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808 R. Chitiyo, S. W. Harmon
knowledge and literature on instructional technology integration in ‘‘developing’’ and/or
low-income countries like Zimbabwe.
Keywords Instructional technology Educational technology Technology integration
Constraints/barriers to integration Teacher education Professional development
Background for the study
The Africa University [a pan-African institution located in Zimbabwe] Strategic Development
Plan 2001–2008, (2002) in its executive summary, asserts that, ‘‘The development
and application of information and communication technology (ICT) to African higher
education is crucial and urgent if the continent is going to be able to reduce the knowledge,
technological and economic gap between itself and the rest of the world’’ (p. 4). It also
observes that institutions in Africa need to prepare themselves to meet technology integration
issues and other challenges and demands of the twenty-first century. The strategic
plan also cautions that African tertiary institutions ‘‘need to run very fast to avoid falling
very far behind’’ (p. 4).
Explaining this looming gap, Naidoo and Schutte (1999) acknowledge that there are
fundamental differences in the way in which technology integration is approached and
implemented between the more developed countries and the developing countries. They
point out that for developing countries; the main focus is always on acquiring basic utilities
such as telecommunication infrastructure, hardware, software and networks. It is only
when these are easily accessible that attention can be given to serious educational and
training issues like pre-service teacher education.
Oyelaran-Oyeyinka and Lal (2003), in a cross-country analysis of Internet diffusion in
Sub-Sahara Africa, confirm that estimates show that Internet use in Africa lags behind that
of other regions. In the first quarter of 2002, they point out, there were only 6.31 million
users in Africa—about 1% of the world total. In Zimbabwe, this scenario is compounded
by a dearth of research and published literature on the integration of technology in both
school classrooms and teacher education programs.
Given this situation in Zimbabwe and on the African continent in general, the Association
of African Universities (AAU) has called for the development and use of ICT in
revitalizing African Universities in the twenty-first century. The AAU also urges African
universities to study ICT status in their institutions as well as to study the integration of
technology into their curricula (Association of African Universities 2000).
Addressing the situation in Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in Africa, Naidoo and
Schutte (1999) point out most often technology integration activities are limited to the
experimentation level or are in the initial stages of implementation because of infrastructure
problems, which are a result of ‘‘lack of funds and expertise and, in some cases,
political instability’’ (p. 89). Discussing differential (ICT) implementation progress in
Africa, Farrell and Isaacs (2007), note that there are countries ‘‘emerging from a period of
conflict and authoritarian rule,’’ and unfortunately, ‘‘a group of countries that are plagued
with internal conflict and political instability that make progress on ICT for education
impossible’’ (p. 1). The latter explanation would be a classic characterization of the situation
in Zimbabwe, where more than 10 years of political instability have not only
impeded progress, but resulted in a backward slide in terms of the country’s ICT capabilities.
A close analysis of the available literature on IT integration in Sub-Sahara Africa
shows an acknowledgement of the political nature of some of the problems, but also shows
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