Students’ access to digital literacy at a South African university: Privilege and marginalisation

Kajee, Leila; Balfour, Robert J.

doi:10.2989/16073614.2011.633365

Cited by 39 publications

(35 citation statements)

References 11 publications

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“…The students' primary frustration was that some of the policy and guideline documents they had to download were too readingintensive. This possibly relates to the point at which required reading skills and comprehension 'ratchet up' between secondary and tertiary education, and the diversity of academic preparedness of our students, many of whom have experienced socio-cultural inequality 2 . They showed reluctance to engage with large documents, despite hyperlinked navigation of the document contents.…”

Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

First-year students' experience of a WebQuest to explore the University's online resources and virtual learning environment

Barnard-Ashton¹,

Linde²,

Rothberg³

et al. 2018

S. Afr. j. occup. ther

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Typically, students enter the higher education environment with a diversity of computing and technology experience due to varied high school exposure and socioeconomic circumstances 1,2. It is therefore important to establish their digital literacy and access to technology to ensure their readiness for the Blended Learning (BL) components of the curriculum 1,3. Students should also be orientated to the online tools and resources available at the University during the initial weeks of their first year to ensure they all have equal understanding and skill for participating in academic tasks 3. Traditionally the first-year occupational therapy and physiotherapy students have been attending an orientation workshop in a computer laboratory which takes them step-by-step through how to access and use the Virtual Learning Environment (VLE), the online library resources, anti-plagiarism software and their student email accounts. During the orientation workshops, the proficient students tended to be bored with having to wait for others to catch up, and the inexperienced students were stressed by perceived pressure to hurry up when they did not understand the work. It became obvious that the step-by-step, face-to-face approach was frustrating most of the students. The opportunities afforded by using a WebQuest were explored as a possible way to 'practice what we preach' by using interactive e-learning in the orientation session.

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Section: Discussionmentioning

confidence: 99%

First-year students' experience of a WebQuest to explore the University's online resources and virtual learning environment

Barnard-Ashton¹,

Linde²,

Rothberg³

et al. 2018

S. Afr. j. occup. ther

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show abstract

“…Although students’ access to digital devices is becoming increasingly diverse, a small but consistent group of first‐year students arrive at University with insufficient access to ICTs and basic computer literacy skills (Nash, ). Interesting questions and dilemmas are raised about transferring digital capabilities from one technology to another (Magunje & Brown, ) and between in and out of university contexts (Kajee & Balfour, ). Challenges continue as students continuously need to learn new academic skills to operate in a digital world.…”

Section: Chronological Analysis Of Selected Literaturementioning

confidence: 99%

Technology enhanced teaching and learning in South African higher education – A rearview of a 20 year journey

Ng’ambi¹,

Brown²,

Bozalek³

et al. 2016

Brit J Educational Tech

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In the last 20 years, the South African higher education has changed significantly, influenced by global trends national development goals and pressure from local educational imperatives, in the context of a digitally networked world. Shifts in technology enhanced pedagogical practices and in discourses around information and communication technologies (ICTs) have had varying degrees of influence in higher education. This paper takes a rearview of a 20‐year journey of technology enhanced learning in South African higher education. An analysis of literature view is presented chronologically in four phases: phase 1 (1996–2000), phase 2 (2001–05), phase 3 (2006–10) and phase 4 (2011–16). In phase 1 technology was used predominantly for drill and practice, computer‐aided instruction, with growing consciousness of the digital divide. In phase 2 institutions primarily focused on building ICT infrastructure, democratizing information, policy development and research; they sought to compare the effectiveness of teaching with or without technology. During phase 3 institutions began to include ICTs in their strategic directions, digital divide debates focused on epistemological access, and they also began to conduct research with a pedagogical agenda. In phase 4 mobile learning and social media came to the fore. The research agenda shifted from whether students would use technology to how to exploit what students already use to transform teaching and learning practices. The paper concludes that South Africa's higher education institutions have moved from being solely responsible for both their own relatively poor ICT infrastructure and education provision to cloud‐based ICT infrastructure with “unlimited” educational resources that are freely, openly and easily available within and beyond the institution. Although mobile and social media are more evident now than ever before, teaching and learning practice in South African higher education remains largely unchanged.

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“…They argue that the cell phone, which is the most economically accessible technology for South African students, can provide access to information and communication technologies (ICTs) cultural capital. Similarly, Kajee and Balfour (2011) consider the digital literacy practices of a group of students in higher education who previously have had little exposure to digital technologies. They highlight how students see digital literacy as providing access to cultural capital.…”

Section: Academic Literacy Research In South Africamentioning

confidence: 99%

‘The thing that kill us’: student perspectives on language support in a South African university

Hurst¹

2014

Teaching in Higher Education

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South African higher education institutions, in line with international practice and as a result of the 'social turn', are progressing towards mainstream academic literacy support for students. This shift has a political dimension in South Africa where, historically, disadvantage has had racial dimensions, in its departure from 'deficit' models of academic development and support. On the other hand, there are practical factors to be considered in the kinds of support we offer students. This article describes a survey of students studying in Engineering and the Built Environment at an Englishmedium university in South Africa to uncover language issues in their university careers. Students identify difficulties relating to a broad range of academic literacies, yet the research suggests that the process of mainstreaming academic literacy may have to be accompanied by targeted support for English as an Additional Language students.

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Students’ access to digital literacy at a South African university: Privilege and marginalisation

Cited by 39 publications

References 11 publications

First-year students' experience of a WebQuest to explore the University's online resources and virtual learning environment

First-year students' experience of a WebQuest to explore the University's online resources and virtual learning environment

Technology enhanced teaching and learning in South African higher education – A rearview of a 20 year journey

‘The thing that kill us’: student perspectives on language support in a South African university

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