Interactivity, the heart and soul of effective learning: The interlink between internet self-efficacy and the creation of an inclusive learning experience

There is a growing recognition that the relationship between digital technologies and education is more complex and multi-faceted than previously conceived. Given the multi-faceted nature of digital education, which involves social and technology elements in the realm of knowledge-acquisition, an epistemic community such as a community of inquiry (CoI) provides an appropriate theoretical perspective to frame the analysis of the interlink between internet self-efficacy and inclusive learning experiences. In recognition of the importance of active participation in the ubiquitous learning environment, the argument focused on the development of a CoI as an intellectual community that provides a structure for educators to implement digital education. Central to this article is the development of the various presences to sustain interaction and reflection in a socio-epistemological orientation approach. Notwithstanding the widely recognised affordances of digital technologies to connect people, this study was conducted to elicit relevant evidence on digital education, to gain insights into the practicality of digital education, to articulate several important research questions within each of the identified affordances, and to provide suggestions for institutions pursuing digital education. Furthermore, there is clear evidence that digital education is intertwined with digital capital and digital inclusion

Corporatisation of universities deepens inequalities by ignoring social injustices and restricting access to higher education

There has been an unprecedented demand for equitable access to post-secondary education post 1994, perhaps because of the change in policies broadening participation of black people in traditional institutions of higher learning in South Africa. The dramatic increase of people of colour attending institutions of higher learning coincided with shrinking government subsidies, which led to universities redesigning their identity according to corporate culture. Thus, they turned to double digit fee increases and persistent long-term outsourcing of services to overcome the problem of funding insecurities. However, it is not clear how corporatization of institutions of higher education enables equitable access and efficient delivery of higher education to the majority of blacks who were previously disadvantaged by apartheid policies. The primary objective of this paper is to conduct a meta-synthesis of a systematically retrieved sample of empirical academic literature to present an argument on the systemic deficits in corporatization of higher education and the corporate identity which distort the ideal university. The PRISMA statement is followed to ensure transparent and complete synthesis of the literature reviewed to maintain the integrity of individual studies. Thereafter, the paper presents a detailed account of how corporatization of universities deepens inequalities; ignores social injustices and restricts access to higher education. In addition, the paper makes a claim that corporatization of universities impairs the academic quality and freedom of the university as well as portrays education as ‘private good’ for self-actualization

The global ranking tournament: A dialectic analysis of higher education in South Africa

The unprecedented changes in the university, to homogenizing the principle of identity in association with the dominant class [world-class universities] supports a very limited conception of higher education. The mantras of global rankings have permeated South Africa’s institutions of higher education, yet the rankings’ constructs are subjective, and inadequate in nature. This paper uses aspects of Jurgen Habermas’s ‘Critical Theory of Societal Development’ as its lens to account for the implications of South African universities joining the ‘super-league’ universities. The efforts being made to achieve a kind of iconic status are contradictory to making education a bridge to achieve equality

The introduction of western medicine in Southern Africa : the case of Ainsworth Dickson Nursing Training School in Bremersdorp, Swaziland, 1927–1949

Citation: Dlamini, S.R. 2016. The introduction of western medicine in Southern Africa : the case of Ainsworth Dickson Nursing Training School in Bremersdorp, Swaziland, 1927–1949Abstract: From July 1927, Bremersdorp, now Manzini, became the first medicalmission and a centre of western healing and health in colonial Swaziland, which at that time, was replete with traditional healers and healing methods. Varying interests gave birth to this medical mission, one of which was the need to replace traditional methods of healing with western biomedicine. Its establishment initiated the colonial state’s financial involvement, at a very early stage, in the development of the healthcare of the Swazis. This paper examines the evolution of nursing education in colonial Swaziland by providing a brief historiographical terrain and showing how Swaziland fits into it. The paper also provides an overview of the birth of colonialis! m in Swaziland and demonstrates its role in the origin of nursing education in the 1920s. By so doing, this paper not only contributes to the growth of medical history in Southern Africa but also unravels the history of nursing education in a manner that shows both the contribution of the state and that of transformative events in the development of nursing education, revealing in the process, conjunctive interests of the state and the Church of the Nazarene (CON) and the intersection of these interests

Universities trailing behind: Unquestioned epistemological foundations constraining the transition to online instructional delivery and learning

Universities across South Africa have positioned learning management systems (LMS) as central to remote teaching and learning in response to COVID-19. This fundamentally challenges traditional teaching and learning practices where lecturers typically have close personal contact with students. Our argument is underpinned by critical discourse analysis and social constructivist pedagogy to gain deeper insights into the dimensions of LMS pedagogical affordances and the notion of equitable access to tertiary education in the midst of COVID-19 and the subsequent education and economic depression. Conducting a social constructivist pedagogy inspired analytical argumentative evaluation, we interrogate how digital technologies and platforms challenge the status quo and then argue on the systemic deficits of placing LMS at the centre of the transition in the hope of automatically cultivating an equitable learning environment to enable ubiquitous learning. Our analysis highlights potential contradictions in universities’ reliance on lecturers’ ingenuity without developing enabling structures supporting digital pedagogies at grassroots. This is to ensure inclusivity and avoid creating systemic inequalities that affect individual students’ experiences

Equality or justice? Section 9 of the Constitution revisited — Part II

The purpose of this article is to establish whether section 9 of the Constitution guarantees equality or justice. The Constitution stipulates that everyone is equal before the law and has the right to equal protection and benefit of the law. It defines equality as including the full and equal enjoyment of all the rights and freedoms. It also prohibits unfair discrimination against anyone on one or more of the listed grounds. This provision aims to create an egalitarian society where all people are treated as human beings with dignity and self-worth. It cannot, however, be interpreted to mean that there will be total equality of all persons in every respect whatever their circumstances and that all people will enjoy all rights fully in the same way. The Constitutional Court has interpreted this provision to mean justice and fairness rather than complete equality. It has been accepted that in a democratic society differentiation is permissible and even necessary. However, permissible differentiation becomes impermissible (and consequently results in unfair discrimination) when the dignity of the person is violated. Although this approach has been criticised as being narrow in that it shifts emphasis from equality to dignity, it demonstrates that there is a close relationship between equality and dignity

Equality or justice? Section 9 of the Constitution revisited — Part I

The purpose of this article is to establish whether section 9 of the Constitution guarantees equality or justice. The Constitution stipulates that everyone is equal before the law and has the right to equal protection and benefit of the law. It defines equality as including the full and equal enjoyment of all the rights and freedoms. It also prohibits unfair discrimination against anyone on one or more of the listed grounds. This provision aims to create an egalitarian society where all people are treated as human beings with dignity and self-worth. It cannot, however, be interpreted to mean that there will be total equality of all persons in every respect whatever their circumstances and that all people will enjoy all rights fully in the same way. The Constitutional Court has interpreted this provision to mean justice and fairness rather than complete equality. It has been accepted that in a democratic society differentiation is permissible and even necessary. However, permissible differentiation becomes impermissible (and consequently results in unfair discrimination) when the dignity of the person is violated. Although this approach has been criticised as being narrow in that it shifts emphasis from equality to dignity, it demonstrates that there is a close relationship between equality and dignity

Why have socio-economic explanations between favoured over cultural ones in explaining the intensive spread of HIV in South Africa?

The HIV prevalence in South Africa’s various racial/ethnic groups differs by more than an order of magnitude. These differences are determined not by the lifetime number of sexual partners, but by how these partnerships are more likely to be arranged concurrently in African communities. The available evidence demonstrates that neither HIV nor concurrency rates are determined by socio-economic factors. Rather, high concurrency rates are maintained by a culturally sanctioned tolerance of concurrency. Why then do socio-economicexplanations trump cultural ones in the South African HIV aetiological literature? In this article, we explore how three factors (a belief in monogamy as a universal norm, HIV’s emergence in a time of the construction of non-racialism, and a simplified understanding of HIV epidemiology) have intersected to produce this bias and therefore continue to hinder the country’s HIV prevention efforts

Review of Soil Erosion Assessment using RUSLE Model and GIS

Soil erosion is one of the world environmental problems the world is facing in the 21st century affecting human society and is listed amongst the top environmental issues facing the world including increasing human population, water shortages, loss of biodiversity, energy and human diseases. An estimated 10 million hectares of agricultural lands are degraded and turned into un-farmable areas due to soil erosion thus resulting in reduced food production for the 3.7 billion malnourished people as reported by World Health Organization. Estimation of soil erosion loss and evaluation of soil erosion risk has become an urgent task by many nations before implementing soil conservation practices. There is now a large published literature on the application of the Revised Universal Soil Loss Equation known as the RUSLE model in combination with GIS technology for predicting soil loss and erosion risks in different regions.  This review paper assesses the current literature on the combined application of RUSLE and GIS, examining new developments in deriving the five RUSLE components. The literature review shows that using the traditional RUSLE model in mapping out soil erosion in large watersheds poses challenges. The combined effect of RUSLE and GIS provides a useful and efficient tool for predicting long-term soil erosion potential and assessing soil erosion impacts. However, there is a need to further investigate better ways of deriving the conservation and management factor (P) in the RUSLE for better on future studies. Data source and quality is also another key issue in GIS application, thus great care must be given in checking and pre-processing GIS data, including conversion to different formats, geo-referencing, data interpolation and registration. Finally, validation of the soil erosion loss using reference data is also a valuable input towards improving the quality and correctness of the results. Keywords: Soil erosion, RUSLE, watershed, GI