Abstract
Information and Communication Technology (ICT) can do more than benefit teaching and learning in rural schools; it can also be a catalytic and transformative tool that induces knowledge reformation and production amongst learners in an informed society. In this paper our focus is on how ICT education practices in rural schools in marginalized communities can be transformed to develop knowledge that is transformative, empowering, and emancipatory in order for learners to pursue a vision of a good life in a desirable society. The study employs critical research to acquire deeper meanings and insights from in-class teaching events and observations at Alabama High School (a pseudo name) in Eastern Cape of South Africa. Through our critical reflective, the research confirms that current ICT education and curricula practices in rural marginalized schools have failed to develop transformative knowledge that makes rural schools sites of possibility for learners to become active in society from a position of empowerment. Developing transformative ICT educational experiences in rural schools could face challenges in the context of dominant educational practices and structures that in essence also need transformation. Transformative ICT education practices in this study suggest transforming learners’ learning experiences such that the learners question or reframe their assumptions, knowledge, and education experiences in relation to their community life. In this paper we argue that more effective transformative ICT education in rural schools requires a sufficiently longitudinal perspective and action that takes into account the general impact of ideas on education practices in relation to school and community needs.
Recommended Citation
Simuja, Clement; Krauss, Kirstin; and Conger, Sue, "Achieving inclusive and transformative ICT education practices in rural schools in marginalized communities" (2016). CONF-IRM 2016 Proceedings. 68.
https://aisel.aisnet.org/confirm2016/68