MRDV / Institute for Rural Development

The ubiquitous and pervasive nature of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) fosters societies driven by knowledge rather than traditional capital and labour through the simplified socio-economic participation. No longer are individuals impacted by spatial and environmental conditions when conducting personal, community and even national obligations and duties. However, the effective use of ICT is governed by personal, interpersonal and environmental factors. Nowhere else is this impact more evident than in rural areas. Rural areas are plagued by a number of challenges which affect ICT use. Some of these challenges relate to the scarcity of income, education and infrastructure. A holistic investigation on the challenges experienced by rural areas was necessary. Based on the outcome of the investigation, rural areas were classified as resource-constrained environments. The study then set out to explore concepts that highlight the opportunities offered by ICT in rural areas and those that mitigate challenges posed by these environments on ICT use. The theoretical grounding of the concepts identified in the study firstly set out to understand and explain general ICT use, then extended this ICT use to rural areas. A conceptual model explaining challenges posed by resource constraints inherent in rural areas on ICT use was incepted. This conceptual model was empirically investigated for evaluation and validation purposes resulting in the final model of the study. The final model of the study facilitated the process of understanding and explaining the effective use of ICT in rural areas based on the inherent resource constraints in these environments. By mitigating the factors affecting ICT use in rural areas, the impact of effective ICT use can potentially be extended to resource-constrained environments, including rural areas. / School of Computing / M. Sc. (Computing)

Thesis (MPhil (Information Science))--University of Stellenbosch, 2007. / The world has advanced and grown to a stage where a person without a basic computer literacy finds it almost impossible to function comfortably in society. To address the situation governments all over the world are encouraging their citizens to become technologically literate. Countries are spending large sums of money to integrate ICTs in education. The South African government on its part has realized and acknowledged the importance of Information and Communication Technology in education. Hence, its White paper on e-Education, which provides for the integration of ICTs into schools. This study looks at efforts being made by the Department of Education and other education stakeholders to address the ICT situation in some schools based in a rural area of the Limpopo Province. A well-resourced school in so far as ICTs are concerned was visited to assess the functionality and applicability of ICT within the school system and to make comparisons to less resourced schools. The study highlights the plight of schools in rural areas where the lack of basic amenities such as adequate accommodation, furniture, water, etc. is the order of the day. It is however pointed out that dwelling on these issues is no solution as the question of ICT integration into schools is a non negotiable one, if South African learners are to be kept abreast with trends in other parts of the world. That is, without adequate immersion into ICT, learners would not be globally competitive. The ICT situation in schools in the Limpopo Province has been analysed within a framework developed under this study. The framework is set to help the Department of Education determine the suitable intervention programmes for each level of ICT integration. In addition, the study concludes with a recommendation. The success or failure to integrate ICT into schools, especially those in rural areas, depends to a large extent on the kind of intervention the government adopts. Since all schools have not attained the same level of ICT integration, there should be a clearly defined audit to determine what is needed and how it should be provided. This study raises some of the key issues for integration of ICTs in schools within a rural setting.