Low end ICTs in teacher education in S Africa
This was a lesson in use of appropriate technologies, and in systems and funding. The case study was of OLSET and its work in developing teacher education in South Africa by using the resource of radio with printed and other physical materials to make teaching in primary schools more constructivist and more involving of he children. It scaled rapidly from its beginning up to a programme that was reaching nearly 2 million children at its peak. The key to its success appears to have been the use of the right technology – radio – to create an interactive medium in which the teacher could bring the class along in time with the rhythm of the programme. It lasted for some fifteen years, with different funders, all international donors. It appears to have made a considerable difference to the way many teachers teach. And it was successful enough for programme staff to be invited to consult on similar programmes in Nigeria and Bangladesh. But it is not clear whether it has systematically changed the way education happens in S Africa – and this is the funding issue. Although the programme was relatively long term, it was not a part of the central system of S African education or run centrally from the relevant ministry. Although the programme was welcome and had many champions, there is now a question as to what will survive when the framework of the separate programme is dismantled, as it will be soon. It is not just the methodology for it, but also the funding that will have to be found from current budgets, which leaves a big question mark over how much of it will survive.