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

96 Working Group on Distance Education and Open Learning
Table 12: Percentages of tertiary institutions/
programmes using different kinds of media
Types
of Media
Anglophone
%
Francophone
%
Lusophone
%
Print 96 88 90
Telephone 8 2 0
Fax 0 0 0
Audiocassettes 17 15 20
Videocassettes 13 31 0
Radio 2 12 70
Audio
Conferencing
3 3 40
Video
Conferencing
0 0 0
Satellite 2 18 0
Internet/
CD-ROM
5 34 0
No Information
Provided
6 5 10
Number of
Institutions/
Programmes
66 67 10
Source: Komane & Mays (2001), taken from Roberts & Associates (1998)
10. ICT and Tertiary Education
Both of the above tables show that, as was found for schools, print and
radio are still the most widely used technologies for distance education
in the tertiary sector. There are, however, much higher levels of computer
and Internet use in the tertiary sector than the primary and secondary
sectors. As has already been mentioned, several studies have shown
that it is not the medium itself, but how it is used, that influences learning.
Further, multiple media tend to be the most effective. Nonetheless, Saint
(1999) notes that print media are likely to remain the best choice for many
African countries. It is also important to consider possible use of cellular
telephones. It was noted that cellular telephony reaches more people
than fixed line telephony. Anecdotal evidence from the South African
context indicates the potential for cellular telephones as a suitable
communication device for use in distance education programmes, and
in many cases the reach of the Short Message System (SMS) is likely to
be far greater than that of email.
On the continent, there is some growth of web-based programmes,
especially in South Africa. Such programmes require that students
have access to computers and the Internet, and enrolments in these
programmes therefore tend to be much lower than for paper-based