Technological Infrastructure and Use of ICT in Education in ... - ADEA

Technological Infrastructure and Use of ICT in Education in Africa: an overview
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use of ICT in schools in OECD countries, Venezky & Davis note that ‘the
central finding of this study is that ICT rarely acts as a catalyst by itself
for schooling change yet can be a powerful lever for realizing planned
educational innovations’ (Venezky & Davis, 2002, p13). Very often the
most effective use of ICT is as a lever for educational change rather than
as a change in and of itself. In this same study, it was shown that all
of the innovations that occurred in schools using ICT arose as part of a
strategy to solve other schooling problems, often at first unrelated to ICT.
It is important that ICT be seen as one strategy for improving educational
provision, not as an end in and of itself.
In addition to viewing ICT in the context of educational processes more
generally, it is important to consider the potential role of ICT in terms
of the contextual strengths and weaknesses, which will then enable
decisions to be made about the most appropriate technology to be
used. All education involves processes of communication between an
educator and a learner. Different communication media will be suitable
under different conditions, and there are a variety of technologies that
can be used to enhance this communication process. Mapp (1996,
p68) notes that ‘evaluation studies show that educationally successful
systems are not necessarily the most technically advanced: success lies
in the balancing of the technical, the educational, the institutional and
the personal’.
Thus, as has already been pointed out, teaching and learning consist
of combinations of different modes of communication. It is important
to note the wide range of educational applications that continue to
make use of print resources. Although ICT does provide additional and
important educational applications, the value of print options should not
be overlooked, for pedagogic as well as practical reasons, particularly in
the context of limited technological resources, as is the case in most of
sub-Saharan Africa. Saint (1999) also notes that mixed-media teaching
has been shown to have a great impact on learning when compared
to single-medium methods.
In sum, this section has argued that while ICT is becoming increasingly
important for educational provision, especially in the context of
the knowledge society, it should always be seen as only one aspect
8. Importance of ICT for Education