Technology practices to promote equity, access and quality in South African higher education: a multi-case study

Abstract

South Africa is still grappling with the legacy of historical inequalities, which ultimately culminate in large portions of the population being excluded, in both subtle and overt ways, from accessing quality higher education. The study explored the role of technology in nurturing equity, access and quality in the South African higher education context. The study sought to address these seemingly relentless incongruences, which students and institutions are currently experiencing. To achieve this aim, the study employed qualitative methods to explore the technological practices that the selected higher education institutions (HEIs) and academics used to enhance the quality of educational outcomes. The theoretical lens that informed this study was blended from Ertmer et al.’s (2012) espoused and enacted technology practice theory and Hohfeld’s (1919) rights-based theory. Using an in-depth and expansive literature review, analysing of institutional policies and collecting data by means of open-ended questionnaires, the study identified some approaches that HEIs and academics could adopt in leveraging technology to bridge the lingering access, equity and quality gaps in higher education. In so doing, the study made valuable contributions to the emerging debate on how the prevailing equity, access and quality challenges in the South African higher education context could be addressed through technology-driven solutions. Two non-probability sampling techniques were used to select participants from the three case study institutions, four of whom were conveniently sampled. The other four participants, were snowball-sampled with the help of the researcher’s two contacts two state HEIs, who also participated in the study, thus, bringing the number of participants to ten. The researcher also analysed institutional policy documents related to technology usage, which were generally found to be in sync with the practices that were described by the participants. The findings of the study showed that all the HEIs actively promoted technology integration, with one of them having already begun to explore the incorporation of artificial intelligence in teaching and learning spaces. The study also found that the use of digital technology enhanced pedagogical practices, but its deployment in HEIs was still hampered by literacy, generational and socio-economic gaps, among others