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Top1. Introduction
In South African higher education (SAHE), institutions are exploring various pedagogical practices as they engage with a range of emerging digital technologies to support learning and teaching. The use of these digital technologies is an established practice in higher education institutions (HEIs), however, its uptake appears to be varied. This paper explores the uptake of educational technologies (EdTech) in different institutions within the SAHE context to identify the role digital literacies play in teaching and learning practices.
Digital technologies have changed teaching and learning by offering innovative approaches to disseminate information and interact with students. Students engage frequently with these tools and platforms (Kakasevski et al. 2008, Padayachee et al, 2015). Whilst the introduction of EdTech, including mobile learning, has transformed educational practices (Padayachee et al., 2015), it’s uptake in higher education has had varying impacts (Ng'ambi et al., 2016). This calls for structured and scholarly ways of using digital technologies to enhance students' learning experiences.
The extensive use of these technologies in higher education is to ensure students are prepared for the technological workplace and have access to the mass of information available online in multiple forms. As a result, HEIs are considered a key place to equip students with these necessary ‘global competitive skills’ (Mansilla & Jackson, 2012). Higher education institutions are expanding opportunities as a result of the increased use of digital technology for teaching and learning (Swinnerton et al., 2018). EdTech are readily available and in use across HEI’s in South Africa, however this is occurring in a policy vacuum as there is no national policy to guide the use of information and communication technology in the SAHE context (Ng'ambi et al., 2016).
1.1 The Abrupt Shifts of EdTech Use during the COVID-19 Pandemic
During the writing of this paper, a large mechanism in the field of educational technologies occurred. The spread of the COVID-19 pandemic affected ways of teaching and learning across the globe.
HEIs experienced massive changes due to the sudden move to online teaching and learning spaces (Ando, 2021). According Hodges et al., (2020) it takes between six and nine months for the successful development of an educationally sound online course. Furthermore, teaching online includes multiple factors and extensive preparation, thus it is essential for academics to have well-grounded digital literacies to be able to use technology for online learning (Ando, 2021). However, due to the unexpected shift as a response to the COVID-19 pandemic, these comprehensive course developments were not followed.
It was highlighted by various authors that during COVID-19, the focus was on getting relevant study materials to students (Czerniewicz, 2020; Ando, 2021). Thus, there was little time for careful consideration of online teaching requirements. As a result, the rapid increase in the use of EdTech during the COVID-19 pandemic could therefore be seen to have reproduced several constraints which are identified in this paper. These challenges may include the uploading of teaching materials without careful consideration of curriculum design and student engagement. Boughey and McKenna (2021) highlighted that it would seem that online learning during the pandemic was a necessity rather than a consideration of the effective pedagogical use of EdTechs. While access to devices, data and resources are essential for the successful promotion of Edtech, limitations to these resources created constraints, and even where these resources were available, it did not imply that teaching and learning was of good quality (Czerniewicz et al. (2020).