The role of ICTs in higher education in South Africa: one strategy for addressing teaching and learning challenges

One of the most common problems of using Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) in education is to base choices on technological possibilities rather than educational needs. In developing countries where higher education is fraught with serious challenges at multiple levels, there is increasing pressure to ensure that technological possibilities are viewed in the context of educational needs. This paper argues that a central role of educational technology is to provide additional strategies that can be used to address the serious environmental and educational challenges faced by educators and students in higher education. The educational needs manifest in South African universities include addressing general lack of academic preparedness, multilingual needs in English medium settings, large class sizes and inadequate curriculum design. Using case studies from one higher educational institution, this paper shows how specific and carefully considered interventions using ICTs can be used to address these teaching and learning concerns. These examples serve to demonstrate some ways in which teaching and learning may be enhanced when uses of educational technology are driven by educational needs. The paper concludes that design of educational technology interventions should be driven by educational needs within the context of a broader teaching and learning strategy which requires buy-in of both educators and learners

Trade liberalisation under the Doha Development Agenda Options and consequences for Africa

This study provides a quantitative estimate of the potential economic consequences of multilateral trade reform under the WTO for Africa using a framework that explicitly incorporates issues of concern to the region, such as preference erosion, loss of tariff revenue, and trade facilitation. It also examines the impact of OECD agricultural support programmes on economic welfare and specialisation in Africa. In the static version of the GTAP model, the study finds that full liberalisation of trade would increase global welfare (income) by 0.3 per cent, but would add 0.7 per cent annually to income in the African region. Sub-Saharan Africa and, to a lesser extent, Southern Africa, are vulnerable to partial trade reforms as they incur losses from partial reform while all other regions derive positive gains from a liberalisation of minor scope.international trade, general equilibrium WTO, Doha round, Africa, agricultural policy

TRADE LIBERALISATION UNDER THE DOHA DEVELOPMENT AGENDA; OPTIONS AND CONSEQUENCES FOR AFRICA

This study provides a quantitative estimate of the potential economic consequences of multilateral trade reform under the WTO for Africa using a framework that explicitly incorporates issues of concern to the region, such as preference erosion, loss of tariff revenue, and trade facilitation. It also examines the impact of OECD agricultural support programmes on economic welfare and specialisation in Africa. In the static version of the GTAP model, the study finds that full liberalisation of trade would increase global welfare (income) by 0.3 per cent, but would add 0.7 per cent annually to income in the African region. Sub-Saharan Africa and, to a lesser extent, Southern Africa, are vulnerable to partial trade reforms as they incur losses from partial reform while all other regions derive positive gains from a liberalisation of minor scope.International Relations/Trade,

Small Groups: Effectiveness in a University Classroom and the Role Gender Plays in Group Interactions

Previous studies demonstrate that working in small teams enhances motivation, enthusiasm, and cooperative learning when compared to traditional learning methodology (Davies, 2009; Gaudet, Ramer, Nakonechny, Cragg, & Ramer, 2010). The purpose of this study is to understand the effectiveness and ineffectiveness of working in small groups in classrooms, and the effects that gender roles have. The present survey (N=138) reports on the effectiveness and ineffectiveness of working in small groups on assignments and projects in college level courses. Using a self-recording paper-and-pencil instrument, the researcher asked if the respondents have had the opportunity to work in small groups and how they felt about the outcome and success of the project assigned to the group, if they learned from working with the small group and if the goals were met when working in groups. It also asked if they believed that they would have been more effective in completing the work if they had worked alone. The students completing this survey were Hispanic and all students at a university in the southernmost region of Texas

Passive Participation in Collaborative Online Learning Activities: A Scoping Review of Research in Formal School Learning Settings

This scoping review summarizes studies on passive participation in collaborative online learning activities that used computer-mediated communication tools in school settings. A total of 42 articles spanning about 20 years were explored. ERIC and three main journal indexes from Web of Science were used to locate articles. For each year searched, there were only one to five studies that investigated passive participation, indicating that not many researchers have examined this topic in general. Most studies used mixed methods and were conducted in higher education settings in asynchronous online discussions. Three terms have been used to discuss the notion of passive participation: lurking for read-only behavior, legitimate peripheral participation for low contribution, and free riding for no contribution. Studies on passive participation have mainly explored four topical areas: motivational factors and reasons, participation types and behavioral patterns, effect on learning outcomes, and pedagogical strategies for de-lurking. Most studies have investigated passive participation as one of the behavior patterns among various types of participation. A few studies have solely examined read-only behaviors. The notion of passive participation varies among researchers and should therefore be redefined. Overall, there have been few studies on the topic of passive participation and those that have been conducted reveal some inconsistencies in their findings, indicating the topic requires further investigation. Future studies on this topic are urgently needed due to the forced shift to online courses precipitated by the pandemic. While instructors are also responsible for supporting their learners in this unprecedented context, researchers should investigate ways to help instructors better understand passive participants and encourage active learner participation in collaborative online learning space

Social Effectiveness of Tertiary Education for Adults in Mid-life

No abstract available

Perception of democracy in computer-mediated communication: Participation, responsibility, collaboration, and reflection.

We present a case study to analyze how higher education students attending a Spanish University (N = 100) democratize the virtual classroom by assuming responsibility for their learning and that of the other members of the class; participate actively in social, cognitive, and teaching issues; and collaborate by creating a learning community and reflecting individually and as a group. Our mixed methodology includes the following: (1) content analysis with a categorization system adapted from the community of inquiry approach and (2) two questionnaires on students’ perception of the democratic elements in the virtual classroom. The results show that the students assume democratic principles of responsibility, critique, participation, and collaboration. We observe the role that the teachers play in facilitating democratization of the classroom through flexible design of instruction, promotion of social relationships, and orientation of the debate toward the learning objectives. This investigation shows the implementation of democratic principles in the virtual classroom

The influence of learner characteristics on degree and type of participation in a CSCL environment

Computer-Supported Collaborative Learning (CSCL) is often presented as a promising learning method. However, it is also facing some new challenges. Apart from answering the question of whether or not working with CSCL generates satisfying learning outcomes, it is important to determine whether or not all participants profit from collaboration, with the computer as a means of communication. This paper describes the implementation and effects of an experimental program in 5 classes with a total of 120 students in elementary education who, in groups of four, engaged in Knowledge Forum discussion tasks on the subject of healthy eating. The study explores whether or not differences occur in the participation of students who differ in gender, sociocultural background and ability, and whether or not computer skills, computer attitudes, comprehensive reading scores and popularity with classmates are related to student participation. Students’ participation in this CSCL environment appears to be dependent on a number of learner characteristics. Girls contribute more words to the discussions than boys do and are more dependent on their computer skills in this production. Students who are good at comprehensive reading also contribute more words. Popularity among classmates appears to influence the degree of participation further. We also found indications that students with immigrant parents write fewer contributions than those whose parents are not immigrants

Temporal issues in e-learning research: A literature review

Time is a critical factor in learning, but time is also a very complicated factor that has many facets. Time can be as follows: time needed to prepare a course or lesson (ie, for the instructor to gather materials and design/develop a course or lesson), time needed to follow a course or lesson (ie, the planned, nominal study time that the institution allots for the learner in minutes and/or hours per day or the number of weeks per semester/year that the course encompasses), lifetime of a course (ie, how long a course can be used before it needs to be revised and/or is out of date), time that a student needs for study (ie, both in and out of class), time that an instructor needs and/or uses to teach a course (ie, the number of hours per day both during and beyond the “school” day for preparation, correction, feedback and marking of products and exams), “transaction” time costs (eg, the amount of travel time needed to attend a course or to log into an online course) and even time that a learner can make effective use of the knowledge gained (ie, half-life of the information in a course). Time can also be seen as an effectiveness factor (ie, the amount learned in a specific time period; learning more in the same time period is more effective learning) and/or efficiency factor (ie, the amount of time needed to learn something; learning the same amount in less time is more efficient learning). Time can, finally, be seen as a solitary factor or as part of a temporal pattern inwhich other factors play a role such aswork time, family time, down time, etc