Appendix 2

Educational Technologies in South Africa

In this appendix, we describe a range of technologies that can be used to support education, and give some indication of the availability of a selection of technologies in South Africa. Given the scope of this research we have focused primarily on radio, television, and computer technology infrastructure in the country. We have, however, drawn this information from fairly extensive research into a wider range of technologies and their educational applications.

 Understanding media and technologies 

In order to make choices about the educational use of technologies; it is worth differentiating between media and technologies, two concepts that are often used interchangeably. Such use masks important conceptual differences in the way the terms are used throughout this document. Tony Bates developed a useful grid to highlight the differences, and relationships, between media and technologies.[1] This table was amended by the TELI Research Team, and has been further amended for inclusion below. It is by no means a comprehensive map of the full range of media and technologies, but helps to illustrate the relationship between the two. 

Medium	Technologies for Delivery	Educational Applications
Face-to-face contact	•     Overhead projectors (manual or electronic) •     Specialist technologies •     All of the below	•     Seminars, tutorials, classes, workshops, and lectures •     Learner study groups or self-help groups •     Conferences •     One-to-one interaction, either between educator and learner, learner and learner, or learner and mentor (especially in workplace) •     Drama-in-education or theatre-in-education sessions •     Practical demonstration and activities
Text (including graphics)	Print	•     Books, booklets, and pamphlets (either already published or written specifically for a course) •     Study guides, written either as stand-alone material or as ‘wrap-around’ guides to already published material •     Workbooks intended for use in conjunction with other media materials (for example, audio or video cassettes or computer-based learning) •     Newspapers, journals, periodicals, newsletters, and magazines •     Printed learner support materials (for example, self-tests, project guides, notes on accreditation requirements or other aspects of courses, bibliographies, and handwritten/typed materials or comments passing between learners and educators) •     Maps, charts, photographs, and posters •     Written/printed correspondence •          Learner support material (for example self tests, project guides, notes on accreditation requirements, or other aspects of courses, bibliographies, and materials or comments passed between leaner and educator)
	Facsimile	•          Written/printed correspondence •           One-multi point distribution
	Computers (including a range of applications such as e-mail, electronic databases, Worldwide Web hypertext documents, FTP or ASCII documents, CD-ROM	•     Electronic publishing •     Study guides, written either as stand-alone material or a wrap around guides to already published materials •           Instructional material intended for use in conjunction with other technologies (for example audio or video cassettes or printed materials) •           Newspapers, journals, periodicals, newsletters, and magazines •           Learner support material (for example self tests, project guides, notes on accreditation requirements, or other aspects of courses, bibliographies, and materials or comments passed between leaner and educator)
Audio	Audio Cassettes	•     Audio programmes (music, talk radio, documentary, literature review, lecture, panel discussion, news, current affairs, debate, drama etc)
	Audio Compact Disc	•               Audio programmes as for above
	Radio broadcasts	•     Radio programmes as above •           Radio phone-ins, talk-back radio)
	Telephone	•     Telephone tutoring •           Information or enquiry service •     Telephone conferences
	Computers with related applications (including CD-ROMs)	•     Multimedia sound (audio files) •     Voice communication
Video	Television Broadcasting (terrestrial, satellite or cable, digital or analogue transmission, including narrowcast educational television)	•     Video programmes (music, talk shows, documentary, literature review, lecture, panel discussion, news, current affairs, debates, game shows, drama, films etc). •     Lectures •               Simulations of procedures and processes
	Video cassettes	•     Video programmes as above •     lectures
	Video discs	•     Video programmes as above •          Instructional material (for examples, art pictures or biological photographs)
	Video conferencing	•     Video conferences (with two way audio and video or one way video and two way audio) •     Point-to-multi-point classes with interactive video and audio
	Computers/Internet	•     Videographics •     See-You-See-Me Conferences
Integrated multimedia	Stand-alone Computer-based workstation, CD-ROM/ DVD, CDI, etc	•     Presentation of information/knowledge •     Simulations •     Interactive exercises and assessment
	Networked Linking Computer-based workstation, CD-ROM/DVD, or Set-Top Boxes to public (Internet) or private (Intranet, LAN, WAN) networks	•     Presentation of material and/ or resources integrating all above media (text, audio and video) and possible applications •     Simulations •     Assignment submission, assessment and feedback •     Conferencing data, audio, video

The above grid is complicated by rapid convergence in both form and functionality of many information, communications, and broadcasting technologies. This convergence, however, reinforces the importance of distinguishing between technology and medium, particularly when trying to understand potential educational roles for different technologies.[2] Communication technologies are the means of delivering media messages. Using a simplistic analogy, the technology might be considered to be the type of pipe used, while the medium (or media) is the form of the substance (or combination of substances) flowing down the pipe. Thus, a key criterion in assessing the potential educational value of a particular technology is to understand which medium – or combination of media – can travel down the ‘pipe’ under evaluation and in which directions it can travel. This understanding can then be related back to predetermined educational goals and objectives in order to determine whether or not a specific technology can be used to support or enhance an identified teaching and learning environment. Naturally, this process will need to take into account financial constraints and cost-effectiveness.

_________________________________________________________________________________________

[1] Adapted from Bates, A. (1984). Broadcasting in Education: An Evaluation. London: Constable, p. 248.

[2] In chapter seven, we describe what is meant by convergence of technologies and focus the chapter on the implications of this for a dedicated educational broadcasting service.

 Using technoloiges to support education 

All education and training involves processes of communication between an educational provider and learners, and it is essential to develop an understanding of the modes of communication most appropriate to a particular teaching and learning process. Those deciding to use technologies to support education need to understand the nature of the communication between educators and learners in order to seek ways to support and enhance these processes. Any teaching and learning process consists of combinations of different modes of communication, which in turn support the teaching and learning strategies and activities of a particular course. This communication can either be one-way or two-way, depending on need. Communication can take place in various ways:

•    Face-to-face, for example, in classes, tutorials, or practical sessions;

•    Via correspondence, whether it involves post, courier, fax, or electronic mail;

•    Using printed media of various kinds, which can either be distributed via correspondence or in face-to-face sessions;

•    Using audio such as radio, audio cassettes, telephone calls, or audio conferencing;

•    Using video, for example, one-way broadcasting, video, or video- conferencing; 

•    Using computers and computer-based multimedia, whether they be stand- alone or part of a network.

Making decisions about technologies always requires a clear understanding of the varied teaching and learning environments it aims to support, as well as their potential functions. There are three broad applications for technologies: 

1.   Technologies to Support the Educational Provider

Technologies have a crucial role to play in supporting the educational provider itself, particularly in its day-to-day management and administration. Regretfully, however, this important use is often neglected, both in policy statements and in the deliberations of people planning the use of technologies to support education and training.  

While some technologies, such as telephones and filing cabinets, have long been used for these purposes, there is a growing understanding that the rapid development of information and communications technologies provide significant opportunities for generating savings in this area of education and training and also for leading to more effective management and administration systems. For example, the growing use of databases and information warehouses, together with the explosion in the use of e-mail to facilitate quick, cheap communication are two relatively simple applications of such technologies that can prove very cost-effective. 

2.   Technologies to Support Delivery of Resources

A crucial role that technologies can play in supporting education and training is to support the delivery of educational resources, particularly course materials. These technologies are made up predominantly of the wide range of information and communications technologies, from the printed book and other printed materials through television and radio to multimedia computers and the Internet. 

A defining characteristic of such applications of technologies is the implicit requirement that this will demand some investment in course materials design and development processes. Thus, the technologies covered by this group would not only support delivery of resources by making these available to students, but also support course materials design and development processes. For example, the technologies required for printing books – as well as the technology of the book itself – are necessary to make these resources available to students. Behind this, however, lies increasing use of computers – word processors, graphics programmes, desktop publishing – that support the development of the printed resource. Both the development and distribution of resources should, therefore, be considered when making investments in this area. 

3.   Technologies to Support Teaching and Learning

Provision of course materials is an important part of the teaching and learning processes in all education and training, whether face-to-face or at a distance. In addition, however, there are many technologies that might support other teaching and learning processes. Some of these can be used generally in any education and training programme, such as white boards or overhead projectors, while others might be referred to as specialist technologies, such as woodwork equipment or language laboratories. Again, the technologies covered by this group ranges from the very simple, such as pen and paper, to the very sophisticated, such as computerized simulators. 

Convergence in the functionality of technologies is blurring the roles of technologies that directly support teaching and learning processes and those that support provision of course materials. For example, educators may use video conferencing both to deliver pre-designed resources and to support live discussion between geographically separate groups (or to deliver live lectures). Likewise, e-mail can be used to support communication amongst educators and learners, as well as to deliver pre-designed resources.

Characteristics of Different media

In this section we explore some of the characteristics of specific media. Each medium has different strengths and can complement other media to exploit these strengths and overcome potential weaknesses. Below is an introductory explanation of the nature, characteristics, and potential educational applications of each medium. Following this, where appropriate we have described and contrasted the technology options for delivery focusing specifically on radio, television, and, to some extent, computers.

Face-to-face Contact

Face-to-face contact has long been the cornerstone of educational practices and mediated learning experiences (to the point that many people now unjustifiably use it as a yardstick for measuring educational quality). This type of contact allows for immediate interaction between educator and learner and between learner and learner. The educational purpose of a face-to-face contact session, the way in which it is designed, and the number of learners and educators involved, influence the nature of this interaction, as do the personalities of the individuals involved. Compare a lecture delivered by a single educator to a large audience with a facilitated group activity in which learners engage with each other in small groups. Each has very different purposes, and hence allows for very different educational experiences. 

Face-to-face contact enables individual interaction between educators and groups of learners and, in some instances, between individual learner and educator. It also allows learners to be taken to different locations where the learning experience is designed around the immediate environment of the group. Field trips and excursions are examples of such educational applications. Its strength, when employed effectively, lies in the nature of human interaction. Social interaction, which is frequently beyond the scope of course material, is possible during contact sessions. Both social interactions and related learning experiences can be monitored while sessions are in progress, and instructional design adapted immediately where necessary. Potentially, both learners and educators can read how a situation is progressing, and choose to intervene during the session. Face-to-face contact allows educators to monitor moods, participation, attendance, and levels of engagement with relative ease. 

Increasingly, however, extensive face-to-face contact is coming to be viewed as an unnecessary luxury due to its expense. This has been further influenced by the tendency of many educators to use face-to-face contact to communicate the curriculum to learners, a use for which it is ill suited both educationally and financially. Consequently, many traditional face-to-face institutions now seek to use distance education and resource-based learning methods to overcome some of the more inefficient uses of face-to-face contact. Many distance education methods seek to emulate or replicate this medium by using combinations of other media and a selection of technologies to replace some of the traditional functions of face-to-face contact.

Text

The term ‘text’ is commonly used to refer to scripted words and other related signs like numbers.[1] For the purpose of this discussion, however, text also includes graphics such as pictures, charts, diagrams, and maps. It is often debated whether text or face-to-face contact has been or is the dominant teaching medium, which has the greater influence, and, which is the most effective. Such debate erroneously protects one medium at the expense of the other, thereby ignoring the individual strengths and complementary nature of different media. 

Various technologies can be used to facilitate textual media communication between learners and educators. For example, an educator may write a note on a chalkboard, course design teams may develop printed study guides for learners to read, learners may type or write assignments, and both educators and learners might participate in e-mail discussion lists. Text has many applications. To name but a few examples, it can serve as a record of activity, as a source for detailed explanation, as a reference for a summary of key concepts, or to support correspondence (including post, facsimile, courier, and electronic mail). 

Text can precisely represent facts, abstract ideas, rules, principles, and detailed, lengthy or complex arguments. It is good for narrative or story-telling, and, in the hands of a skilled writer, can lend itself to interpretation and imagination.[2]

 Technologies for delivering text 

Text can be delivered by using print, facsimile or computer technologies (including e-mail, databases, web sites, or on CD-ROM). 

Print[3]

Print could be said to be the foundation of all education. More than 85 percent of distance education programs use print either as the main delivery technology for courseware or in conjunction with other media and technologies. The importance and quality of print have increased as ready access to relatively low-cost desktop publishing and on-demand printing technology has eased the tasks of preparing, updating, and revising textual and graphic materials. As with computer technologies, printed materials can take a number of forms – newspaper supplements, one-page letters or circulars, posters, booklets, workbooks and textbooks – the full range of which has been presented in the table above. We describe some educational applications of newspapers, textbooks, and workbooks below. Many of the points made for print technologies describe educational concepts, rather than ideas specific to print only. For example, it is quite conceivable to have Matriculation revision guides that are available on the Worldwide Web (and not just in newspapers or booklets), or to have a wrap-around workbook that is contained on a CD-ROM rather than developed as a printed booklet. It is nevertheless useful to spell out these educational applications, as they serve to illustrate how a range of technologies can be used to do similar and complementary educational functions. 

Special supplements or regular items in national newspapers – sometimes in conjunction with radio and other mass media – have often been used in large-scale education systems (and distance education programmes in particular) in such subjects as health care and rural development or in national in-service teacher training programs. Using newspaper distribution networks is often the most cost-effective way of getting educational material to large numbers of readers. Newspapers are also used as a vehicle for communication and contact between and among students, course developers, tutors, and instructors, while in-house student newspapers are sometimes used to provide general information on an institution’s courses. In South Africa, educational newspaper supplements are common, with most large national and regional newspapers carrying an educational supplement on a regular basis.[4] 

Most schools and tertiary education institutions make use of textbooks. These are written for classroom use, as well as for independent study and reference purposes. Some textbooks are written in a personal style, including self-assessment questions and review tests or questions at the end of each main section or chapter. Where textbooks are to be used for independent study, they often need to be complemented by a study guide or course guide with commentary and notes. Some online courses based on a ‘wrap-around’ model use standard textbooks or course readers (edited compilations of articles) as a basic resource, giving online guidance on which sections, chapters, or articles to read for later discussion through the conferencing system. 

Modular units or workbooks are written for independent study by the course designers or instructors, and tailored to the course and students. They are generally written in a personal style, as if the writer was speaking directly to a student (a ‘tutorial in print’), and are structured so that the student’s reading corresponds to the agreed study schedule for the course (each unit might correspond to eight hours’ work or a week’s work, for example). A well-designed unit contains explicit study objectives, a clear table of contents, a glossary of any new or technical terms introduced, completed examples, and many in-text activities, such as exercises and self-assessment and review questions. Students may be encouraged to annotate units with their comments and answers to exercises and quizzes, and then compare their responses with model answers or instructor’s comments at the end of the unit. 

Computer Applications[5]

Most computer applications make extensive use of text. The written word is used for instructions, entering data and presenting most information. Two computer applications that are frequently used in tandem and are primarily text-based are online services and databases. Online services play an important part in education, including subject-related databases and library services, online access to information about courses, and links to administrative services such as registration and fee payment. Increasingly, however, personal computers with web browsers have become the most common mode for accessing online services. 

Another is the hypertext protocols used for web-sites. Hypertext and the Web Hypertext is a protocol for linking parts of documents to other documents or to parts of other documents. Clicking on a ‘hot spot’ in a hypertext document activates a hypertext link in the underlying software, taking the reader to the linked item. These items may be text, audio, graphics, or video documents – separate files coded in hypertext mark-up language (HTML). HTML files are read by a Web browser, a mouse-driven software interface. Writing text-based course materials in HTML is no more complex than using a word processor. The hyperlinking function allows a course developer to build interactivity into courseware, presenting students with options and paths to follow depending, for example, on their interests or on the answers they give to self-test questions. 

Electronic mail also makes extensive use of text. It is a form of store-and-forward computer-based messaging that enables a user to send text messages from a personal computer over a data network (such as the Internet) to one or more recipients. Recipients collect messages from their ‘mailbox’ on a central server, using their own personal computer or workstation. Access to e-mail is becoming widespread in many countries, through institutional and corporate networks or Internet service providers. As network bandwidth and personal computer processing power increases, so does the ability to attach files to email messages, ranging from formatted documents to sound and graphics or even video files. E-mail can be used both for one-to-one and one-to-many communication (through e-mail distribution lists) and thus can support group interaction. For example, a tutor can use e-mail to easily send the same message to every student in a group, and a group of students can use e-mail to work together on an assignment.

 Communication technoloiges 

Much of the discussion above has related to choices about how text-based material is distributed. Often this choice is based on the levels of interaction required between the recipient and the sender. The communications technologies used to support interaction are frequently divided into two broad categories:

•     Asynchronous (or deferred-time) technologies, which do not require participants to be present simultaneously. Examples include postal correspondence, electronic mail, and computer conferencing.

•     Synchronous (or real-time) technologies, which require participants to interact at the same time, generally prearranged. These technologies include telephony, audio-conferencing, audio-graphic conferencing, videoconferencing, and multi-user object-oriented environments (MOOs).

This is an important conceptual distinction for making decisions about which technologies to use to support educational processes - it will be returned to when considering technologies for delivery of audio and video media.

audio

One of the primary ways in which humans communicate is by using sound or audio. As communication plays a fundamental role in education, it is not surprising that audio is a key component of many educational initiatives. To illustrate, conversation, debate, counselling, and lectures all use this medium frequently. Bates attests that a great deal of the educational use of audio centres around the human voice. A great advantage of listening to a voice is that it can be modulated, in other words, the voice can vary in pitch, intonation, pace, volume, and emphasis. Of course, audio resources can make extensive use of music and sound effects as well as human voices. Thus, ‘audio is possibly the most undervalued of all media. Audio technologies are cheap, easy to use, accessible and generally educationally effective’.[6] Audio resources are effective for supporting communication skills and for explanation of concepts. They can be used in combination with other media (such as text, graphics, or video) to provide multi-sensory input, and are important for teaching appreciation of music or identification of sounds. Audio can also be used to create a specific mood or atmosphere. Pronunciation and language skills can be supported. In all these instances, though, audio resources, especially when transmitted via radio broadcasts, are transitory. 

Several underlying assumptions exist about audio resources. One of the most important – and abused – is that audio resources assume homogeneity among listeners. On this basis, many developing countries have developed audio resources (distributed via radio broadcasts) as part of a strategy to democratize distribution of educational materials or correct bias towards urban areas and middle class schools.[7] This democratization argument is very powerful, but essentially erroneous. While it may be possible for distribution to be democratized through broadcast, distribution is a quantitative entity. It does not follow logically that educational impact, a qualitative and far more complex phenomenon, will necessarily be similarly democratized or distributed. Audio resources have differing abilities to support interactive learning. Unless interactivity is intentionally part of the instructional design of a resource, it is not likely to be implicit to it. 

Audio resources have real potential to assist children with developing communication and language skills through practice. There is, however, some concern about whether or not these resources can do anything more than simulate a conversation between ‘tape teacher’ and ‘tape student’, and whether or not synchronous use of radio broadcasts promotes active learning by that student. 

Audio resources have also been used successfully with early childhood development learners and foundation phase students. In some examples, resources used auditory stimulation to encourage exploration and development of other sensory experiences and awareness. This form of stimulation can potentially create any environment in a listener’s mind, because it relies on the power of imagination and creativity of scriptwriters, listeners, and caregivers. Like most effective use of educational media, audio is best used in combination with other media.

Technologies for Delivering Audio

Audio can be delivered using radio, audiocassette, music/audio compact discs, or computer applications. We focus on the former two options as the latter are discussed under integrated multimedia. 

Radio

Dubbed ‘the most accessible technology in terms of cost and comprehension’, radio has been used in education ever since it became available. It has been used for school broadcasts, in-service teacher support and training, and adult literacy and basic education campaigns. In combination with tutorials, print materials, local listening groups, and face-to-face meetings, radio has been used in many countries to teach a wide range of subjects at the school and college level. Several large distance teaching universities in Britain, Indonesia, Spain, and Thailand use radio in many of their distance education courses. Now that audio-cassette recorders are more widely available, educators can more easily compensate for the ephemeral nature of radio broadcasts and its fixed transmission times. Where students have access to telephones, phone-in discussion programmes can help to overcome the one-way nature of radio broadcasting. 

Audiocassettes

When audio materials are recorded, they provide significant educational advantages over radio. Audiocassettes are less glamorous than technologies such as the Internet, or television but, as an educational technology, potentially have a more positive impact on learning processes than radio. As a technology, audiocassette recorders give educators and learners the power to record audio resources for asynchronous use. Teachers and students can also purchase complete sets of programmes, which would have added advantages of being well organized and clearly labelled. Use of recorded audio resources allows learners greater control over the duration of the listening-learning process, as well as its frequency or quantity. 

Recording radio broadcasts is not a simple process. The type of equipment available in the home or learning and teaching site such as a school (separate radio and tape recorders are less effective for recording than combined radio-tape players), the skills and coordination required to record radio broadcasts, and storage and cataloguing of recordings impact on this process. Provision of cheap, efficient, and coordinated distribution of audio resources by a broadcaster is one way of simplifying the process and encouraging asynchronous use of audio resources. 

Audiocassette recordings of radio resources do, however, differ in style and educational effectiveness from audio resources intended for individual use as part of a course. Students have, for example, reported that course-based supplementary audio materials were more helpful than radio-based learning materials intended for broadcast use.[8] Audiocassette resources and associated technologies provide students with stop-start and review facilities, while teachers can exploit opportunities provided by ‘the hidden nature of the next part of the tape to be played’.[9] Replay and pause facilities have been found to be effective for analysis or revision-type learning activities. 

In combination with print materials, audiocassettes allow for simultaneous audio and visual stimulation, while students can move between media at their own pace. This flexibility is important in resource-based learning and learner-centred education. Use of audiocassettes also allows students and teachers the opportunity to leave their hands and eyes free. Bates lists the following advantages of using audiocassettes as learning materials:

•     To analyse or process detailed visual material…The purpose of the cassette is to ‘talk’ students through the visual material;

•     To enable students through repetition to obtain mastery in learning certain skills or techniques (e.g. analysis of language, language pronunciation, analysis of musical structure and technique, mathematical computation); and

•     To analyse or critically review complex arguments, or carefully structured logical arguments.[10] 

A variety of formats and styles is available to producers of audiocassette resources. The traditional format of audiocassette resources is the ‘Reith Lecture’, where an eminent person presents a series of lectures on cassette. Other possibilities include: ‘talking’ students through a learning process; music; synthesized sound special effects; naturally occurring events; the cacophony of sounds on streets; extracts from political speeches; recordings of sports and dramatic events; or the voices of ordinary people participating in a panel discussion, radio talk show, or phone-in. Educational audio programmes can use music, talk radio, documentary, literature review, lecture, panel discussion, news, current affairs, debate, drama and other common formats. 

The educational value of audiocassette resources is dependent on the extent to which they encourage interactivity. For example, a ‘tape teacher’ or sound special effect can encourage (cue) students to practise pronunciation, translation, grammar, or to turn the page of a printed text. This supports communication and language skill development. If instructionally designed to do so, audiocassette resources, can encourage students to summarize in written form what they have heard, thereby reinforcing mastery of verbal and written literacy skills. 

Audiocassette resources have also been used with secondary school students, to present different points of view of a range of people. They can be used to familiarize students with an argument or even a story or play. They provide a useful way of showing students how course materials are linked to events occurring in the wider society. If audiocassettes include a commentary about an event or experience, they can be useful in motivating students and allowing them some opportunity to experience an unfamiliar event emotionally. 

Audio resources are effective for supporting communication skills and for explanation of concepts, stimulation to encourage exploration, and development of other sensory experiences and awareness. This form of stimulation can potentially create any environment in a listener’s mind, because it relies on the power of imagination and the creativity of scriptwriters, listeners, and caregivers. 

After print, the humble audiocassette is the most widely used technology in distance education, in both single- and dual-mode institutions.[11] Audiocassettes are cheap to produce and distribute, can be listened to almost anywhere, and can be easily re-used. In arts, science, and technology courses, they can be used in conjunction with print materials (diagrams, illustrations, photographs) to provide ‘audiovision,’ with an instructor or expert providing commentary and guidance as the student views the material. The educational potential of audio in such subjects as drama, poetry, and music is self-evident. Audiocassettes can provide instructions for hands-on manipulations or procedures ranging from carrying out a home experiment to learning to use computer software. They can also personalize a print-based education course, enabling the student to hear the instructor’s voice as he or she explains concepts developed in the print materials.[12]

Video

Video has a wide range of potential educational applications. It is a good medium for providing students with an opportunity to view that which they would not usually experience (for example, the inside of an aeroplane cockpit). Video can be used to show text and graphics. It can also be used to show a lecture or presentation, often referred to educationally as a ‘talking head’. A person can be shown talking about a subject, and this presentation could either be broadcast live, pre-recorded, or combine live and pre-recorded material. The latter might mean that a presenter could show lecture aids, such as notes, diagrams, charts, or photographs while talking through explanations or complementary commentary. Video clippings of processes or events might also be included in such presentations. Video can also show what is being explained, as it happens in the ‘real world’. Video can be particularly useful educationally for showing movement or procedures. It is a good medium for actualization, visualization, and story telling.[13] While video is often criticized for being ephemeral and fleeting, this can also be viewed as its strength. A good story can be presented without interruption, gripping viewers and enabling them to see processes played out over time. When used on videocassette or computer, video can be interrupted and reviewed at will. Nevertheless, it can be viewed continuously, presenting a set sequence of events in an appealing and entertaining manner. 

Video can be used to capture and reflect on student performance. For example, teachers could learn by seeing themselves in the classroom, actors or sports players can reflect on their performance, while students might improve their presentation skills by seeing how they come across on camera. With a video camera, students can produce videos, using this to present an assignment or to share an experience with other students. Although the above uses of video may be regarded to be the domain of small and expensive educational courses or programmes, this need not necessarily be so. Snippets of material developed in the above ways might quite conceivably be integrated into video resources that are broadcast via television or distributed on videocassette. 

One way in which the educational impact of video resources can be measured is to examine impact on student and teacher interactions. In South Africa, a typical student-teacher interaction is authoritarian, rigidly structured, and does not invite flexible or challenging interactions between teacher and pupil,[14] although ironically, it is these latter types of interactions that are necessary for supporting participatory democracy in society. Educators and broadcasters agree that video makes innovative styles of teaching and learning possible, and shared student/teacher viewing potentially can change the power dynamic between teacher and student.[15] Of course, it can just as easily reinforce authoritarian teacher-centred patterns. 

Multi-cultural classrooms are often sites of invisible, but very real, hegemonic struggle for cultural dominance.[16] Thus, for example, the content of a geography lesson on ‘farming technology’ can benefit from video information on traditional and non-traditional methods of farming with which a teacher may be unfamiliar. Video resources can provide support to teachers within a multi-cultural classroom, and have the potential to challenge often-invisible resistance to alternative viewpoints in a classroom.[17] 

Video-based learning resources can introduce interesting factors into debates about the merits of literacy versus oral-based learning and cultures. The use of video resources such as archival footage might add to an understanding of the history of a country. Because video resources most often are accompanied by audio tracks, they tend to rely on multiple media to present information that is neither purely oral nor purely literal. In this way, video can show behaviour, nuance, and relationships in a variety of contexts that simultaneously demand oral and literary skills.[18] 

The educational impact of video resources depends, at least in part, on the extent to which instructional designers include interactive learning activities for students. Viewers, whether adults or children, do not come to the screen with ‘empty minds’, but have prior learning experiences that are relevant to how they access and use visual information. In an age where we are expected to receive, process, and discriminate between messages at very high levels, video resources need to challenge what students know and potentially can know. Integrating recognition of prior learning into the instructional design process (especially of television broadcasts) is, however, complicated by the fact that audiences tend to be assumed to be ‘homogeneous’, while distribution of the message is ‘democratic’. 

A correlation exists between video comprehension and reading comprehension, as does a cognitive interdependence between viewing and reading skills.[19] Educationally, video’s strength is the attractiveness of its content, not its complexity. This is important for developing and using video resources in the classroom. Several international studies have examined this issue, and it is clear that learning from video is only possible if teachers and parents support a young student’s learning process. Conceptualization of viewing has changed significantly, to the extent that it is now commonly regarded as a skill that can be taught. Learning from video therefore demands the development of particular skills. One study tested this hypothesis, finding that, if viewing skills are taught to children, it significantly improves their ability to learn from video resources. 

Increased demand for visual literacy skills is often used by romantic, ‘pro-technology’ groups to justify their argument that each classroom must have a television. Certainly, visual displays of information are widespread and growing in sophistication, and clearly children’s cognitive development must, by necessity, include development of these skills. Findings from cognitive research support these claims. Today’s children draw on visual memories several hundred times more often than their parents, who rely mostly on literal associations. The importance of enhancing visual literacy skills is forcing reconsideration of the traditional schism between logical/verbal/numeric and spatial understanding/manipulation/imagery skills. Visual literacy research suggests a stronger interdependence between these skills, encouraging that both be developed together and not to the other’s detriment. As with all other skills, however, the development of visual literacy skills in video resources must be an overt objective of the instructional design process. Simply watching video does not ‘automatically’ develop visual literacy skills. 

Technologies for Delivering Video

Video material can be recorded on electromagnetic tape, and replayed using videocassette machines. Videocassettes store video in an analogue format. A range of other technologies can also be used for recording and replaying video materials. Video can be delivered via terrestrial or satellite television broadcast, using videocassettes or videodiscs, as part of video conferences, or across the Internet. 

Television

Television programmes are far more costly to produce and to transmit than radio programmes, especially if they are broadcast over public networks and expected to meet production standards similar to those of news, documentary, and entertainment programmes. Narrowcast programmes can be produced on smaller budgets, but simply placing a lecturer in front of a television camera and transmitting the results is generally considered an ineffective use of the medium for education (although this approach is widely used in the vast Central Chinese Television University). Television comes into its own in a mixed-media distance education course, used to demonstrate scientific or laboratory experiments, to broadcast field trips, case studies, or performances, and to help visualize dynamic processes and sequences of events. In cultures where television viewing is passive and recreational, however, it can be difficult for students to change their viewing habits and see television as an educational medium. In addition, unless students have access to recording equipment, at home or at local study centres, the ephemeral nature of the broadcast must be taken into account in determining its educational objectives and its place in a structured educational course.[20] 

From an educational perspective, broadcast for immediate viewing is subject to several limitations. The most notable of these are:

•     Learners are required to gather at a certain place (where a television is) at a certain time;

•     Learners have no control over the pacing of the broadcast;

•     Broadcasts tend to encourage passivity amongst learners (and strategies employed to overcome this problem inevitably start generating significant additional cost, usually leading to serious financial inefficiency);

•     Integrating other media with video broadcast live is very difficult to achieve, and, when applied, very often leads to inefficient use of both broadcast technology (an example of this might be leaving ‘dead’ spaces to allow students to consult a printed resource) and the medium (this type of integration most often leads to quite boring television); and

•     Broadcasts tend to be organized in time packages that are much longer than the time an average student is able to concentrate fully on the television screen.

In summary, it is much easier to develop poor quality than good quality educational television broadcasting. There is a very narrow band of educational applications for video that is accessed by learners via a broadcast signal. 

Of course, broadcasts can be recorded using a videocassette recorder, thus turning the broadcast infrastructure into nothing more than an alternative distribution mechanism. Obviously, videocassette can also be distributed separate to a broadcast. The major advantage of either recording a broadcast or using a videocassette is that videocassettes can be used when and how people desire. Learners or educators can choose when to screen a video and which sections of it to use. It can be paused, or rewound and reviewed, if desired. This can be educationally useful if, for example, sections of the video (particularly those depicting movement or procedures) need to be shown repeatedly. The ability to watch and re-watch video can also be exploited by learners using video as part of a self-paced, resource-based learning environment, in which they watch the material in their own time. All of these features facilitate the integration of use of other media into the video-watching experience. In a structured learning site, videos can also be stored for re-use every time a course is run, allowing for effective amortization of costs of many student cohorts. 

Videodiscs

Videodiscs perform the same function as videocassettes but operate in a similar manner to CD-ROM discs. A laser beam detects tiny pits that have been burnt into the plastic coating of a disc. Images can be accessed randomly rather than linearly. Videodisc players cost about the same as videocassette recorders, but are not commonly used in South Africa because of the expense of buying discs. In this section we have focused on videocassettes, as these are most widely used in South Africa.

Integrated Multimedia

Most computer and broadcast technologies allow for the integrated use of a number of different media. The integration of media has, however, also long been a common strategy used in the traditional classroom environment. To illustrate, a teacher might explain a concept (face-to-face contact), while writing notes onto a chalkboard (text). Learners might then watch a television programme (video), before completing a worksheet (text), and discussing their responses in a group (face-to-face contact). Convergence of information, communication, and broadcasting technologies is rapidly increasing the ease with which media can be integrated, as well as allowing for delivery of multimedia resources via common technological platforms. In the above examples, separate technologies of a chalkboard and chalk, a television, and printed material were necessary. Computer technology allows text, audio, and video material to be accessed via a single platform. Furthermore, because all three media can be stored as digital files, they can increasingly be accessed in a number of ways. They may, for example, be stored and extracted directly from electronic databases, accessed via the Worldwide Web, distributed on CD-ROM, or broadcast and accessed using televisions and set-top boxes. 

In education, multimedia has come to mean the integrated use, in a computer-based system, of digitized text, audio, graphics, animation, and video to present elements of course content. These elements can be presented in many different ways, allowing learners to choose their own path through the courseware using keyboard or mouse interactions. Developing good multimedia courseware is a highly skilled task requiring knowledge of subject matter, instructional design skills, and familiarity with authoring software. Multimedia courseware may be presented on a CD-ROM for use on a stand-alone personal computer or over the World Wide Web through networked computer terminals.[21] 

The readily available and robust Web browser software and tools for Web software development have made it relatively easy to design customized web environments for education and training. These environments may combine courseware resources (hypertext pages, multimedia) and scheduling aids with tools allowing tutors, trainers, and other participants to interact both asynchronously (email, computer conferencing) and synchronously (audio and video links). The environments can be configured in different ways to support different types of learning activity (individual, small group, plenary). They can also contain aids for instructors for course design, class management, knowledge structuring, testing, and evaluation.[22]

 South Africa's technological infrastructure 

Above we have outlined a range of media and technologies and described in-principle educational applications for these. Decisions about technologies used to support education cannot only be made on the basis of this information, however. South Africa has already invested in technological infrastructure in various ways, and these existing and potentially available platforms must therefore also be considered.

Broad overview of South Africa’s technology infrastructure

As has been noted in many policy and research documents, South Africa is in a significantly different position from other African countries concerning use of information and communications technologies (ICTs). The following descriptive analysis indicates this:

• Despite recent progress, Africa remains far behind the developed world in terms of Internet connectivity and usage. For example, it is estimated that 1 in 6 people use the Internet in North America and Europe whereas the comparable figure for Africa, excluding South Africa, is 1 Internet user for every 5,000 people (the figure for Zimbabwe is 1 in 1,100). Even South Africa, with an Internet utilization rate of 1 in 65, is below the world average of one in forty five.[23]

As with all other African countries, the challenges faced by South Africa are a combination of problems shared with other countries and particular problems created by the country’s unique history. This is illustrated in the following statistics on telecommunications infrastructure:

• As in many areas of South African life, there is a great imbalance in access to telecommunications services. South Africa is the 14th largest user of the Internet in the world, with state-of-the-art communication systems (including cell phones) in many urban areas. In most rural areas, however, there is very poor service, with many South Africans never having made a phone call. The number of phone lines per 100 people (the teledensity) is 9,5 % overall for South Africa. In some wealthy suburbs this figure goes up to 50, whereas in parts of the Eastern Cape the teledensity is around 0,1.[24]

The challenge of increasing telecommunications density and access in rural areas is common to many African countries, however there is an additional element of restoring equity in a society that has been ravaged by many years of minority rule, which have resulted in a fundamentally skewed distribution of resources and access to technology infrastructure. Nevertheless, the point remains that South Africa has, in certain sectors of society, a reasonably well developed ICT infrastructure. There are: two cellular telephone networks (with a third planned); a terrestrial telecommunications carriers (which has achieved the tele-density outlined above); three public terrestrial broadcasting channels, a private pay channel and an additional private free-to-air channel which started broadcasting in 1998; relatively sophisticated satellite broadcasting infrastructure provided by two companies; and an entrenched culture of Internet use in some sectors of society. In this section we examine the penetration and coverage of these various technology service providers, focusing on broadcasting, telecommunications and the Internet. In appendix eight, we have described each of these technologies in detail and provided an indication of costs for each variation.

Television

Television signals can be transmitted using terrestrial ground transmission, cable, or satellite. As cable is not used in South Africa, it is not discussed here. 

Terrestrial television uses radio and microwave techniques to transmit a composite signal of amplitude modulated (AM) pictures and frequency modulated (FM) audio via an antenna which covers a geographical limited area by line-of-sight. A receiving antenna enables the decoded picture signal to be displayed on a television screen and the audio signal through a loudspeaker. The International Telecommunications Union allocates frequencies for terrestrial broadcasting to individual governments, who then reallocate bandwidths to broadcasting corporations. The bandwidth available for terrestrial transmission is, therefore, limited. This has implications for using terrestrial transmission for educational purposes, as educational programmes have to compete for airtime with programmes designed for different purposes. 

Sentech describes itself as the backbone of broadcasting in South Africa, as it owns and operates approximately 180 terrestrial transmitter sites, where short wave, medium wave, FM, television and more than 1200 Multi-channel Multipoint Distribution System (MMDS) transmitters are accommodated to serve the various broadcasters in South Africa.[25] Sentech has a network of transmitting stations scattered through out the country. Some transmit FM radio and television signals, while others transmit either one of these or modulated frequency (MF) signals. 

Despite these numerous transmitting stations, terrestrial television signals do not reach all part of South Africa. In all provinces, there are areas where no television signals can be accessed. These areas seem to be most dense in the Northern Cape, northern parts of the Eastern Cape and parts of Kwazulu-Natal and Mpumalanga. This map clearly indicates these areas:

 

   

 Footnotes 

[1] Bates, A. W. (1995). Technology, Open Learning and Distance Education. London: Routledge, p. 116.

[2] ibid, p.119.

[3] This description of the educational applications of print has drawn extensively from the Southern African Global Distance Education Network web site. http://www.saide.org.za/worldbank/Technology/print_recorded /tech_print.html

[4] Soul City and Yizo Yizo – recent South African educational broadcasting interventions – have used newspapers to distribute accompanying print materials. The Weekly Mail and Guardian includes a regular supplement called The Teacher for South African teachers. The Learning Channel Campus distributes Matriculation support and revision materials for school students via newspapers like the Star and the Sowetan, and makes duplicate consolidated newsprint packages for distribution through other networks. The Media in Education Trust has used similar methods, particularly for materials directed at teachers on Curriculum 2005.

[5] This description of the educational applications of computer based technologies has draw extensively from the Southern African Global Distance Education Network web site. http://www.saide.org.za/worldbank/ Technology/

[6] ibid, p. 138.

[7] Olsson, M. (1994). Institutionalising Radio Science in Papua New Guinea: A Response to teacher demand for interactive radio instruction. Washington: LearnTech.

[8] Bates, A. (1984). Broadcasting in Education: An Evaluation. London: Constable

[9] ibid, p. 205.

[10] ibid, p. 248.

[11] Southern African Global Distance Education Network web site. www.saide.org.za/worldbank/Technology/

[12] ibid.

[13] Schippers, K. Informal presentation on educational broadcasting, meeting held 16/03/1999. SAIDE.

[14] Donald, D. (1991). ‘Children with special education needs: The reproduction of disadvantage in poorly served communities’ in Dawes, A. and Donald, D. (1991). Childhood and adversity: Psychological perspectives from South African research. Cape Town: David Phillip.

[15] Moses, D. and Croll, P. (1991). School Television in Use. London: John Libbey and Co.

[16] Walkerdine, V. (1991). Schoolgirl Fictions. London: Verso.

[17] Moses, D and Croll, P. op cit.

[18] ibid.

[19] Kelley, P. and Gunter, B. (1996). Helping Viewers Learn from Television: a new approach to increasing the impact of the medium. Journal of Educational Media, 22, pp. 23-29.

[20] This paragraph on television is drawn from the Southern African Global Distance Education Network web site. www.saide.org.za/worldbank/Technology/

[21] Southern African Global Distance Education Network web site. www.saide.org.za/worldbank/Technology

[22] ibid.

[23] Tom Butterly, Director of Information Management Consultants in Zimbabwe, provided this information. For more of this report, please see the following Constraints to the Development of the ‘Wired’ Economy in Africa. http://www.nua.ie/surveys/analysis/african_analysis.html.

[24] Universal Services Agency, http://usa.org.za/policy.htm.

[25] Sentech (1999) Profile of Sentech Pty. Ltd. p.1.