Technology Use Among Academics With Disabilities Within a Transforming University

Introduction

The process of transformation in Africa as is the case worldwide has taken different dimensions. Despite some notable achievements with transformative action in various African countries, a combination of the colonial legacy and inadequate policy interventions has seen the challenge of social injustices remaining an issue of concern. Injustices have become increasingly concerning at present in particular when it comes to access to technology by academics with disabilities. In this regard, the chapter seeks to deal with the following questions; what forms of technologies do academics with disability have access to within transforming universities?; How do the academics with disability explain their experiences with various technologies they use in teaching and learning in particular in relation to inclusivity; What types of assistance is provided by transforming universities to academics with disability; In what ways do academics with disability deal with various challenges they face regarding various technologies accessed in transforming universities.

Foley and Ferri (2012) have emphasised the potential of technology, in particular, to enhance connectivity to people whilst also broadening access to education, commerce, employment, and entertainment is increasingly become an important element for transformation in a rapidly changing world. It follows that when it comes to universities or countries that seek to anchor the transformation of their economies through knowledge and innovation derived from universities, technologies could become key in breaking down barriers and intensifying access ad inclusion for persons with disability. In reality, however, a cautious approach is required as technology can also create unforeseen subtle forms of social exclusion for disabled persons.

As argued by Unser (2017), the implication has been that access to assistive technologies ought to be viewed beyond the ‘haves’ and ‘have-nots’ divide. Such a divide is said to be equally important to explore when particularly looking at settings that involve the disabled and non-disabled. Technology consequently tends to be biased towards promotion of certain ways of being, largely linked to normative, social, cultural, and economic practices. The bias is further manifested in the design, manufacture, marketing, and distribution of technology (Foley and Ferri, 2012). This implies that technology ought to be viewed as designed in ways that reflect taken for-granted ideas related to understanding diverse interpretations of what constitutes normality, inclusion and by extension accessibility. It thus, follows that lack of access to requisite technologies and other forms of support results in subtle forms of exclusion that have been promoted in transforming contexts as part of initiatives aimed at expanding opportunities for connecting previously marginalised individuals and groups to mainstream society.

Mapuranga and Nyenya (2014) have provided crucial statistics that explains that some of the prevalence of disability at global and local levels. They have thus revealed that studies on people with disabilities have shown that 10% of the world population consists of persons with disabilities (PWDs) (Mapuranga & Nyenya, 2014). Another important statistical picture is presented by Cappa and Loeb (2012) who depict Zimbabwe as having 1.9% of its population being persons with disability. Lang and Charowa (2007) have made an alarming revelation which has highlighted that most of Zimbabwe’s persons with disability are poor, excluded, and socially marginalised. What is important for this chapter is not the statistical aspects related to persons with disability but rather to understand how academics with disability have negotiated circumstances especially in contexts where transformation is being pursued. There is need to answer questions related to the experiences of academics with disabilities regarding technology use, interaction with other academics and fulfilling their academic responsibilities. It is crucial to understand how inclusiveness or exclusiveness of the emergent relations in particular following the view by Unser (2017) where persons with disability have been said to suffer from diverse forms of poverty, marginalisation, and exclusion. Assuming that academics just like students with disability and other persons located in various spaces in society could be experiencing poverty, marginalisation, and exclusion, it therefore, becomes crucial to understand how academics with disabilities have negotiated the transformative practices associated with universities in Zimbabwe. Previous research has noted a number of challenges that teachers and academics in particular have faced in relation to access to assistive technologies (Unser, 2017; Jacobsen, 2012; Kajee, 2010).