Journal
RESEARCH IN COMPARATIVE AND INTERNATIONAL EDUCATION
Volume 13, Issue 1, Pages 211-226Publisher
SAGE PUBLICATIONS LTD
DOI: 10.1177/1745499918761952
Keywords
Africa; higher education; open digital university; lecturers; information and communication technology; Internet; Malawi; open and distance learning; open and distance e-learning
Categories
Ask authors/readers for more resources
The ubiquity of information and communication technologies (ICTs) have considerably transformed the higher educational landscape and are now providing an increasing number of novel and dynamic pathways for education delivery. The steady growth of flexible and affordable ICTs is impacting upon the higher education domain resulting in a departure from traditional education systems to more technologically driven forms of pedagogy. The purpose of this study was to investigate how best to exploit the available ICT infrastructures to support the creation of an open digital university at Mzuzu University in Malawi and to investigate the implications on a wider African context. The data were collected from lecturers, campus-based undergraduate students, and open and distance learning undergraduate students. The main results reveal that students and lecturers at Mzuzu University are conversant with a plethora of ICTs that can be adopted and customised to create a digital university. In that regard, we conclude that a digital university is possible in Malawi. We further conclude that, considering that African universities operate in mostly similar economic, technological and political landscapes, African universities are ready to embrace the concept of a digital university. This is regardless of the prevailing challenges.
Authors
I am an author on this paper
Click your name to claim this paper and add it to your profile.
Reviews
Recommended
No Data Available