Technology development: imperatives for higher education

Abstract

There is a major drive in South Africa to reshape the higher educational landscape, but traditional higher education at public contact institutions is certainly not geared to make an optimal contribution to this development in its present form. The question can be asked whether South Africa's higher education institutions (HEIs) should not take cognisance of international tendencies in higher education (HE) when addressing these local issues. HEIs worldwide tend to move towards multi-modal offerings, that is, offerings that apply different modes of delivery, and in doing so enhance the offerings by using integrated technologies. The process of covering the whole spectrum of delivery modes in South Africa may be strained if only contact and distance education are recognised for funding purposes. Should the goal in South Africa not be to meet the educational challenges through the use of available information and communication technologies (ICTs)? The aim of this paper is to contribute to this debate on the enhancement of HE through technology. This will be done by exploring some of the relevant aspects from a learner-centred as well as a managerial perspective.