Please read the abstract in the section, 00front, of this document / Thesis (PhD (Curriculum and Instructional Design and Development))--University of Pretoria, 2005. / Curriculum Studies / unrestricted

The current increasingly changing world shows the influence and effects of technology in all aspects of learning. In developed Western countries, the Higher Education institutions believe that these developments offer valuable opportunities for improved learning as a result of technological advancements and innovations in the learning environment. This has in turn placed the responsibility on developing countries, in order to strive better competitively in international markets, even under tremendous pressure, to similarly embed suitable blends of technologies within their own learning and curriculum approaches, and consequently enhance and improve new learning opportunities. The positive increasing growth in access to and use of technology has caused more approaches to be developed in e-learning and is manifested in different forms. This has supplemented or replaced the traditional methods in learning, enabling engagement of learners with their learning through various web technologies alongside face-to-face delivery, and sometimes completely replacing direct face-to-face contact. However, the success of use of technology in learning depends, to a significant extent, on how the students actually use them for learning purposes. The purpose of this study isto examine the extent that technology is accepted, adopted and used to enhance learning and teaching in a distance education context.The study employed an extended version of the Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) in its investigation of the underlying factors that affect students’ use of technological systems in learning. It explored students’ perception and experiences of using technology for learning and teaching to guide theInstitute for Open Distance Learning (IODL) in Africa Nazarene University (ANU) to develop strategies for implementation of technology-enhanced learning.This study revealed that students’ attitudes and perceptions on the use of technology in learning and teaching were diverse and were both positive and negative. While positive attitudes and perceptions of users to adopt Technology in learning and teaching can simplify their understanding and use of the technology in learning and teaching, negative attitudes would instead complicate this making adoption difficult. A deeper focus on the factors that affect adoption and technology use in e-learning as well as their associations is a pre-cursor to a better knowledge and understanding of student acceptance of e-learning technological systems. / Curriculum and Instructional Studies / D. Ed. (Didactics)

This thesis sought to address the management challenges of using ICT in advancing secondary school administration in Kirinyaga County, Kenya. Despite the Kenyan government taking an initiative towards transforming her education sector to be ICT compliant, much emphasis has been laid on the pedagogical aspect at the expense of managerial and administrative functions. This study sought to investigate the underlying challenges in the use of ICT in secondary school administration. A mixed mode method was used in which both qualitative and quantitative approaches were applied. The target population comprised 18 principals and 54 teachers; inclusive of two heads of departments and one computer teacher in each school. Sampling was done using the purposive technique. Structured and semi-structured questionnaires, administrative documents and face-to-face interviews were used. The principals responded to questionnaire one whereas the HoDs and ICT teachers responded to questionnaire two and three respectively. Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) was used for data analysis. The findings from the literature review and the empirical study attest that; a) The government in its ICT policy formulation has not adequately defined the roles and responsibilities of various key actors in education for tangible integration. b) A relatively high number of principals (41.2%) and HoDs (36.1%) had only undergone ICT training at informal levels despite their attendance to ICT integration courses in school administration. c) ICT integration in school administration saved time for easy monitoring and evaluation of the school programmes. The conclusion was that vivid ICT policy framework, school administrators and teachers’ ICT training play a crucial role in the integration of ICT in schools’ administrative functions. / Educational Leadership and Management / D. Ed. (Educational Management)

Distance education (DE) is now recognised as an education system independent from conventional face-to-face education. It has self-governing theories and pedagogies. It attracts students with unique characteristics different from those of on-campus students. The present distance learning student differs from the past ones by characteristics, needs and contexts. Not all students registering for distance learning conform to the characteristics of distance students described in theory. It is now acknowledged that DE systems demand special skills including time management, self-regulation and independent learning skills. Yet, few of these students enter into distance learning with prior experiences on its demands. The new student is compelled to learn to deal with challenges that come with DE i.e. the impact of ‘distance’, isolation and time management. ‘The net generation’ and ‘digital natives’ are now in college but with skills not automatically transferable to learning technologies. Information and communication technologies (ICT) providers are mostly focused on the ‘use’ rather than the ‘user’. Universities are continuously adopting new technologies leaving the student bewildered as to the focus; learning or technology training. The internet has ‘everything’; open course ware (OCW), open education resources (OERS), wikis and all web information. Students cannot simply find things for themselves. Furthermore distance learning has no policy on how to engage with the internet and students are left to decide what, which and how much is required for any level of study. Most universities in Africa moving from single to dual mode have not integrated distance learning pedagogy which requires restructuring in the organisation, policy and course development. DE, though spanning over two centuries has been mutually dependent on technology. The present technology demands a paradigm shift from that of correspondence days. These issues have created the need for support strategies that can literally accompany the DE student throughout his/her academic journey. Universities have established DE units, campuses and schools for a variety of reasons. It is required that such universities provide learner support systems for their students. The purpose of this study was to assess the learner support services available for distance learning undergraduate students in two universities in Kenya i.e. Northern University (NU) and Western University (WU). A Learner support system can comprise of numerous components. In this study, nine (9) components/indices were tested as the indices for providing support services. These are:- registration procedures, orientation programme and skills training, technology and learning materials, counselling and mentorship, interactions and communication, feedback, regional centres and library, students association and representation and course progression and satisfaction. This study employed an evaluation research design utilising both quantitative and qualitative methods. Online questionnaires were used for quantitative data collection. For qualitative data collection two (2) instruments were used; an interview schedule for key programme implementers and a documentary analysis tool for documents and websites. The findings indicated that the main indices that distinguished the two universities were registration process, technology and learning materials, counselling/mentorship and regional centres where the t-test showed significant differences. The p values were 0.008, 0.012, 0.036 and 0.015 respectively at 0.05 significance level. In all of them, Northern University (NU) had a relatively high mean score than Western University (WU) except for the index on counselling and mentorship. / Educational Foundations / D. Ed. (Socio-Education)

This thesis sought to address the management challenges of using ICT in advancing secondary school administration in Kirinyaga County, Kenya. Despite the Kenyan government taking an initiative towards transforming her education sector to be ICT compliant, much emphasis has been laid on the pedagogical aspect at the expense of managerial and administrative functions. This study sought to investigate the underlying challenges in the use of ICT in secondary school administration. A mixed mode method was used in which both qualitative and quantitative approaches were applied. The target population comprised 18 principals and 54 teachers; inclusive of two heads of departments and one computer teacher in each school. Sampling was done using the purposive technique. Structured and semi-structured questionnaires, administrative documents and face-to-face interviews were used. The principals responded to questionnaire one whereas the HoDs and ICT teachers responded to questionnaire two and three respectively. Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) was used for data analysis. The findings from the literature review and the empirical study attest that; a) The government in its ICT policy formulation has not adequately defined the roles and responsibilities of various key actors in education for tangible integration. b) A relatively high number of principals (41.2%) and HoDs (36.1%) had only undergone ICT training at informal levels despite their attendance to ICT integration courses in school administration. c) ICT integration in school administration saved time for easy monitoring and evaluation of the school programmes. The conclusion was that vivid ICT policy framework, school administrators and teachers’ ICT training play a crucial role in the integration of ICT in schools’ administrative functions. / Educational Leadership and Management / D. Ed. (Educational Management)

Distance education (DE) is now recognised as an education system independent from conventional face-to-face education. It has self-governing theories and pedagogies. It attracts students with unique characteristics different from those of on-campus students. The present distance learning student differs from the past ones by characteristics, needs and contexts. Not all students registering for distance learning conform to the characteristics of distance students described in theory. It is now acknowledged that DE systems demand special skills including time management, self-regulation and independent learning skills. Yet, few of these students enter into distance learning with prior experiences on its demands. The new student is compelled to learn to deal with challenges that come with DE i.e. the impact of ‘distance’, isolation and time management. ‘The net generation’ and ‘digital natives’ are now in college but with skills not automatically transferable to learning technologies. Information and communication technologies (ICT) providers are mostly focused on the ‘use’ rather than the ‘user’. Universities are continuously adopting new technologies leaving the student bewildered as to the focus; learning or technology training. The internet has ‘everything’; open course ware (OCW), open education resources (OERS), wikis and all web information. Students cannot simply find things for themselves. Furthermore distance learning has no policy on how to engage with the internet and students are left to decide what, which and how much is required for any level of study. Most universities in Africa moving from single to dual mode have not integrated distance learning pedagogy which requires restructuring in the organisation, policy and course development. DE, though spanning over two centuries has been mutually dependent on technology. The present technology demands a paradigm shift from that of correspondence days. These issues have created the need for support strategies that can literally accompany the DE student throughout his/her academic journey. Universities have established DE units, campuses and schools for a variety of reasons. It is required that such universities provide learner support systems for their students. The purpose of this study was to assess the learner support services available for distance learning undergraduate students in two universities in Kenya i.e. Northern University (NU) and Western University (WU). A Learner support system can comprise of numerous components. In this study, nine (9) components/indices were tested as the indices for providing support services. These are:- registration procedures, orientation programme and skills training, technology and learning materials, counselling and mentorship, interactions and communication, feedback, regional centres and library, students association and representation and course progression and satisfaction. This study employed an evaluation research design utilising both quantitative and qualitative methods. Online questionnaires were used for quantitative data collection. For qualitative data collection two (2) instruments were used; an interview schedule for key programme implementers and a documentary analysis tool for documents and websites. The findings indicated that the main indices that distinguished the two universities were registration process, technology and learning materials, counselling/mentorship and regional centres where the t-test showed significant differences. The p values were 0.008, 0.012, 0.036 and 0.015 respectively at 0.05 significance level. In all of them, Northern University (NU) had a relatively high mean score than Western University (WU) except for the index on counselling and mentorship. / Educational Foundations / D. Ed. (Socio-Education)