ICT barriers in South African school ‘My schooling experience’

It is well documented that information and communication technologies play an important role in education and that their use is associated with improving student ICTs offer, there are still many schools in countries like South Africa that do not have access to ICTs or rather have weak technology. Moreover many of the schools that do not have access to ICTs tend to use it in a limited manner and only focus on learning about computers or acquiring ICT skills.

Factors prohibiting the successful integration of ICT in SA schools

The significant first order barrier typically refer to the lack of access to resources that has been cited as one of the main barriers to ICT integration. Resources may either refer to access, access available ICTs, time and technical support.

Another barrier that has been cited is the lack of professional development or teacher training, teachers need to access to multiple types of training where technology and pedagogical needs are addressed.

Children background also has an effect, a child who grew up in a rural area where there’s weak technology can find it hard to understand ICT as a mean of teaching and learning.

Lack of confidence in teachers of which is caused by fear of failure, many teachers who do not consider themselves to be well skilled in ICT feel anxious about using it in front of a class of children.

Lack of competence, many teachers do not put effort in teaching ICT to their learners.

Resistance to change and negative attitude, teachers need not to stick in traditional ways of teaching rather they must be open minded towards new ways of teaching.

Lack of effective training, teachers must take opportunities of teaching ICT offered at schools.

Lack of technical support teachers need to rely on themselves in order to be able to solve problems in their use of ICT.

I also grew up in an area where by technology was very week, in our school only a few learners were allowed to use the computers and access internet those were the learners who did CATS as one of their subject, for the rest you were supposed to pay money in order to do computer studies.