Pedagogical issues arising from the introduction of educational technology at two South African universities of technology : a comparative study

Abstract

Educational technology can improve teaching and learning in universities of technology in developing countries. Due to various factors, there is no readymade “one-size-fits-all” solution for facilitating the successful implementation of educational technology. Tedre, Apiola and Cronjé (2011) identified 100 educational, socioeconomic and technical attributes that can influence the successful integration of educational technology in developing regions. While exploring the issues arising from technology integration at two universities of technology, the aim of this research was to evaluate the effectiveness of Tedre, Apiola and Cronjé’s framework in order to contribute to its refinement. The central research question concerned the extent to which Tedre, Apiola and Cronjé’s framework was useful for a situational analysis at two South African universities of technology. The sub-questions concerned the framework’s ability to distinguish between the two universities on the one hand and on the other hand, the overlaps or shortcomings of the model as it assisted in describing those situations. The findings revealed that the two universities in this inquiry are not similar. Although the universities’ educational strategies and policies were very analogous, differences were found in the manner and approach to the implementation of educational technology. The pedagogical considerations for e-learning uptake in both universities corroborated with each other to a certain extent. The findings further showed that most of the educational factors that affect technology integration, and subsequent educational technology adoption, resonate with pedagogical issues found in other developing countries.