Education in a digital society: Myth or reality in poorly resourced countries in Southern Africa

• In Event: Supporting digital literacy in African educational contexts

Proposal

In a highly digitalized and dynamic 21st century, the democratization of technology is widely regarded as a need and a right for all learners. Technology and digital literacy are among the key drivers of economic growth, political liberalization, social equity and individual empowerment. However, the reality of education in many poorly resourced schools in the developing South casts a dark shadow on the availability of digital resources for teaching and learning. Despite the rhetoric of a digital society, which anchors the 5th Industrial Revolution, many schools in the Global South lack basic technological infrastructure and resources necessary for digital driven classroom practice. In the light of these existing limitations, the current study questions whether ‘envisioning education in a digital society’ is a myth or reality in the context of three Southern African countries – namely Lesotho, South Africa and Zimbabwe. To tease the myth-reality paradox on digital transformation in these three countries, two key questions drive this study:
i. What opportunities and challenges do schools in Lesotho, South Africa and Zimbabwe have in accessing digital infrastructure and resources for teaching and learning?
ii. How does the (un)availability of digital infrastructure and resources for teaching and learning mitigate or perpetuate socio-economic inequalities in Southern Africa?
Literature shows that the digital gap between rich and poor schools in these three countries is particularly pronounced, if not embarrassing. Using the digital divide theory, as expounded by Herbert Marcuse and Jürgen Habermas, this theoretical paper teases the commonly held assumption that education in the 21st century is digital technology driven. While this may be true in some region, country and school contexts, the current paper reviews recently published research available in the public domain to examine the affordability, availability and accessibility of digital technology to schools in Lesotho, South Africa and Zimbabwe. These three post-colonial nations share the inequalities of the legacy of British colonialism which seem to be perpetuated by the ongoing 5th Industrial Revolution, metamorphosizing into digital capitalism. The paper also explores the teaching-learning opportunities and challenges created by the digital divide in the light of the social justice agenda publicly espoused by the leaders of these three countries. Our research findings highlight the harsh realities of the inequalities perpetrated by digital capitalism. For learners and teachers in poor schools, education in a digital society remains a pipedream as they continue to use pen, paper and the chalkboard; while their counterparts in richly resourced schools utilise digital learning platforms, android notepads and technologies. The disparities in access to digital resources and literacy perpetuate social class reproduction by widening the performance and attainment gap between learners in poor and rich schools. There is urgent need for political leaders, policymakers, technology developers and instructional leaders to collaborate in addressing the conspicuous barriers to digital adoption in education and leverage the technological landscape to make ‘education in a digital society’ a reality for all learners, irrespective of social class background. Without concerted efforts to bridge the digital divide, the promise of education in a digital society will remain a myth and a mirage for most learners in Southern Africa and many other regions in the underdeveloped Global South.
Keywords: digital capitalism, digital technology, digital literacy, digital divide theory, 5th Industrial Revolution, poorly resourced schools

Authors

• Godsend Chimbi, University of the Free State

• Currell Jita, University of the Free State