one such context, where cultural transformation is a key theme in higher education. In this paper, I reflect on how technology has been harnessed by academic change agents to challenge cultural norms while recognising diversity within their classrooms.

scholarly journals Enterprise Resource Planning Tools Management in Private Higher Education in South Africa

2021 ◽  
Vol 11 (2(V)) ◽  
pp. 12-22
Author(s):  
Joseph Mithi ◽  
Saths Govender
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
South Africa ◽  
Enterprise Resource Planning ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Resource Planning ◽  
Private Higher Education ◽  
Study Objective ◽  
Academic Management ◽  
Planning Tools ◽  
Critical Issues

In this research on Enterprise Resource Planning Tools Management in Private Higher Education in South Africa, the study objective was to determine critical issues influencing Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) tools selection in academic management in Private Higher Education Institutions (PHEIs) in South Africa. A mixed-methods (qualitative and quantitative) research methodology was used to triangulate the results of the research from an interpretive position. The research analyzed and reported on subjective and quantitative data to ascertain knowledge about the participants’ recognition of critical issues affecting the management of ERP tools in academic management in PHEIs in South Africa. In this study, the following groups of participants were purposefully sampled: students, lecturers and management staff working in the three PHEIs in Gauteng. The study found that academic attainment in PHEIs could be enhanced through ERP tools management in ICT integration. The research outcomes suggest that there is enhanced coaching and students' personal interactions through online conference tools, a practice that may be backed up and carry the same weight and recognition as physical learning contact hours. Issues of integration in the selection of any robust, dynamic PHEI tools may call for a firm’s financial readiness and company-wide consultations with potential users of the system. Any HE ERP system that does not have a student portal, without integrated online issues of applications, checking of results, enhancement of teaching and learning but partly integrating one or two departments in isolation to others, may not be considered fit or robust as a higher educational ERP tool.

E-Learning and Conventional Learning in 21st Century Information Age: A Case Study Of Students from Selected Universities in Buffalo City Metropolitan Eastern Cape South Africa

10.31355/39 ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 3 ◽  
pp. 031-041
Author(s):  
Agyei Fosu
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
South Africa ◽  
Learning Environment ◽  
21St Century ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Eastern Cape ◽  
Teaching And Learning Environment ◽  
E Learning ◽  
Higher Education Teaching

NOTE: THIS ARTICLE WAS PUBLISHED WITH THE INFORMING SCIENCE INSTITUTE. Aim/Purpose................................................................................................................................................................................................. The main aim of the study is to critically examine the forces that can impede or support students to use e-learning in higher education teaching and learning environment which require not only pre-technological literacy’s but easy access to the e-learning platform and ICT devices. Background................................................................................................................................................................................................. The concept of e-learning has grown considerably in the past three or four decades, which according to Pollock and Cornford, (2003) has prompted a great deal of interest in using and integration of technology into teaching and learning environment thereby transforming the very nature of the traditional higher education system. Murphy et al (2001) have highlighted that not only does the new technologies supplement the conventional course delivery in institutions of higher learning, but they have also become a catalyst for change in higher education. South Africa as a developing nation has adopted the introduction of ICTs in the education system with the hope that it may offer some solutions to the challenges of education in South Africa. The South African Department of Education believes that developments in ICTs and its introduction to the education system creates access to learning opportunities, redresses inequalities, improve the quality of learning and teaching, and deliver lifelong learning (Department of Education, 2004). Even though internet access and ICT devices are becoming more common in South Africa, the use of them for teaching and learning purposes are limited. According to the White Paper on E-education in South Africa (SA, 2004), the Province of Eastern Cape has ranked lowest in terms of number of schools with computers for teaching and learning and as a result many students from Eastern Cape Province who enter higher education do not have adequate technological literacy levels to cope with the demands of higher education teaching and learning environment. Methodology................................................................................................................................................................................................. The design of the study was a case study and it utilized quantitative method. The number of sample units in the study was 65 students from Walter Sisulu University, University of South Africa, Pearson Institute of Higher Education (formerly called CTI) and University of Fort Hare campuses based in East London Eastern Cape Province South Africa. The data were analyzed using MS Excel spreadsheet database for conversion into percentages for the descriptive statistics. Contribution................................................................................................................................................................................................. It is essential to understand the forces that can impede or support e-learning. Possible solutions can be suggested for successfully integrating e-learning into higher education teaching and learning environment to meet 21st century students’ needs. The South Africa case study identified that a number of respondents indicated that the resources are available for e-learning on their university campuses. But these available resources are not efficiently used by most respondents to support their studies. Findings......................................................................................................................................................................................................... The results indicated that in the area of infrastructure required for e-learning, the majority of respondents indicated that the resources are available for e-learning on the campuses of the sampled universities. But these available re-sources are not efficiently utilized by respondents to support their studies. Recommendations for Practitioners............................................................................................................................................................... While universities and other institutions of higher education are encouraging integration of e-learning into the curriculum, it is also imperative that their teaching and learning strategies and policies take into account that some students are unevenly challenged in terms of technological skills and still require additional support. Recommendation for Researchers................................................................................................................................................................ There is the need to explore in depth the aspects that lead to the successful integration of e-learning into conventional lecture method of courses delivery. Impact on Society........................................................................................................................................................................................... With the dawn of 21st century digital and knowledge-based economies evolution where the integration of computers and other ICTs tools in higher education teaching and learning environments have been found to be very beneficial to students, hence not only pre-technological literacy’s of students but easy access to the e-learning platform and ICT devices are critical to higher education learning environment. Assessing students technological skills and access to e-learning platforms to which this study contributes will assist in improving quality education which has a greater impact on society. Future Research............................................................................................................................................................................................... In the context in which this study was conducted further examination of the technological skills of academic staff of the successful integration of e-learning into curriculum would be advisable.

Challenges Posed by Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) for South African Higher Education Institutions

10.28945/2679 ◽  
2003 ◽  
Author(s):  
ME Herselman ◽  
HR Hay
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
South Africa ◽  
Information And Communication Technologies ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Driving Forces ◽  
Higher Education Institutions ◽  
Communication Technologies ◽  
Revolutionary Change ◽  
Information And Communication ◽  
Teaching Learning

Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) are the major driving forces of globalised and knowledge-based societies of a new world era. They will have a profound impact on teaching and learning for two decades to come. The revolutionary change which is taking place in Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), has dramatic effects on the way universities carry out their functions of teaching, learning and research, particularly on the creation, dissemination and application of knowledge. These developments pose unprecedented challenges to higher education institutions (HEIs) in developing countries particular in South Africa as South Africa is viewed as the leading country on the continent.

scholarly journals “You would expect the successful person to be the man”

2015 ◽  
Vol 7 (3) ◽  
pp. 303-320 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sally Jones
Keyword(s):  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Entrepreneurship Education ◽  
Education Institution ◽  
Symbolic Violence ◽  
Cultural Norms ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Study Approach ◽  
Multiple Method ◽  
The Impact

Purpose – This paper aims to to explore power and legitimacy in the entrepreneurship education classroom by using Pierre Bourdieu’s sociological and educational theories. It highlights the pedagogic authority invested in educators and how this may be influenced by their assumptions about the nature of entrepreneurship. It questions the role of educators as disinterested experts, exploring how power and gendered legitimacy “play out” in staff–student relationships and female students’ responses to this. Design/methodology/approach – A multiple-method, qualitative case study approach is taken, concentrating on a depth of focus in one UK’s higher education institution (HEI) and on the experiences, attitudes and classroom practices of staff and students in that institution. The interviews, with an educator and two students, represent a self-contained story within the more complex story of the case study. Findings – The interviewees’ conceptualization of entrepreneurship is underpinned by acceptance of gendered norms, and both students and staff misrecognize the masculinization of entrepreneurship discourses that they encounter as natural and unquestionable. This increases our understanding of symbolic violence as a theoretical construct that can have real-world consequences. Originality/value – The paper makes a number of theoretical and empirical contributions. It addresses an important gap in the literature, as educators and the impact of their attitudes and perceptions on teaching and learning are rarely subjects of inquiry. It also addresses gaps and silences in understandings of the gendered implications of HE entrepreneurship education more generally and how students respond to the institutional arbitration of wider cultural norms surrounding entrepreneurship. In doing so, it challenges assertions that Bourdieu’s theories are too abstract to have any empirical value, by bridging the gap between symbolic violence as a theory and its manifestation in teaching and learning practices.

Widening Access to Higher Education – An Australian Case Study

2003 ◽  
Vol 8 (2) ◽  
pp. 195-212
Author(s):  
Glen Postle ◽  
Andrew Sturman
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Access To Higher Education ◽  
History Of Higher Education ◽  
Student Groups ◽  
Diverse Student ◽  
History Of ◽  
Australian Case ◽  
Open And Distance Learning

In this paper the authors trace the development of equity within the Australian higher education context over the latter part of the last century. In particular they focus on the ways different perspectives (liberalist-individualist and social democratic) have shaped what has been a dramatic increase in the number and diversity of students accessing higher education in Australia. The adoption of a specific perspective has influenced the formation of policies concerning equity and consequently the way universities have responded to the pressures to accept more and different students. These responses are captured under two main headings – ‘restructuring the entry into higher education’ and ‘changing the curriculum within higher education’. Several examples of current programs and procedures based upon these are explained. The paper concludes with the identification of three ‘dilemmas' which have emerged as a result of the development and implementation of equity processes and procedures in higher education in Australia. These are: (a) While there has been an increase in the number and range of students accessing higher education, this has been accompanied by a financial cost to the more disadvantaged students, a cost which has the potential to exacerbate equity principles. (b) For one of the first times in the history of higher education, a focus is being placed on its teaching and learning functions, as opposed to its research functions. The problem is that those universities that have been obliged to broaden their base radically have also been obliged to review their teaching and learning practices without any budgetary compensation. (c) A third consequence of these changes relates to the life of a traditional academic. Universities that have been at the forefront of ‘changing their curriculum’ to cope with more diverse student groups (open and distance learning) have seen the loss of ‘lecturer autonomy’ as they work more as members of teams and less as individuals.

scholarly journals Cross-cultural effects of COVID-19 on higher education learning and teaching practice: A case study from Greece

2021 ◽  
Vol 18 (5) ◽  
pp. 73-89
Author(s):  
Margarita Kefalaki ◽  
◽  
Michael Nevradakis ◽  
Qing Li ◽  
◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Focus Groups ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Teaching Practice ◽  
Cross Cultural ◽  
Education Students ◽  
Learning And Teaching ◽  
Cultural Effects ◽  
Global Pandemic

COVID-19 has greatly impacted all aspects of our everyday lives. A global pandemic of this magnitude, even as we now emerge from strict measures such as lockdowns and await the potential for a ‘new tomorrow’ with the arrival of vaccines, will certainly have long-lasting consequences. We will have to adapt and learn to live in a different way. Accordingly, teaching and learning have also been greatly impacted. Changes to academic curricula have had tremendous cross-cultural effects on higher education students. This study will investigate, by way of focus groups comprised of students studying at Greek universities during the pandemic, the cross-cultural effects that this ‘global experience’ has had on higher education, and particularly on students in Greek universities. The data collection tools are interviews and observations gathered from focus groups.

scholarly journals Co-creating real-world research skills

2020 ◽  
Vol 4 (1) ◽  
pp. 120-127
Author(s):  
Julie Prescott ◽  
Duncan Cross ◽  
Pippa Iliff
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Real World ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Setting Time ◽  
Research Project ◽  
Research Skills ◽  
Open Environment ◽  
Support Time ◽  
Shared Ownership

This case study considers a students-as-partners’ research project that aimed to develop technologically-driven tools to enhance teaching and learning in higher education. It focuses on how the project enabled student participants to gain real world research skills and experience. We present reflections from both a student and a staff perspective and propose START (Support, Time, Adapt, Risks, Trust) as an approach to engage students to gain real-world research skills. Support refers to providing support for skills gaps and learning in an applied setting. Time refers to providing time to settle into the project and develop confidence, including realistic timeframes and deadlines. Adapt refers to giving students the space to develop not only the required skills but also the tools to develop their own abilities and confidence through a supportive, flexible and open environment. Risks refers to taking risks for example in terms of roles, responsibilities and leadership. Trust refers to providing guidance and encouragement that will allow students to achieve on their own and take shared ownership.

Piloting Online Submission and Online Assessment with GradeMark

2014 ◽  
pp. 125-151 ◽  
Author(s):  
Trudy Ambler ◽  
Yvonne Breyer ◽  
Sherman Young
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Implementation Process ◽  
Cultural Transformation ◽  
Student Experiences ◽  
Learning And Teaching ◽  
Online Technologies ◽  
Electronic Assessment ◽  
Online Submission ◽  
Challenges And Opportunities

Online technologies are becoming ubiquitous in higher education and present both challenges and opportunities for those involved in learning and teaching. This chapter reports on the research-enhanced implementation of Electronic Assessment Management (EAM) within one faculty of a university in Sydney, Australia. This research was conducted as a qualitative case study. Questionnaires were used to investigate staff and student experiences of EAM, and the researcher's reflective practice made it possible to capture important details of the implementation process mediated through the researchers as participants. The research found enormous potential in EAM implementation for cultural transformation in learning and teaching. The authors argue that the move to EAM is now a viable option for universities. The combination of a rapidly evolving higher education landscape, evidence from exploring both staff and student experiences of engaging with EAM, and the benefits which the transition offers for the professional development of academics make the use of EAM essential for reasons of both pedagogy and efficiency.

Investigating the Effects of Social Media on Higher Education with a Case Study

2020 ◽  
Vol 19 (01) ◽  
pp. 2040023 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mamoun Masoud Abdulqader ◽  
Yousof Zohair Almunsour
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Social Media ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Faculty Members ◽  
The Other ◽  
Media In Education ◽  
Social Media Platforms ◽  
Use Of Social Media ◽  
Teaching Learning

This research aims to investigate the effects of social media use on higher education teaching and learning as well as the students’ academic performance. A total of 275 students and faculty members from the College of Computer Science and Information Technology at Imam Abdulrahman Bin Faisal University took part in the study. The participants answered survey questions to analyse information on their use of social media in education and how that has affected their teaching, learning and grades. A majority of the participants reported that they used social media in training. However, they also stated that social media platforms were beneficial in academic matters. The number of participants who stated that the use of social media in learning helped improve their grades was 43%. The other 57% thought that social media had no impact on their grades or had an adverse effect or were undecided.

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