ICT, cultural knowledge, and teacher education in\ud Africa

Abstract

In this paper, we make a case for the need to carry out more culturally\ud appropriate research on ICT and teacher education in Africa generally and in\ud Uganda more specifically. We begin by examining the promise of ICTs and digital\ud literacies, and highlight the importance ascribed to ICTs for national development\ud and educational change. While agreeing that ICTs may have transformative\ud potential in developing countries, we argue that the much-hyped potential may not\ud be realized if the major focus of promoting ICTs in a developing country like\ud Uganda is merely to provide greater access to global information, rather than\ud encouraging local knowledge production for wealth creation. We frame our\ud argument with reference to the New Literacy Studies perspective of viewing\ud literacy as a social practice situated in a specific sociocultural context