Evaluating ICT for Education in Africa - Royal Holloway, University of ...

„As we are a part of globalization we have to use the product ofnew technology. So it is right that the laptop issue is givenprecedence than problem we are facing in the school.‟But the second teacher contested this, suggesting that the school was facingmore urgent priorities:„I think we should take this chance and alleviate the problem oftoilet in the school.‟On the return visit eight months later, the deputy-headmaster at the sameschool was asked to consider what he would do if he could spend the moneyfor the laptops on anything he could choose for the school (17/12/08):„In my personal opinion, I would have used the money forbuilding classrooms and especially more offices for theteachers and the administrative staff. This is more importantthan having laptops. And we need a gathering hall for thestudents. We have lots of clubs, 18 of them running here, andwe need a place for them – the HIV club, the counselling club.‟Alongside the occasionally expressed opinion that the resources could beused more effectively elsewhere was the variety of ways different generationsof teachers responded to the technology. Prior to the introduction of thelaptops, the headmaster of Aste Noad predicted that this would be the case(17/04/08):„Some of the older teachers see it as extra work – they are notinterested in new technology. But the younger ones are happy... Most of the old teachers are fed up because of their longservice, they have been working for many years and they arenot interested in any programme.‟Similarly, certain mature teachers in Malawi showed limited interest in theprogramme, commenting that they were fearful of using the technology andwere reluctant to let the children use it independently (Pal et al. 2008).It is equally important to recognise that the aspiration for technology as asymbol of modernity is not experienced in the same ways in the very different359