Information and communications technologies in library facilities in disadvantaged rural schools in South Africa: Lessons from Limpopo province

2021 ◽  
pp. 1-20
Author(s):  
Samuel Maredi Mojapelo ◽  
Oluwole O. Durodolu
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Rural Schools ◽  
Primary Schools ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Information Needs ◽  
Basic Education ◽  
Limpopo Province ◽  
Information And Communications Technologies ◽  
Communications Technologies ◽  
Teacher Librarians

Universally, information and communications technologies (ICTs) have revolutionised multiple ways of executing tasks in many sectors. In the education sector, ICTs provide a scaffold to enhance technology-driven teaching and learning information needs of the teachers and learners in a school environment. The aim of the study was to investigate the availability and use of ICTs in library facilities in primary schools in disadvantaged rural communities in Limpopo province, South Africa. The study targeted all 18 primary schools in Lebopo Circuit of Mankweng Cluster. Self-administered questionnaires were used to collect data from teacher-librarians who attended a school library workshop at a local high school. Purposive sampling was employed in the selection of the teacher-librarians and all 18 schools were represented by one teacher-librarian. The findings indicate that there are few ICTs used by the teachers to enhance teaching and learning in different library facilities in disadvantaged rural schools. The study recommends that additional ICTs should be procured by the Department of Basic Education (DBE) for distribution to all schools to mitigate technology-driven information needs of teachers and learners. Furthermore, as vandalism was cited as a challenge in all schools, security needs upgrading to protect the few available ICTs.

scholarly journals Challenges in establishing and maintaining functional school libraries: Lessons from Limpopo Province, South Africa

2016 ◽  
Vol 50 (4) ◽  
pp. 410-426 ◽  
Author(s):  
Samuel Maredi Mojapelo
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Basic Education ◽  
School Library ◽  
Information Service ◽  
Limpopo Province ◽  
Black Communities ◽  
African Countries ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
The Government ◽  
Teacher Librarians

Most governments, particularly in poor and developing African countries, are hesitant to pledge themselves through a legislated school library policy to roll out an active and sustainable library and information service for their schools to improve the quality of education. In South Africa, providing schools with a well-resourced and well-staffed library and information service is even more challenging because of the inheritance of the apartheid education system prior to 1994. The article is limited to just one part of a research project which investigated the resource provision in public high schools in Limpopo Province, South Africa. The purpose of the study was to investigate challenges that negatively affect the establishment and sustainability of an active and vigorous library and information service for all schools in Limpopo Province. The study was largely quantitative, blended with triangulation of both quantitative and qualitative methods for data collection. Self-administered questionnaires were used to collect quantitative data from the principals or teacher-librarians at schools, while an interview schedule was used to collect qualitative data from education officials through face-to-face interviews. The findings established that there are daunting challenges which hinder effective establishment and maintenance of functional school library and information service. The national Department of Basic Education has a responsibility to ensure that school library policy is formulated, endorsed and implemented as a matter of urgency. The Government should also fast-track rural development to enable teachers and learners, particularly those in historically disadvantaged rural black communities, to access library materials in other amenities.

Educational Resources to Under-Resourced Schools in the Limpopo Province: Proposed Library Model

Mousaion ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 36 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Samuel Maredi Mojapelo
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Rural Communities ◽  
South African ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Basic Education ◽  
School Library ◽  
Limpopo Province ◽  
Library Services ◽  
Daunting Challenge

Universally, the significance of adequately resourced and well-staffed libraries to improve teaching and learning accomplishments in under-resourced schools cannot be overemphasised. In South Africa, resource provision is still a daunting challenge adversely affecting the quality of the results of learners. It is a distressing fact that, even in the post-apartheid South Africa, only a few (7%) schools have well-stocked and functioning libraries. One of the outcomes of this largely quantitative study was to propose a library model that the author hopes can be implemented to offer effective library and information services for schools - particularly in disadvantaged rural communities. Given the way in which the majority of South African schools are distributed in disadvantaged rural communities, the study recommends a cluster school library model that involves a number of schools in a particular circuit office being serviced by one well-equipped stand-alone library (cluster library) under the education library services of the provincial Department of Basic Education.

ROLE OF LIBRARIANS IN TEACHING INFORMATION LITERACY IN ZIMBABWEAN AND SOUTH AFRICAN UNIVERSITIES: A COMPARATIVE STUDY

Mousaion ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 33 (1) ◽  
pp. 23-42 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tinashe Mugwisi
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Information Literacy ◽  
Ethical Issues ◽  
University Libraries ◽  
Information And Communications Technologies ◽  
Communications Technologies ◽  
Information Skills ◽  
The University

Information and communications technologies (ICTs) and the Internet have to a large extent influenced the way information is made available, published and accessed. More information is being produced too frequently and information users now require certain skills to sift through this multitude in order to identify what is appropriate for their purposes. Computer and information skills have become a necessity for all academic programmes. As libraries subscribe to databases and other peer-reviewed content (print and electronic), it is important that users are also made aware of such sources and their importance. The purpose of this study was to examine the teaching of information literacy (IL) in universities in Zimbabwe and South Africa, and the role played by librarians in creating information literate graduates. This was done by examining whether such IL programmes were prioritised, their content and how frequently they were reviewed. An electronic questionnaire was distributed to 12 university libraries in Zimbabwe and 21 in South Africa. A total of 25 questionnaires were returned. The findings revealed that IL was being taught in universities library and non-library staff, was compulsory and contributed to the term mark in some institutions. The study also revealed that 44 per cent of the total respondents indicated that the libraries were collaborating with departments and faculty in implementing IL programmes in universities. The study recommends that IL should be an integral part of the university programmes in order to promote the use of databases and to guide students on ethical issues of information use.

scholarly journals Meeting Drug Information Needs of Adolescents

2021 ◽  
pp. 95-106
Author(s):  
Ross J. Todd
Keyword(s):  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Information Needs ◽  
Drug Information ◽  
Literacy Education ◽  
School Libraries ◽  
Process Information ◽  
Knowledge And Attitudes ◽  
Teacher Librarians ◽  
Drug Free

Drugs are an important life concern of adolescents, yet statistics show alarming and disturbing increases internationally in drug abuse. This paper reports on research that examines how adolescents cognitively process information about drugs. It explores why they chose and rejected information, and how they put it to use. The findings have important implications for the role of school libraries in the provision of drug information, the teaching and learning process, information literacy education, as well as for the role of teachers and teacher-librarians in shaping the knowledge and attitudes of adolescents toward a drug-free lifestyle.

scholarly journals Exploring Grade 6 mathematics teachers' use of the language of learning and teaching in assessment for learning

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Sizwe B Mahlambi ◽  
Ailwei S Mawela
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Language Proficiency ◽  
Mathematics Teachers ◽  
Primary Schools ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Assessment For Learning ◽  
Code Switching ◽  
Home Language ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Learning And Teaching

In this study, we aimed to explore Grade 6 mathematics teachers' use of English, the language of learning and teaching in assessment for learning in selected primary schools in Alexandra Township, South Africa. From Grade 4, English is the language of teaching and learning for most learners, despite English being the home language of a minority of learners. Results of studies have shown that in South Africa, in Grades 1 to 3, in which learners are taught using their home-language performance appears to be better than in Grades 4 to 6 where English as a First Additional Language (EFAL) is used for teaching and learning. Guided by qualitative case study design, we used semi-structured interviews and non-participatory observation to collect data from nine purposefully sampled Grade 6 mathematics teachers. In conjunction with the literature reviewed and the theory underpinning the study, we used themes to analyse, interpret, and discuss the data we collected. This research revealed that learners in Grade 6 struggle to understand English as the language of learning and teaching, so, to augment concept development and understanding, teachers and learners use code-switching. In the classrooms observed, this practice has become the norm to improve the performance of learners with limited language proficiency. However, because of the differences between the home language of learners and that of teachers in mathematics classrooms, code-switching is often not enough to ensure understanding.

scholarly journals LIBRARY AND INFORMATION RESOURCES IN RURAL SCHOOLS OF LIMPOPO PROVINCE: A SMALL STUDY

Mousaion ◽  
2016 ◽  
Vol 32 (2) ◽  
pp. 124-149
Author(s):  
Maredi Samuel Mojapelo ◽  
Jacqueline A. Fourie
Keyword(s):  
Rural Schools ◽  
School Curriculum ◽  
School Libraries ◽  
Information Resources ◽  
Limpopo Province ◽  
Small Study ◽  
Qualified Teacher ◽  
Access Information ◽  
Library Skills ◽  
Teacher Librarians

The purpose of this article is to report on a small study that investigated the availability of library and information resources in rural schools of Limpopo Province, South Africa. For the school curriculum to be successfully implemented, adequate library facilities, collections, staff and funds are required to support it. Data was collected by means of questionnaires directed to all teacher-librarians and principals in the high schools of the Lebopo Circuit, Capricorn District. The study found that most schools do not have functional school libraries. Converted classrooms serving as libraries are unorganised making it difficult to retrieve and access information. Some schools use staffrooms and storerooms to house library materials but learners cannot use these materials because of limited space. Unqualified teacher-librarians lack library skills and cannot guide learners to use resources. A few schools are without electricity making it impossible to operate electronic equipment. The authors recommend that schools should be provided with library-based resources managed by professionally qualified teacher-librarians to meet the needs of learners and the aims of the school curriculum.

ICT Applications in U.S. Higher Education

2010 ◽  
pp. 47-58 ◽  
Author(s):  
Michelle O. Crosby-Nagy ◽  
John M. Carfora
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Virtual Environments ◽  
Millennial Generation ◽  
Teaching And Learning ◽  
Internationalization Of Higher Education ◽  
Information And Communications Technologies ◽  
Ict Integration ◽  
Approach To Learning ◽  
Communications Technologies ◽  
The Future

This chapter examines applications of information and communications technologies (ICTs) for education, including multi-user virtual environments (MUVEs) and their returns to teaching and learning in U.S. higher education. ICT applications are most valuable when used in the context of courses with a team-based approach to learning or collaboration opportunities. Some drivers of ICT integration are discussed including the internationalization of higher education and the Millennial generation as the new customers of higher education. Recommendations for the fundamentals of positive ICT applications and integration are provided, as well as a discussion about the future of ICT applications such as MUVEs.

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