Volume Two - Academic Conferences

Fortunate Gunzo and Lorenzo Dalvit
requirements for it to receive government assistance to set a computer laboratory- the staff was not
enthusiastic about it as none of them were computer literate. She suggested that teachers should be
targeted with any technology intervention arguing that “the teacher must first know how the
technology works so that he/she can be in a position to assist learners to become familiar with the
technology so that the teacher does not feel embarrassed in the class when learners show her how
the computer works....because children are like that, they learn fast”.
Six (30%) of the twenty teachers suggested using the mobile computer lab for administration. These
teachers mentioned that due to limited computer facilities, their clerk did everything they needed on
the computer. There were also suggestions of training colleagues to use South Africa School
Administration and Management System (SA-SAMS). SA-SAMS is an electronics school
management system implemented by the South African Department of Education
(www.education.gpg.gov.za
4.4 Teachers’ expectations and possible challenges
It was the hope of the teachers that the use of the mobile computer lab in their classrooms might
interest learners and with time increase learners’ motivation to learn. We made sure that all the
teachers understood that the interventions we were going to make at a later stage were going to be
very brief and that we were not going to provide a mobile computer lab for their schools. This was
important to ensure that teachers did not think of a permanent mobile computer lab in their school as
they prepared for the project. Despite this teachers were optimistic that permanent access to
computers could be realised from our initial intervention, once the school management had seen the
potential of the mobile computer lab.
Teachers had high expectations of the parents and the school management teams (SMTs)
involvement in any computer programs at schools. For teachers, their involvement and support would
increase the chances of computer programs being successful and effective. The teachers would need
permission from the schools SMTs so that they can be granted access to the school outside school
hours. This is important given the ‘gatekeeper’ role that most SMTs often play due to the costs
associated with computers.
Teachers identified lack of computers as a key challenge. Six (30%) of the teachers came from
schools that did not have computers. For the teachers that came from schools that had computers 14
(70%), they stated that these were either very few, old or not working properly. Teachers expressed
concern over their inability to practice what they would have learnt with their learners in their schools,
one said “the mobile lab will allow me the chance to go back to my class and plough what I have
gained here in the course”. Closely linked to this was the problem of limited to no access to
computers by learners. Teachers cited problems with infrastructure at their schools. This included
decent buildings and telecommunications.
Another challenge that teachers spoke about was the large number of learners which they said made
it difficult for the teachers to take their learners to the computer lab where facilities are available. One
teacher from a township school said “there is a computer lab at my school; the only challenge is that it
has 25 computers and my class has 45 learners”. In the case of this teacher, the addition made by the
mobile lab would enable almost all learners to sit at their own computer. Another teacher said “Large
class sizes at our school make it impossible for each and every learner to be admitted to CAT; also it
will be difficult for one teacher to employ interactive teaching strategies or gain insight of different
problems encountered by the learners”. Teachers went ahead to offer possible solutions, for instance
a teacher at one township school suggested using the data projector in the class so that his learners
can follow from the board “I will use a data projector since my learners are 36, I will not be able to
show each learner or group what they must do, the data projector will make it easy for me to control
what happens in terms of the activity that I would have given them”.
Teachers also noted that learners come from different backgrounds and their computer knowledge
differs based on that. Teachers noted that some learners had access to computers at home while the
majority did not. It was their assumption that learners with access to computers would be more
comfortable with computers and able to finish their tasks early, while the ones who have no access at
home would take much longer to finish their work. As such, trying to work with all learners on one
activity would be a challenge. One teacher said:
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