Content-type: text/html Downes.ca ~ Stephen's Web ~ Learning with Digital Media: A Systematic Review of Students’Use in African Higher Education

Stephen Downes

Knowledge, Learning, Community

"Over the past four decades, tertiary enrolment in Africa has increased, and the demand for higher education is expected to witness a further increase," write the authors. Not surprisingly, "While educational technologies provide opportunities for widening access, they may also accommodate a deep divide." This survey analyzes 64 papers from 2010 forward to examine this trend. The research is mostly still in the descriptive phase; "More than half of the included articles failed to incorporate any theory, framework, or model." That's not necessarily a bad thing; why would we expect the African experience to be framed by theories developed for the European or American experience? But a mostly uncritical use, write the authors, means that tools might not be as useful as they could be. They write, "to achieve beneficial outcomes for technology-enhanced learning in Africa, it is essential to pursue a deliberate and sustainable policy of developing the digital skills and competencies of students and teachers, in particular, for the effective use of digital media."

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Stephen Downes Stephen Downes, Casselman, Canada
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Last Updated: Dec 25, 2024 07:57 a.m.

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