CHAPTER 2: OPERATIONALISATION OF THE KEY CONCEPTS AND
1.6 INTERNET LANDSCAPE IN SOUTH AFRICA
1.6.4 Digital divide at institutions of higher learning
The digital divide is still a challenge in South Africa consequent to the shortage of the telecommunications infrastructure to enhance e-skills at educational and societal level. The concept digital divide is described as the “gap between those people who have access to digital technologies and information via the internet, and those who do not” (Singh, 2004:5). Furthermore, Kajee and Balfour (2011) submit that as much as many young people have access to mobile technology such as cellphones, computers and tablets, the cost of internet data is still hindering them an opportunity to play part in the creation and consumption of online information. Even institutions of higher learning are not of the same quality as technological development is concern. Most of
21
previously disadvantaged institutions find it difficult to supply high speed broadband and quality access to the internet to its students and academics alike. Such inequalities emanate from gaps between under-resourced and well-resourced institutions of higher learning.
Moreover, Bornman (2016) stressed that the digital divide, comprises mental dispositions, skills and usage. Significantly, Flanagan (2016) further explained that the digital divide also takes into consideration the inequities in access to the forms of information and communication technology, and the fact that the people who have no access to the World Wide Web are of a sizeable number. It is significant to admit that these descriptions take cognisance of three matters that are not connected to technological features, i.e. personal factors (disposition and skills), societal factors (‘transformation’, with the implication of progress or improved well-being), and the relative statistics of the ‘have nots’ as compared to the ‘haves’. Thus, critical consideration on the digital divide and efforts to resolve it should take a view of
‘technology in context’, instead of technology for its own sake. Besides the costly establishment of infrastructure, paying attention to support and provision of skills, shifting of mindsets, influencing transformative potential, and accepting the size of the problem.
Although South Africa is regarded as experiencing the digital divide when compared to the first world countries, South Africa is still viewed as having some technological advantages when compared to other countries in the African continent, and this presents a complicated scenario of the population residing in rural and urban areas experience the digital divide owing to the apartheid legacy (Nyahodza & Higgs, 2017).
The impact of apartheid is still visible as the majority of black population live in poverty (World Bank, 2016). In South Africa, the apartheid policies prompted values of discrimination against the black majority South Africans by several means, and consequently endorsing white sovereignty. Apartheid established separate institutions of higher learning for white and black students, which became the crucial recognition of policy which introduced inferior education and poor learning opportunities to black students (Singh, 2004).
Most projects by academic libraries were centred on training users to become proficient in the digital age through digital literacy corporations (Naslund & Giustini,
22
2008). Nonetheless, students with different levels of acquaintance to technologies and the economic situation of institutions pose considerable challenges in addressing the digital divide (Luaran, Nadzri, Rom & Jain, 2016). Although the education and students’ enrolment method in higher education have changed after apartheid, it worth to reaffirm that enrolment in some institutions of higher learning is still dominated by students from poor societies. The University of Limpopo and the University of Venda, as historically disadvantaged institutions deprived of resources under apartheid, continues to attract such students, hence they are suitable focus areas for this study.
The digital divide in higher education spreads outside undergraduate education and into the postgraduate level, and this was an inherited apartheid legacy. Chetty, Aneja, Mishra, Gcora and Josie (2017) submit that some graduate students in South Africa depend on electronic technologies within library spaces, and few could afford to buy their own technological gadgets since they come from poor environments where computer laboratories and internet resources not available. This confirms fact that lack of access to the digital infrastructure was prevalent throughout their basic education journey. Students use ICT for access to education, search for information and other social needs. At postgraduate level, access to computers and the internet, and necessary skills become significant as students are expected to create ‘virtual academic environments’ for more learning and embarking on research (Ng’ambi, Brown, Bozalek, Gachago & Wood, 2016:845).
Students are expected to conduct online self-study and comprehend numerous programmes and software that assist in data collection and management. These are part of the research series and could not be part of the formal education covered in lectures. Academic libraries’ training may be undermined by a shortage of extensive literacy skills, however further challenges experienced in some institutions of higher education are lack of access to networked computers and outdated infrastructure (Singh, 2004) which may further exacerbate the situation for disadvantaged students.
Despite their apartheid experiences, South African universities are projected to produce proficient graduates who play part in numerous economic sectors and who should continue to further their studies through research projects. According to Bornman (2016), lack of both ICT access and information literacy skills obstruct full economic contribution, hence computer and information literacy are important in
23
addressing the digital divide. Back then (i.e., during apartheid), the previously disadvantaged universities did not encourage critical thinking as the use of ICT and internet was only appreciated in the so-called ‘white institutions’ (Sehoole, 2005:33).
However, all institutions of higher learning are required to embrace the use of technology and internet to enhance students’ performance and intensify research production.
The academic populace has embraced the effectiveness of internet and technologies in incorporating social life, work and study. Information and communication technology and internet have been acknowledged as valuable tools for use of Learning Management Systems (LMSs), discussion settings, communication through emails and social networking sites, presentations, online learning and least but not last for distance education benefits (Sadeghi, 2019). Information and communication technology, the internet in particular, expedite experiential learning and promote sharing of information and thoughts, accordingly nurturing cooperation among students even in various institutions (Coman, Tiru, Mesesan-Schmitz, Stanciu &
Bularca, 2020). Nonetheless, most of these benefits need adequate access to computers and internet, as well as information literacy.
Shonola, Joy, Oyelere and Suhonen (2016) indicates that although most students have access to ICT and the internet through mobile phones and tablets, there is still minimum use of these resources for academic purposes (Darko-Adjei, 2019), and this perpetuates the digital divide by averting the development of computer skills essential for the information needs of higher education. Students’ lack of acquaintance may result in unwillingness to interact with ICTs, and this can interrupt access to e-learning which should enhance their academic performance. Such drawbacks may carry on to affect students at postgraduate level, thus preserving the digital divide in higher education despite the availability of electronic resources (e-resources).
Connecting African universities to affordable, high speed broadband internet is crucial for achieving the goals of the Digital Economy for Africa Moonshot, which targets to ensure that the African population, businesses and governments are digitally empowered by 2030 (Bashir, 2020). Access to the internet stimulates economic growth, enhancements to education and knowledge dissemination. The advanced digital skills that are required to exploit digital technologies, need to be created through
24
reformed university programmes and rapid skills development programmes.
According to the Broadband Commission for Sustainable Development (2019) African universities need broadband in order to enhance blended and online learning; improve the quality of higher education; encourage the use of technology in higher education;
and provide access to the vast rich of digital education resources available in the world and also affords Africans to contribute their own digital content.
Universities are among the significant national institutions with the abilities, equipment, personnel and directive to generate new knowledge through research and teaching and learning (Bashir, 2020). In order for African universities to assist in serving the goals of national development, they need the instruments and resources to create a link between academia and policy makers, and to provide opportunities for African scholars, academics and students to cooperate locally and internationally through the Internet.
Throughout the world, the National Research and Education Networks (NRENs) in each country have empowered the university and research community to create and constantly expand a dedicated network which provides high speed broadband access to universities Foley (2018). There has been a rapid increase of NRENs in Africa supported by the World Bank’s digital infrastructure projects. Furthermore, sub- regional RENs have also been established to support NRENs. The NRENs in Northern, Eastern and Southern Africa are viewed to be more developed, while in Western and Central Africa they are either do not exist or slightly operational.
Most universities in South Africa already have 10 gigabytes per second (Gbps) last mile connectivity. However, this is little when compared to more advanced countries, where advanced universities have 100Gbps connections (Bashir, 2020). The approach to university connectivity worldwide is to develop a National Research and Education Network (NREN) mandated to connect all universities in a country and to link to international RENs. Without sufficient infrastructure, management and monitoring at the university level, the quality of the service is affected by bandwidth congestion, while actual utilisation is affected by lack of devices, the lack of ability to monitor, mitigate and provide protection against viruses, spam and so on.
In order to bridge the digital divide in South African institutions of higher learning, Singh (2004) proposed possible solutions which could be implemented, namely that:
25
(a) First, universities should establish a technology culture.
(b) Second, academics should empower themselves in order to lead by example for students to follow suit. If academics use ICT technology and internet for research, teaching and learning, their students will embrace technology as well.
Academics can instil the use of online for learning among their students by referring them to valuable Web sites (Chetty, Aneja, Mishra, Gcora & Josie, 2017).
(c) Third, universities should introduce computer literacy and Web-based research through all faculties, and more computer laboratories need to be built and furnished to provide computing skills to students from all faculties and disciplines of study. They should develop an e-learning culture where academics share lecture notes and links on their personalised Web sites.
(d) Fourth, Almasi, Machumu and Zhu (2017) submit that if course work is presented online, students will be required to use the internet with a driven purpose.
(e) Fifth, among other things, students should be familiarised with various online library resources such as Ebscohost, Sabinet, Science direct and other online journals.
The following section explains the significance of the study.