How do South African school teachers understand the concept "educational technology" in post apartheid education? Devan Govender Division of Educational Technology Faculty of Education University of Durban Westville

Educational technology as an agent for educational reconstruction and transformation has been pursued by many democracies throughout the world. The elevated status afforded to educational technology stems directly from its recognition of education as being an ever evolving discipline that draws influence and inputs from a wide variety of other disciplines such as cybernetics, engineering, communications, information systems, actuarial sciences, philosophy, sociology, etc, educational technology has thus gained popularity because it is one of the very few disciplines that takes an holistic view of education thereby insisting on a systems approach to education. Educational technology also identifies the value of a rational problem solving approach in explaining, analysing and debating educational issues such as evaluation, management, administration, utilisation, design, curriculum development, planning, implementation and so forth. In essence, educational technology stresses the point of thinking critically and systematically about teaching and learning. Thus since educational technology emphasises a multifaceted view of education, it thereby provides a host of opportunities in terms of promoting and affecting change and transformation. Educational technology also provides various avenues in which educational transformation can ensue so that all the stakeholders can become purposefully involved in a constructive way within the educational landscape and system. In the final analysis, educational technology is as wide as education itself: it is away of thinking critically and sceptically about teaching and learning so as to improve our teaching strategies and methods where excellence will become the norm. This however, could only be achieved if successfully if a strong will, commitment and dedication can be forthcoming from educational managers and authorities at the provincial or governmental level.

1994 was hailed as the watershed year in South African politics and for the country as a whole. The democratic elections together with the induction of a government of national unity was seen as milestone by every South african and the international community at large. Millions of disadvantaged communities began to raise their hopes and dreams that at last there was a government in place that would begin to deliver on the basis of non racialism, etc. School going children together with educators also began to brim with enthusiasm in the hope and expectation of receiving an education that would be characterised by enhanced qualities of teaching and learning. They were also fully convinced that at last educational access, provisioning, staffing and resourcing would be such that the attainment of educational excellence would be the norm.

Indeed the expectations, hopes and dreams of millions of disadvantaged school pupils and school staff were in keeping with educational transformation and change that was expected from the new national ministry of education. However, the reality of the situation thus far has been far from that. The pace, quality, effectiveness, appropriateness, etc of educational transformation leaves much to be desired. Up to now there seems to be no systematic process in place that binds and brings together all the facets of the educational landscape in South Africa. Many policies have appeared in terms of educational change, however these policies are generally piecemeal without any collaboration with the various stakeholders within the South african educational landscape. Some educationists have labelled the educational changes as being mere cosmetic and nothing tangible or concrete has emerged under the new government of national unity. Indeed policies regulate the access, provisioning, staffing, etc of schools however in house training, INSET and PRESET programs have not emerged especially in terms of educational technology. The ever decreasing matriculation results, coupled with teacher unrest and strikes, lack of textbooks and basic cleaning services to school are all realities that have still to be sorted out by the national ministry of education in post apartheid South Africa.

Based on the above scenario, an in depth study was conducted in the province of KwaZulu Natal (South Africa). The primary intent and purpose of the study was to examine, identify, assess and gauge "How South African school educators understand the concept Educational Technology" within post apartheid education. The findings proved conclusively that indeed the majority of school educators do not understand the basics of the concept "Educational technology". There was also very strong evidence that suggest no policies are in place as regards educational technology within South African school. Thus post apartheid education has not yet identified the value and significance of educational technology as a strong discipline in its own right. The study also concluded that the majority of school teachers are despondent and unhappy with the present department of national education. Many respondents in the survey also stated that they felt the provincial department of education to be corrupt, lacks vision and innovation.

This research study thus provides a number of conclusions that are startling in terms of developing teacher competence in enhancing teaching and learning in South Africa.

Author: Devan Govender Lecturer, Department of Applied Curriculum Studies Division of Educational Technology Faculty of Education University of Durban Westville South Africa Email: govy@pixie.udw.ac.za Please cite as: Govender, D. (1998). How do South African school teachers understand the concept "educational technology" in post apartheid education? In C. McBeath and R. Atkinson (Eds), Planning for Progress, Partnership and Profit. Proceedings EdTech'98. Perth: Australian Society for Educational Technology. http://www.aset.org.au/confs/edtech98/pubs/articles/govender.html