The role of emerging educational technology in the transformation of educational programmes and structures at a South African university: The case ...

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Proc. of the Second Intl. Conf. on Advances In Social Science, Economics and Management Study- SEM 2014.
                           Copyright © Institute of Research Engineers and Doctors, USA .All rights reserved.
                                     ISBN: 978-1-63248-052-1 doi: 10.15224/ 978-1-63248-052-1-88

   The role of emerging educational technology in the
      transformation of educational programmes and
   structures at a South African university: The case of
      STEPS at the Central University of Technology
                                                Subtitle as needed (paper subtitle)
                                      [Patient Rambe, PhD., Rolline Ndjike and Dennis Yao Dzansi, PhD.]

    Abstract—To deal with demand-response imbalance – the
growing pressure to bear upon universities from their external
environment vis-à-vis their capacity to respond sufficiently to
                                                                                              I.   Introduction
those pressures while they remain in their productive form, the                A familiar trope in the South African Higher Education
Central University of Technology in South Africa implemented               (SAHE) discourse is the detailed narratives of the mounting
the Strategic Transformation of Educational Programmes and                 indigenous and exogenous pressures brought to bear upon
Structures (STEPS) in 2010. Among other considerations, this               universities, which in various scales and dimensions
strategic process (STEPS) seeks to develop new curricula and
                                                                           differentially impact on curriculum and pedagogical delivery.
programmes that are aligned to the developmental priorities of
the region (i.e. Free State Province, South Africa) as well as
                                                                           At the epicentre of these challenges are: a deeply fragmented
discontinue existing ones that are inconsistent with contemporary          Apartheid past that persistently reflect in the racial
contextual needs. In addition to developing transformed                    composition of groups that enroll and succeed at university,
curricula in which developing professionally trained, market-              differential configurations of institutions and their resourcing,
ready graduates are trained and contextual operational                     notwithstanding government and societal expectations of these
knowledge are prioritised, the document calls upon academics to            universities to contribute to fostering all-rounded graduates
develop context-relevant classroom methodologies together with             who contribute to the knowledge society (Bozalek, 2011;
social, technological innovation for improving pedagogy and                Brown and Gachago, 2013). Other powerful forces that
classroom environments. Mindful of the mandate of Universities
                                                                           continue to define South African Higher education include a
of Technology of adopting the relevant state-of-the art technology
and media that render powerful learning environments and rich
                                                                           transition from elite educational provision to massification, the
student experiences, this study employs critical discourse analysis        „triple helix‟ comprising radically new relations between
to examine the extent to which CUT academic leadership                     government, society and universities, marketisation and
factored in and considered emerging educational technologies in            corporatisation of higher education (HE) and multiple
the implementation of the STEPS process. The findings suggest              development-oriented demands and expectations of the
that although various teaching technologies are salient and                university emanating from societal actors and stakeholders
considered in various documents steering the practical                     (Bundy, 2006; Badat, 2010). Internationally, other drivers of
implementation of STEPS, their location, strategic application             HE changes include globalisation [and internationalisation],
and contribution to transformed teaching and learning remain a
                                                                           which are transforming the conventional notions of domestic
grey area that calls for more deliberation
                                                                           students attending a local university by shifting higher
    Keywords—STEPS, curriculum innovation, technology                      education policy developments and assumptions regarding
integration, emerging technologies, educational transformation             employment, skills, economic development and social
                                                                           engagement (Dhunpath, Nakabugo and Amin, 2012) and the
                                                                           changing composition of students attending university due to
Patient Rambe, PhD. (Corresponding Author)                                 the prevalence of non-traditional students.
Central University of                                                          Collectively, these pressures impose new demands on the
Technology, South Africa                                                   conceptualisation of the curriculum and its implementation,
                                                                           redefine how universities should constitute themselves and
                                                                           deliver their core mandates as well as refine (or re-learn) the
Rolline Ndjike (co-author)                                                 professional values of university graduates in light of new
Central University of                                                      circumstances. Dhunpath, Nakabugo and Amin (2012) warn
Technology, South Africa                                                   that curriculum transformation in higher education will remain
                                                                           trapped in rhetoric unless higher education addresses the
Dennis Yao Dzansi, PhD. (Co-author)                                        crucial role of enablers and barriers to academic performance
Central University of                                                      such as language and literacies [and technology adoption]. At
Technology, South Africa                                                   a more practical pedagogical layer, the challenges are
                                                                           profound, underpinned by the value of mediating the complex

                                                                      92
Proc. of the Second Intl. Conf. on Advances In Social Science, Economics and Management Study- SEM 2014.
                         Copyright © Institute of Research Engineers and Doctors, USA .All rights reserved.
                                   ISBN: 978-1-63248-052-1 doi: 10.15224/ 978-1-63248-052-1-88

practice of teaching and learning, providing dialogical spaces              learning and curricula innovation in the STEPS process. The
of engagement between university educators and students                     study employs Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) to unveil
including promoting scholarly practices of inducting students               the ways in which emerging technology roles or contributions
into academic communities of practices (Fataar, 2005,                       are portrayed in purposively selected STEPS documents.
Waghid, 2007; Hugo, 2009). Extending these leading scholars‟
views on mediation, dialogicality of instructional discourses                           II.    Research Problem
and academic communities of practice at pedagogical level,
this paper argues that the “demand-response imbalance” – that                   The discourse of the adoption of emerging technology for
is, the growing pressure to bear upon universities from their               teaching and learning in higher education has often been
external environment vis-à-vis their capacity to respond                    funneled through utopian and dystopian perspectives, which
sufficiently to those pressures while they remain in their                  are polarised but determinist theorisations of human
original form (Clark, 2001) is not insurmountable if university             engagement with educational technologies (Rambe and Nel,
academics were to adopt more pro-active roles and approaches                2011). Deterministic approaches to technology uptake tend to
in conceptualising, designing and implementing globally                     prevail when the views of the senior academics/ senior
benchmarked but contextually relevant curricula. Such                       management are privileged while those of the rest of the
curricula would sufficiently respond to aforementioned global               broader academic community are silenced, co-opted or
imperatives as well as adapt and respond sufficiently to local              conspired into agreement with the dominant views of the
needs, realities and circumstances that South African                       academic oligarchy under the banner of “broad-based”
universities find themselves in.                                            consultation. These determinist approaches are contrary to the
    It is in light of this pro-activity, persistent anticipation and        human-centric view of development which advocates for
accommodation of change that Strategic Transformation of                    technology intervention that are not stultifying for the target
Educational Programmes and Structures (STEPS) process was                   beneficiaries (Heeks, 2008) and that illuminates understanding
established in 2010 at the Central University of Technology,                of the situated, socially constructed nature of human
South Africa in 2010 to tackle head on curriculum innovation,               interaction with educational technologies. The problem,
re-curriculation of certain academic programmes as well as                  therefore, is that given the top-down approach to the
dissolve those conceived to be out of tune with cotemporary                 implementation of Strategic Transformation of Educational
societal needs and realities. What remains underexplored in                 Programmes and Structures (STEPS) process at the Central
the literature on the STEPS process however, is the role, focus             University of Technology in South Africa, little is known
and contribution of emerging technology in the conception,                  about the role, contribution and significance of emerging
design and implementation of this transformative policy.                    educational technologies in the implementation of this
Given the pervasiveness and prominence of educational                       initiative, including the extent of democratic representation of
technology in higher educational delivery (Bozalek, 2011;                   interests of various academic stakeholders (senior
Gachago et al., 2013) one way of enhancing the dynamic                      management, senior academics, junior academic staff and
success of curriculum innovation and re-curriculation of                    students). Consequently, the study examines the extent to
programmes is understanding the                    mediating and            which technology was factored into teaching, learning and
transformative roles of technology in the conception, design,               curricula transformation discourses of the STEPS process
implementation and delivery of the university curricula and                 including whose (academic/political) interests are well
innovative teaching.                                                        privileged and whose are silenced, subverted or co-opted in
    Despite the adoption of educational technologies becoming               these discourses.
a common practice in South African Higher education
(SAHE), the innovative use of emerging technologies to                                  III.   Research question
transform [curricula and] teaching and learning remains an                      Consistent with the aforementioned research problem, the
emerging phenomenon (Gachago et al., 2013). To further                      following research questions are posed:
compound this challenge is the increasing gulf between the
ubiquitous emerging technologies that students bring in their                  1.    How is the discourse on the contribution of
encounter with the university education, technology which                              technology to teaching and learning and curricular
educators recommend in their pedagogical delivery and those                            transformation constructed in the STEPS
traditional technologies sanctioned by the university (see                             documents?
Traxler, 2009; Bozalek, 2011; Ng‟ambi 2011). In view of the
acknowledged ambivalence and complex normative
                                                                               2.    Whose interests are reinforced and whose interests
technology choices in South African higher education
                                                                                       are silenced in this discourse?
(SAHE), what often remains insufficiently recognised or
undervalued is the mediating role of technology in the
                                                                               3.    Is there any evidence of misrepresentation of facts
overhaul of the curricula (curriculum innovation), re-
                                                                                         /distortions or exaggerations in the discourse on
curriculation and transformation of educational programmes.
                                                                                         the contribution of technology to teaching and
To this end, this study uncovers the obscure terrain of the role,
                                                                                         learning?
contribution and loci of emerging technology in teaching and

                                                                       93
Proc. of the Second Intl. Conf. on Advances In Social Science, Economics and Management Study- SEM 2014.
                         Copyright © Institute of Research Engineers and Doctors, USA .All rights reserved.
                                   ISBN: 978-1-63248-052-1 doi: 10.15224/ 978-1-63248-052-1-88

     4.   Overall, to what extent has emerging technologies             (Committee of Inquiry into the Changing Learner Experience
             been factored into the teaching and learning and           (CLEX), 2009), but critical given the under-exploration of the
             programme re-curriculation discourses in STEPS             effective use of emerging technologies in HEIs (e.g. social
             documents?                                                 media or mobile phones) by educators, and how these
                                                                        influence teaching and learning practices in our institutions
                                                                        (Brown and Gachago, 2013). While the integration of
A.   A case for the adoption of emerging                                technology into the curriculum through the implementation of
     technology to transform curricula                                  resource intensive institutional Learning Management Systems
                                                                        (LMS) in all HEIs in South Africa is well documented (Ivala
     and pedagogy                                                       2011; Bozalek, Ng‟ambi and Gachago, 2013), research
     In the South African context where mounting local                  pointing to the academic resonance of emerging technologies
pressures to open the floodgates of higher education to                 in curricula transformation and pedagogical innovation
accommodate historically marginalised groups are juxtaposed             remains a grey area.
with the imminent urgency to overcome the unproblematised                   The central place of emerging technology in higher
“parachuting” of Western educational philosophies that have             education pedagogy and curricula transformation is embodied
little resonance with African contexts, the call for innovative         in the view that curricula innovation requires educators,
curricula and transformative teaching have been louder.                 educational technologists and HE administrators to critically
Innovative teaching and transformative curricula programmes             appraise the structure of degree programmes and explore
insinuated in Dhunpath, Nakabugo and Amin‟s (2012)                      innovative teaching strategies in the context of technology rich
reiteration of the necessity for African scholars to shape and          learning environments (e.g. Web 2.0 applications, virtual
influence university teaching and learning so that it                   learning and social networking platforms) which enable a wide
emphasises the educational needs of Africa and overcomes                range of flexible learning: from distance learning,
their dictation by powerful, wealthier contexts with narrow             collaborative learning, blended learning to mobile learning
self-interests. As such, reflecting critically and responding           (Dhunpath, Nakabugo and Amin, 2012: 7). Understanding the
consciously to challenges of massification of South African             mediating and transformative roles of technology in curricula
higher education, large classes and providing context-relevant          innovation and hitherto pedagogical delivery should be given
graduate education necessitates a rethinking of curriculum and          more prominence to avoid the eschewing of student reflexive
innovative pedagogical delivery (Bozalek, Ng‟ambi and                   inquiry through their rigorous engagement with educators,
Gachago, 2013) and other different strategies, such as                  disciplinary conventions, norms and practices. Fataar (2013:
extended curriculum programmes, re-curricularisation and                13) warns against an educational agenda that narrowly
multilingual policies (Boughey 2002; Garraway 2009).                    concentrates on improving educational quality without
     Notwithstanding the acuteness of demands for transformed           providing a basis for troubling the discursive productions that
[technology-mediated] curricula and transformative teaching             the implied educational processes entrench. Our reading of
in South Africa (see Dhunpath, Nakabugo and Amin, 2012;                 Fataar‟s reflections is that mediating tools like emerging
Blewett, 2012), there is paucity of research into the effective         technologies should be powerfully harnessed to critically
use of emerging technologies in HEIs, such as social media or           question the underlying assumptions of the curricula and to
mobile phones, and how these influence teaching and learning            confront the obscurities and ruminations that underlie
practices in SA institutions (Brown and Gachago, 2013).                 functionalist driven pedagogies such as preparing and training
Blewett (2012) acknowledges the disturbing dichotomy within             students to the world of work at the expense of critical inquiry
e-learning in SA higher education manifested in increasing use          and production of new knowledge. Therefore, the explorative
of e-learning environments by higher education institutions on          engagements inherent in emerging technologies such as social
one hand, and indications of limited use of technology and              media (Facebook, Twitter) and reflective conversations in
implementation of rigid pedagogy. The limited knowledge on              conversational technologies (e.g. blogs, wikis, Google drive)
the mediating and transformative role of emerging                       can gainfully lever innovative teaching by introducing new
technologies in innovative pedagogy and curricula innovation            modes of engagement and making knowledge production,
in South Africa is surprising in light of what Gachago, Ivala           critical reflection and deep learning the core foci of the
and Chigona (2011) consider as the justifications for staff and         curricula. This foci helps overcome the unsubstantiated, yet
students‟ about the increased reliance on emerging                      strong claims that “universities are producing poor quality
technologies to support teaching and learning such as the               graduates because they have „lowered their standards‟ or they
growing availability of free, easy to use and visually appealing        „offer outdated curricula‟ or they „do not train students to
web applications and more stable access to the Internet                 operate in the real world” (Adam, 2009). Responding and
(especially through the use of mobile phones). While the                rebutting these claims about antiquated, diluted curricula and
increasing academic reception of emerging technologies is               the corporatist /managerialist argument that reduces students
undoubtedly unquestionable due to their profound affordances,           to “commodities” that should have relevance to the
the challenge lies in assessing and proving their impact on the         mechanistics of the market, calls into sharp gaze the mediating
delivery of innovative teaching and transformed curricula.              and transformative role of emerging technology in “the
This not only poignant given the often reactive approaches to           intellectual insertion of students into existing communities of
new technologies by higher educational institutions

                                                                   94
Proc. of the Second Intl. Conf. on Advances In Social Science, Economics and Management Study- SEM 2014.
                         Copyright © Institute of Research Engineers and Doctors, USA .All rights reserved.
                                   ISBN: 978-1-63248-052-1 doi: 10.15224/ 978-1-63248-052-1-88

scholarship and their theoretical or conceptual entailments”                 In relation to Approach 1, the institution normally has a
(Fataar, 2013: 112).                                                     detailed, comprehensive ICT policy and associated documents
                                                                         that specify (Czerniewicz, Ravjee and Mlitwa, 2006) various
B.   Selected cases of using educational                                 issues relating to campus-wide roll out of ICT into specific
     technology to deliver curricula                                     courses and programmes, ICT integration into teaching and
                                                                         learning, language policy among others. For instance,
Educational technology encapsulates new practices around                 Stellenbosch University, has an E-Campus strategy, which
online pedagogies, patterns of information and communication             incorporates all university business specifically including
technology (ICT) access and of exclusion, and the relation of            online learning, e-Information, e-Student administration, e-
e-learning practices to other institutional interventions seeking        Research, and e-Services. The document also has Electronic
to transform the colonial fabric and cultures of South African           Information and Communication Technologies policy aimed at
higher education institutions (Ravjee, 2007). As such,                   improving the quality of teaching, research, and community
educational ICTs can be ideally viewed as „one thread in a               service) and an e-Learning strategy, which focuses on
complex net of transformation, including historical redress,             ensuring a minimum online presence for all courses (Van der
curriculum transformation, diversity, equity and so on‟                  Merwe and Pool, 2002). The University of Cape Town
(Czerniewicz, Ravjee and Mlitwa, 2006: 43).                              Education Technology Policy (2003) provides an integrative
    Mindful of Universities of Technology‟s thrust towards               approach to the use of educational technology, encourages
advancing the mastery of high-level vocational skills while              (rather than compels) ICT usage, and prioritizes a linkage
pursuing a research agenda that critically engages with                  between ICT and pedagogy in ICT usage (Czerniewicz,
epistemologies of technology (Winberg 2005), the role of                 Ravjee and Mlitwa, 2006). Articulation of other models is
technology in teaching, learning and curricula transformation            beyond the scope of this paper because of lack of space.
cannot be down played. Blewett (2012) employed search
engine count estimates on Google Scholar and five top ranked             C.   Strategic Transformation of
journals to trace, compare and contrast the use of learning
management systems (LMS), virtual learning environments                       Educational Programmes and
(VLE) and personal learning environments (PLEs) in                            Structures (STEPS) at the Central
curriculum and pedagogical implementation in South African
higher education over a decade (2001-2010). He laments the
                                                                              University of Technology (CUT): An
preference and predominance of LMS in curriculum and                          overview
pedagogical delivery, followed by the increasing popularity of           The Strategic Transformation of Educational Programmes and
VLEs and the flattering of personal, learning environments               Structures (STEPS) at CUT can be conceived as one of the
(PLEs) despite technological innovations in Web 2.0                      instantiations and expressions of the practical implementation
platforms. Blewitt (2012) attributes the popularity of LMS to            of Vision 2020. Vision 2020 seeks to establish a “distinctive
the prevalence of out-dated approaches to learning and                   and proficient university” that contributes to developmental
industrial-age models, which are hampering the adoption of               imperatives of the South Africa, tackle head on the challenges
alternative learning paradigms which are more readily                    of the triple helix (university, government, industry) and take
supported by PLEs. The floundering of PLEs is attributed to              advantage of strategic partnerships, and revise the university‟s
the limited control institutions have over these environments            curricula and academic structures (CUT STEPS, 2010).
and multiple options they have for student optimisation of               STEPS therefore, constitutes a practical materialization of
learning, which further limit educator regulation of these               Vision 2020‟ goal of fostering academic excellence through
spaces.                                                                  curricula transformation, re-curriculation of certain
    The Higher Education Monitor (2006) provides a                       programmes to attune them to current academic and
nomenclature of South African university ICT policies as they            developmental needs and the total disbanding of some
relate to curriculum innovation and pedagogical delivery.                programmes conceived to be out of tune with contemporary
                                                                         academic and societal needs. As such, STEPS seeks to
        Approach 1 – Institutions with formal policies in               implement CUT‟s decisions regarding academic structures and
         place,                                                          curricula through adopting “an output/outcome approach to
        Approach 2 – Institutions with ICT-and-education                attune its curricula and research to the needs of its primary
         policies incorporated into related policies,                    users [...] revisiting its own offerings, processes and structures
        Approach 3 – Special merger issues,                             for greater responsiveness and flexibility” (STEPS close out
                                                                         and recommendations document, n.d.). More so, the STEPS
        Approach 4 – Institutions with no evidence of any
                                                                         process also seeks to apply the Vision 2020 through carefully
         policy frameworks and                                           chosen and sustained strategic partnerships with stakeholders
        Approach 5 − Institutions with relevant structures,             in business, government and civil society - the „triple helix‟
         but no policy frameworks (Czerniewicz, Ravjee and               model (Etzkowitz and Dzisah, 2007) to achieve quality social
         Mlitwa, 2006).                                                  and technological innovations for partners on both sides
                                                                         (Mtembu, Orkin and Gering, 2012). While the implementation

                                                                    95
Proc. of the Second Intl. Conf. on Advances In Social Science, Economics and Management Study- SEM 2014.
                           Copyright © Institute of Research Engineers and Doctors, USA .All rights reserved.
                                     ISBN: 978-1-63248-052-1 doi: 10.15224/ 978-1-63248-052-1-88

of STEPS comprises multiple stages, documents and schedules             in communication (Habermas, 1976/2001; Cukier et al., 2009).
and task teams, its suffices to say, in two years (Feb 2010-Nov         Overall, it can be argued that from Habermas‟ perspective,
2011) four major landmark documents were produced in the                public speech can be communicative and oriented to achieving
build up and implementation of the process, covering various            understanding between the speaker and the listener, or
areas ranging from admission of underprepared students,                 strategic and oriented to achieving success for the speaker
teaching and learning, work integrated learning, continuing             (Cukier et al., 2009). When public speech is communicative,
education, problem-based, career-focused curricula, large class         its object is advancing ideal speech aimed at promoting
among other considerations (see Mtembu et al., 2012).                   understanding while strategic communication                could
                                                                        potentially generate conditions inimical to the advancement of
       IV.     Theoretical Framework                                    democratic discourse.
                                                                            When a speaker speaks in a communicative event, his /her
    Critical Discourse Analysis (CDA) (Habermas, 1984) was              utterances imply at least three validity claims-truth,
used to understand the discourse on the contribution of                 (normative) rightness, and authenticity. This means that no
technology to transformation of teaching, learning and the              matter what a speaker says, it is implied that the content of the
curricula, the motivations and interests represented in the             statement is true, that it conforms with normative rules, and
statements on technology, the sincerity of the statements               that the speaker is veracious, means what he or she says (Stahl
including the significance of technology in pedagogical                 2004). Cukier et al. (2009) elaborates that for Habermas, every
delivery and curricula transformation. Tenorio (2011)                   communication implies a set of validity claims, namely the
highlights that CDA refers to the communication expected in             truthfulness, legitimacy and comprehensibility of the utterance
one situation context, alongside one field and register. The            and sincerity of the speaker. In his theory of communicative
current study therefore, is preoccupied with how                        action, Habermas (1979; 1984), truth tests on how true, clear
communicative language and metaphors were appropriated in               and jargon-free the discourse is for comprehensibility while
STEPS documents to provide arguments for and motivations/               sincerity tests whether there is a hidden agenda in the
justifications on the capabilities and affordances of technology        discourse (cited in Nyemba and Chigona, 2012).
in teaching and learning. For Habermas, discourses are the              Comprehensibility refers to the technical and linguistic clarity
means or the medium (Habermas 1981a, 39) to clarify                     of the communication: Is what is said audible (or legible) and
contentious validity claims (Ulrich, 2001) of the speaker. To           intelligible? (Cukier et al., 2009).
this end, discourses on technology‟s mediation of teaching,
learning, and curricula as articulated by the STEPS documents
were examined to establish its veracity in their immediate                                 V.   Methodology
context of its production as well as in its broader social                  For the purpose of data collection and analysis, an
context.                                                                adaptation of CDA of Cukier, Bauer and Middleton (2004),
    Discourse forms a cornerstone of Habermas‟ Theory of                Stahl et al (2005) and Nyemba and Chigona (2012) provided a
Communicative Action. Communicative action, which is                    useful heuristic for the analysis of the data (see Table 1
premised on taking the “other” (referent person) seriously and          below). It is critical to note that due to the limitations of space,
accepting him or her as equal and deserving respect, and hence          not all categories were well represented in this paper but only
this type of action has an ethical side to it (Stahl, 2004).            those that kept recurring across several documents.
Drawing on the communicative acts and statements contained
STEPS documents, the authors will therefore examine the                 Table 1: Habermasian CDA Guiding Questions, adopted from
meaning, sincerity and authenticity of statements in their              Stahl et al. (2005), Nyemba and Chigona (2012)
context of production (the educational context) to ensure ideal          Validity Claim    Claim-ID            Guiding Questions
communication. Habermas (1981/1984) is pre-occupied with
                                                                                                         What is said about the role of
principles of ideal communication (or universal pragmatics)
                                                                                                        technology in teaching, learning
upon which discourses oriented to mutual understanding could
                                                                                                        and curricula change in the CUT
be based (Cukier, Ngwenyama, Bauer and Middleton, 2009).                                        TI            STEPS documents?
Partly therefore, Habermas‟ (1984) work focuses on
                                                                         TRUTH                             Are the views and opinions
circumstances contexts under which ideal speech could be                                        T2
communicated to improve mutual understanding between the                                                 (thoughts) clearly portrayed?
hearer(s) and the speaker. From a strategic perspective,                                                What failure claims (costs) and
Habermas conceives social action by rational purposive agents                                            success claims (benefits) have
                                                                                                T3
to involve “strategic action,” (Habermas, 1984: 85), one in                                              been exposed and examined?
which agents aim to influence the other and follow the                                                  What evidence has been given to
speaker‟s perlocutionary intentions with regards to an                                          T4       give weight to the arguments?
objective world (Forchtner, 2010). That is, the purposive                                                  Has the relevant detail been
rational utterances of the speaker are aimed at influencing the                                                 conveyed without
psychology of the hearer irrespective of the veracity of these                                             misrepresentation and/ or
utterances. As such, Harbermas‟ work is also concerned with                                     T5                 omissions?
explicating conditions of conscious and unconscious deception

                                                                   96
Proc. of the Second Intl. Conf. on Advances In Social Science, Economics and Management Study- SEM 2014.
                         Copyright © Institute of Research Engineers and Doctors, USA .All rights reserved.
                                   ISBN: 978-1-63248-052-1 doi: 10.15224/ 978-1-63248-052-1-88

                                    Are there rudimentary problems                                                      in     the      class,      curricula
                                    that are mentioned explicitly or                                                    transformation, work integrated
                       T6                 implicitly in the text?                                                       learning and other spin offs such
                                     Are there ideological claims                                                       the development of a lean
                                                                                                                        university staff complement
                       T7               which are uninvestigated?
                                                                                 4.                              and    Reviewed the key focus areas of
                                     Are metaphors used in the text,                        Marketing,        Central                       transformation,
                                    such as exaggerations or hypes on                                              of   quality teaching and learning
 SINCERITY                             the potential and capacity of                        Technology                  with a view to develop a niche
                                    technology in relation to teaching                                                  focused academic          institution.
                       S1                       and learning?                                                           The processes and broad
                                         Do the used metaphorical                                                       mandate      of     the     strategic
                                    connotations advance or restrain                                                    workshops are discussed in the
                       S2               the comprehension of text?                                                      process.
                                      Do the metaphors create false              5.         Task                with    Reflects on the implications of
                       S3             assurances and acclamations?                          University-wide             output/outcome focus for the
                                     Who is speaking, who is silent,                        Significance                university-wide       task     teams.
                       L1                 what are their interests?                                                     Discusses the distinct attributes
 LEGITIMACY                          What is privileged, what is not                                                    of CUT graduates, nature of
                                      said/ not mentioned about the                                                     curricula, research, learning
                                      role of technology in teaching,                                                   environment and student profiles
                                           learning and curricula                6.         Towards distinctive and     Engages with the institutional
                       L2                     transformation?                               developmental curricula     form of UoTs, genealogy and
                       L3              What is assumed or implied?                          at    Universities   of     mandate      of     STEPS,        and
                                    What is missing or suppressed in                        Technology       (UoTs):    conceptualises the curricula
                       L4                      the discourse?                               The STEPS process at        envisaged
                                                                                            CUT

    The hard data employed in this study which was subjected                       Four main documents served as primary sources while the
to CDA was drawn from the Central University of Technology                      others served to corroborate the evidence from main
websites and from the Internet. In view of the fragmented data                  documents and to provide more balanced representation of
on STEPS, six key documents on STEPS were selected and                          views.
their various texts were examined. The main highlights of
these documents are summarised below.
                                                                                      VI.    Presentation and Discussion
Table 2: Data sources for the analysis                                                             of Findings
 Title of document                    Document summary                              To understand the discourse of emerging technology, the
         STEPS        (Strategic      Articulates the vision of the             focus of the analysis was on what was said about it and what
         Transformation       of      university, the distinctness of           was omitted/ downplayed in the role of emerging technology
 1       Educational                  UoTs, lessons learned from key            in the various STEPS documents. First, we examined the
         Programmes           and     speakers and reflections of               truthfulness of the statements by analysing the actual
         Structures) Learnings        strategic teams on the content            statements made, the extent of their clarity, the costs and
         from the Conference,         and structure of transformed              benefits embodied in the statements and the evidence provided
         for          curriculum      curricula at UoTs                         to back up the claims. Drawing on CDA, all the recurring
         transformation                                                         findings across the different documents that related to
         Workshop                                                               truthfulness of statements were examined.
 2.      Central University of           Provides a highly summarised
         Technology       Annual           version of STEPS goals of
         Report 2010                    curricula review, modalities of
                                                                                A.     Truthfulness of statements
                                        teaching, learning and support,              Statements were examined for their truthfulness under the
                                      as well as graduate attributes and        main category truth. Document 1 (see Table 2) expressed the
                                                 competencies.                  vitality of first year entry level competences such as computer
 3.     Central University of         Some of the highlights and                literacy as a basis for the development and implementation of
        Technology     Annual         landmarks of STEPS such as the            a successful curriculum (see T1 under truth in Table 3). The
        Report 2012                   practical adoption of technology
                                                                                statements about computer skills were not only authentic but
                                                                                were intelligible to the extent the value of computer skills was

                                                                           97
Proc. of the Second Intl. Conf. on Advances In Social Science, Economics and Management Study- SEM 2014.
                         Copyright © Institute of Research Engineers and Doctors, USA .All rights reserved.
                                   ISBN: 978-1-63248-052-1 doi: 10.15224/ 978-1-63248-052-1-88

not considered in isolation but in conjunction with tuition and                 TI   What is said about the role of technology in
self-study by individual students. This demonstrates the                             teaching and learning in the CUT STEPS
Strategic Task Team‟s deep appreciation of the contribution of                       documents?
the individual student skills, social and ecological context to         TRUTH
the successful implementation of curriculum transformation.                          “The key focus of the Task Team was the
                                                                                     conception of a core curriculum targeting
We infer that the successful delivery of learning and curricula
                                                                                     essential entry level competencies for all first
necessitates the curriculum implementers to draw on a multi-                         year students entering CUT:
pronged strategy, one in which technological literacy is                                      Computer literacy will include an
conceived to unfold in a context mediated and interpellated by                                 entry assessment for proficiency, and
multiple intervening variables.                                                                include a mix of tuition and self-study
    To      make      subjective    evaluations    about     the                               to be completed by all students
comprehensibility of statements made in the various                                            (indicative 6 credits)” (Document 5)
documents, the researchers also examined the extent to which                    T2   Are the views and opinions (thoughts) clearly
various views were and opinions (thoughts) were categorically                        portrayed?
expressed and clearly portrayed. Some detailed claims were
                                                                                       Hand-held gadgets known as “clickers” were
made about emerging technologies such as electronic response
                                                                                      introduced, particularly for use in testing large
systems (i.e. clickers) – in particular their educational                             classrooms. A total of 73 lecturers were trained
affordances, the number of educators trained to use them and                          in the use of this new technology, and clickers
the number of classes for which they were pedagogically                                 were used in 38 classrooms during the year.
applied. These highlights demonstrate the truthfulness of                              The system allows students to give feedback
technological      statements     in     STEPS       documents,                       anonymously and promptly, and also computes
notwithstanding the omissions about occasion fatigue by                                  and presents class results graphically and
students after using clickers continually and the deflation of                                  immediately (Document 3)
hyped expectations following sustained usage. The Hype                          T3   What failure claims (costs) and success claims
Cycle for Emerging Technologies (Gartner, 2011) suggests                             (benefits) have been exposed and examined?
that technology users goes through the common pattern of
                                                                                     The Strategic Transformation of Educational
over-enthusiasm about emerging           technology upon its                         Programmes and Structures (STEPS) project
introduction , disillusionment with it and eventual realism that                     entails reviewing the courses offered by CUT to
accompanies each new technology and innovation” (Gartner,                            ensure that as an institution of higher learning
2011). As such, benefits realised from using clickers may not                        we deliver on our core business of teaching,
always be straight forward but rather involve ambivalent                             learning research and innovation. […] a
possibilities given that the progression in the hype of                              conference in May, a workshop in August and
technologies moves from technology trigger, peak of inflated                         the month of October saw the documentation of
expectations, trough of disillusionment, slope of                                    the process as well as Task Teams taking up
                                                                                     their positions to design and plan the
enlightenment and plateau of productivity (Gartner Report,
                                                                                     implementation of specified new curricula and
2011).                                                                               structures at CUT (Document 4).
    CUT Communication and Marketing Department made                             T4   What evidence has been given to give weight to
some success claims (benefits) about the role of STEPS in the                        the arguments?
delivery of academic excellence in teaching, learning research
and innovation. The document alludes to strategic task teams,                        A complete student database was imported into
[technology mediated] conferences and [technology-enhanced]                          eThuto (Blackboard), and students were
workshops that deliberated on the STEPS, phrases it evolved,                         activated for its use. A total of 707 courses
including insights gained from presentations and various                             were actively accessed – an increase from 38%
forms of participation in the STEPS consultation processes                           to 57% (Document 3)
(see T3 in Table 3). While the outcomes of the strategic task                   T5   Has the relevant detail been conveyed without
                                                                                     misrepresentation and/ or omissions?
teams and the various consultative processes are clear,
namely: curricula review and transformation and                                      In addition, a SMART classroom – the first of
establishment of new academic structures to meet                                     its kind in a South African university – was
contemporary teaching, learning, research and innovation                             conceptualised and constructed as a means of
challenges, the role of technology in these processes is latent,                     allowing lecturers and students to actively
assumed and not clearly stated.                                                      engage with one another using the latest
                                                                                     educational technologies CUT (Document 3)
Table 3: Critical Discourse Analysis of raw data from various
                                                                                     “The Task Team also identified a range of
STEPS documents –Truth category
                                                                                     interventions that will have an impact on
           Claim-   Guiding Questions and extracts from STEPS
                                                                                     student performance. These include:
Validity   ID       documents                                                        Increasing the use of technology, including self-
Claim                                                                                study opportunities, by placing more materials

                                                                   98
Proc. of the Second Intl. Conf. on Advances In Social Science, Economics and Management Study- SEM 2014.
                         Copyright © Institute of Research Engineers and Doctors, USA .All rights reserved.
                                   ISBN: 978-1-63248-052-1 doi: 10.15224/ 978-1-63248-052-1-88

                   accessible to students through Blackboard and         access and limited practices in relation to computers, in
                   smart classrooms” (Document 5)-increasing use         contexts where computers and their associated practices are
                   of technology and adopting it as a medium for         highly valued.
                   content transmission do not in themselves                 To evaluate the truth in documents, the researchers
                   transform learning or impact performance-using        explored whether the relevant detail had been conveyed
                   technology in creative ways to improve student
                                                                         without misrepresentation and/ or omissions. The researchers
                   engagement with content, peers, contexts does.
          T6       Are there ideological claims which are
                                                                         found the statement “a SMART classroom – the first of its kind
                                                                         in a South African university – was conceptualised and
                   uninvestigated?
                                                                         constructed as a means of allowing lecturers and students to
                   Further there is the impact of the knowledge
                   society through technology: we expect
                                                                         actively engage with one another using the latest educational
                   technology to infuse the content of curricula;        technologies (Document 3)” to be an exaggeration and
                   enrich teaching methodologies, as well as             misleading as there were several versions of the smart
                   extend coverage and improve quality with e-           classrooms across other South African universities by the year
                   learning; apply technology to our social and          it was established at CUT (i.e. in 2012). For example, as early
                   economic issues to “leapfrog” stages of               as 2008, the Centre of Educational Technology already had
                   development; and respond to the career and            advanced version of smart classrooms for the delivery of
                   vocational opportunities created by new               seminars for its Masters in ICTs in Education programme.
                   technologies (Document 1)                                 To unpack the truthfulness of statements, the study also
                                                                         examined the ideological claims which were uninvestigated.
                                                                         The statement: “Further there is the impact of the knowledge
    Evidence was also provided in view of student training on            society through technology: we expect technology to infuse the
the use of Blackboard (locally branded e-Thutho), access to              content of curricula; enrich teaching methodologies, as well
multiple courses via this institutional learning management              as extend coverage and improve quality with e-learning; apply
system and the percentage increases in levels of accessibility           technology to our social and economic issues to “leapfrog”
(see T4 under Table 3). While these developments are                     stages of development; and respond to the career and
commendable as they demonstrate the capacity of emerging                 vocational opportunities created by new technologies
technology (e.g. learning management systems) to transmit                (Document 1) presented multiple underexplored ideological
content and improve student access to learning resources, the            assumptions. For instance, the capacity of technologies to
statements fail to acknowledge that using technology as a                promote social empowerment and leapfrog development has
medium for content transmission does not in itself transform             no fundamental base given the irrefutable evidence that hopes
learning. Rather using technology in creative ways to improve            of technology mediated transformation in African institutions
student engagement with content, peers and learning contexts             have since been dashed judging from ICT4D debates. Such
is a more productive way of improving student engagement                 technological determinism is conceived as one of the major
and performance. As literature suggests, while education                 reasons behind the failure of ICT for development
system in the 20th century was predominantly characterised by            programmes (Heeks, 2010).
how much information could be pushed to students, the
educational practices of the 21st century are defined more by            B.   Sincerity of statements
students‟ synthesis of information pulled from a deluge of                   The sincerity category examined the absence of ulterior
electronic resources and social networks (Ng‟ambi and                    motives in the jargon used in statements. The discourses were
Bozalek, 2013). As such, emphasis has shifted drastically from           tested for their immunity to exaggerations or hypes about
content transmission to engagement with content and                      potential and capacity of technology and examined the
academic networking, although accessing content remains an               metaphorical connotations in texts to assess whether they
issue for resource constrained African contexts.                         create false assurances and acclamations. Statements such as
    More so, the hyped claims about improved basic access do             “one of its kind” in reference to the Smart classroom only
not take cognisance of the varying levels of access by students          served to exaggerate the innovative nature           of   this
on and off campus including their different levels of agency as          technological development since they were multiple versions
they traverse various academic spaces. While access to ICTs              of such classrooms at other universities by time the invention
has the potential to increase access to higher education,                was introduced at CUT.
reconfigure libraries and institutional management as well as
improve the quality of teaching and learning (Czerniewicz,               Table 3: Critical Discourse Analysis of raw data from various
Ravjee, and Mlitwa, 2006) the flipside is that technology only           STEPS documents – Sincerity category
mediate access to educational resources but does not supplant                           S1   Are metaphors used in the text, such as
epistemic agency demanded of the student to ensure                                           exaggerations or hypes on the potential and
meaningful appropriation and engagement with               these                             capacity of technology in relation to teaching
resources. Czerniewicz and Brown (2013) argue that South                                     and learning?
African university students often display a [troubled], complex          SINCERITY
                                                                                             In addition, a SMART classroom – the first of
technological “habitus,” which functions within a paucity of
                                                                                              its kind in a South African university – was

                                                                    99
Proc. of the Second Intl. Conf. on Advances In Social Science, Economics and Management Study- SEM 2014.
                        Copyright © Institute of Research Engineers and Doctors, USA .All rights reserved.
                                  ISBN: 978-1-63248-052-1 doi: 10.15224/ 978-1-63248-052-1-88

                     conceptualised and constructed as a means of          half of eight levels of competence in mathematics on the
                       allowing lecturers and students to actively         SACMEQ (Moloi, n.d.).
                        engage with one another using the latest
                     educational technologies CUT (Document 3)             C.   Legitimacy of statements
               S2   Do the used metaphorical connotations
                    advance or restrain the comprehension of
                                                                               The Vice Chancellor of CUT spoke eloquently about the
                    text?                                                  constitutive components of STEPS with a view to support the
                                                                           implementation of this process (see L1 in Table 4). While
                     Lecture rooms were equipped with the most             various academic areas covered by STEPS are represented in
                     appropriate audiovisual aids, and as such all         his account, his account could be reflective of a senior
                        lecture rooms on the Bloemfontein and              management perspective, which might not be commonly
                        Welkom campuses have been equipped                 shared by academics in line management, notwithstanding the
                      with data projectors. More than 166 video            consultative nature of the STEPS process.
                      conferences were supported in 2012, while                The study also examined what is explicit and what is
                       Blackboard training was provided to 314
                          lecturers in groups and 261 lecturers
                                                                           implied in the statements. The statement under category L3
                               individually (Document 3)                   (see Table 4) that “the focus of the learning process should be
               S3   Do the metaphors create false assurances and           on the student rather than the lecturer” seems to reinforce the
                    acclamations?                                          assumption that the learner can succeed academically with
                                                                           minimal involvement of the educator. While learner self-
                    “…a modern knowledge-based economy                     regulation should be a precondition for effective learning, this
                    demands human         resources   that  are            assumption ignores multiple variables such as the general
                    numerically and scientifically literate,               academic under preparedness of students who enroll at
                    technology fluent, and skilled at problem              Universities of Technology in South Africa and negates the
                    solving, critical analysis and engagement”             fact that self-regulated and independent learning tend to be
                    (Document 1)-oblivious of context where SA
                    have consistently been ranked among the
                                                                           hard or almost impossible to enforce for first year learners.
                    lowest in STEM disciplines
                                                                           Table 4: Critical Discourse Analysis of raw data from various
    While the metaphorical claim “audio-visual aids” in                    STEPS documents – Legitimacy category
reference to data projectors signal their power to disseminate                             L1    Who is speaking, who is silent, what are
                                                                                                 their interests?
information, the general claims about the number of video
conferences supported in 2012, number of blackboard training               LEGITIMACY
given to specific numbers of teachers are commendable                                            STEPS is a major analytical and interactive
expressions of the development of technological capacity                                         (internal and external) review of CUT‟s
                                                                                                 philosophy and education; curriculum
development at the this university. That said, these narratives
                                                                                                 content and structure; modalities of
are in no way instantiations of the actual educational use of                                    teaching, learning and support, as well as
technology or mediation of pedagogy by technology. As                                            graduate attributes and competencies
Ng‟ambi and Bozalek (2013) suggests, for emerging                                                (Document 2)-who is speaking the VC of
technologies to be diffused in university social systems, more                                   CUT.
transformative leadership is required in the academic uptake                               L2    What is privileged, what is not said/ not
and adoption of technologies.                                                                    mentioned about the role of technology in
    While the metaphorical claims about the “knowledge                                           teaching,     learning   and      curricula
economy” and it being underpinned by numerically and                                             transformation?
scientifically literate, technology fluent human resource base
                                                                                                 Graduates who are “Technically competent:
are spot on, these claims tend to be oblivious of the South
                                                                                                 Sufficient expertise in the field to be able to
African context in particular the fact that South Africa has                                       be immediately productive in the work
performed dismally in the Science Technology Engineering                                                  environment (employable)
Mathematics (STEM) disciplines especially Science and                                               Computer numerate: Able to use the
Mathematics at the high school level. South Africa‟s active                                      computer packages used in the specific work
participation in the Southern African Association for research                                     environment and sufficient conceptual
in mathematics, science, technology Education (SAMMSTE)                                               ability to adapt to new packages”
that investigates problems of the teaching and learning of                                                       (Document 1)
mathematics, science and technology education in Southern                                  L3    What is assumed or implied?
African countries is one clear manifestation of the country‟s
                                                                                                 CUT believes that the focus of the learning
inability to cope with these challenges (Stoll 1995:16). A
                                                                                                 process should be on the student
Southern and Eastern Africa Consortium for Monitoring                                            rather than the lecturer, meaning that
Educational Quality study (SACMEQ II) which rated South                                          teaching methodologies must focus on the
African 6 learners‟ achievement            in a hierarchy of                                     real needs of the student. The STEPS
competencies reported that 80% of them reached the lower                                         process includes a task team that deals with

                                                                     100
Proc. of the Second Intl. Conf. on Advances In Social Science, Economics and Management Study- SEM 2014.
                        Copyright © Institute of Research Engineers and Doctors, USA .All rights reserved.
                                  ISBN: 978-1-63248-052-1 doi: 10.15224/ 978-1-63248-052-1-88

                      teaching and learning methodologies                    technology in the STEPS process. Evidence suggests although
                      focusing on e-learning and distributed                 a respectable balance was struck in the various documents
                      learning methodologies (Document 2)                    between highlights of technology adoption and claims about
                L4    What is missing or suppressed in the                   the vitality of technology in the transformation of curricula
                      discourse?                                             and academic programmes, many of the statements about
                                                                             technology promises and potentialities seemed to be hyped
                      The 2009 survey on the success of
                      technology-enhanced education was used by
                                                                             constructions of technology that reinforced technological
                      the STEPS Task Team in 2010 to make                    determinism. While hard data was often provided in annual
                      recommendations and to identify relevant               reports on the numbers of staff trained in the use of various
                      improvement strategies. This is a                      technologies, the functionalities of certain technology and
                      consolidated and co-ordinated curriculum               applications, there were no practical examples on best
                      development process, which arose from the              practices of innovative technology mediated teaching or a
                      fact that CUT‟s Vision 2020 requires the               serious commitment to provide evidence on the actual impact
                      review of the philosophy, content and                  of technology on pedagogy. Much of the statements in reports
                      structures within the academe (Document                seemed to be recycled, recursive accounts of what emerging
                      2).
                                                                             technologies can do (i.e. its potentialities), its capacity to
                      “The task team approached the research                 transform social and teaching practices without providing any
                      needed to inform its recommendations with              factual information on its actual impact (what was has actually
                      the following activities: The opportunities to         done or its contribution to pedagogy, curricula transformation
                      be realised by technology were considered,             or transformation of academic structures).
                      and particularly the later releases of                     Although technology highlights served to provide evidence
                      Blackboard were considered. Opportunities              of the appropriation of technology at the university, many of
                      for interactive classrooms, offering courses           the reports took a performative and corporatist perspective to
                      on-line and online, formative and                      technology - where the impact of technology was considered
                      summative assessment need to be realised”
                      (Document 5). Assumptions made about
                                                                             in light of figures and percentages (e.g. number of educators
                      interactivity online offerings                         trained, number of classes where certain technologies were
                                                                             tested and number of student with access to technology) rather
    The study also examined what is missing or suppressed in                 than its actual transformative impact for students (e.g. student
the discourse. Statements made under category L4 constitute                  engagement with content, learning communities) and
sweeping statements on the capacity of technology to                         educators (e.g. innovative teaching, high profile research,
transform curricula, academic structures and teaching                        academic collaborations). As such a technicist and
philosophy as they are articulated without providing sufficient              performative orientation towards technology should be
grounds for making these claims. Technology is presented as a                replaced by a focus on what various technologies have
powerful force for advancing curricula transformation without                actually done to innovatively mediate and transform teaching
providing an empirical base for the demonstration of how it                  and learning.
reconciles and harmonizes these diverse concerns (teaching,                      With regard to the interests represented the study reports
academic structures and curricula). The other statements under               that although many of the strategic planning documents
the category L4 highlight the research consultations by the                  seemed to reflect the views of the majority of educators
strategic teams to establish the potential of technology to                  involved in teaching and learning, the coordination of the
promote interactive classrooms, offer online courses and                     various seminars and conferences by senior management and
promote assessments. While such interrogation of the                         those in leadership positions (e.g. deans of faculties, senior
significance of technology in teaching and learning is crucial               academics) could insinuate that these academic elites‟ views
to promote a reality check on the hypes about the academic                   were sedimented into STEPS documents by virtue of their
affordances of new technology, the statement that                            academic authority, subtle influence and the control they
“opportunities realised by technology were considered”                       exerted on the consultative processes. Cukier et al (2004)
insinuates that the strategic team had some preconceived                     warns against “selective silence” where the voices of those “in
unsubstantiated notions about the power of technology in                     favour of” greatly outweigh the voices “in contradiction of”
transforming pedagogy.                                                       (Nyemba and Chigona, 2012). Although many of the
                                                                             statements had statistical significance (as hard data on
                                                                             technology-related activities was provided), these statements
                  VII.   Conclusion                                          were often tweaked to obfuscate a deeper understanding of the
    The study examined STEPS, a strategic process of                         actual contribution of technology to teaching, learning, and
transforming curricula and academic structures at the Central                curricula transformation.
University of Technology in South Africa to establish the
extent to which emerging technology was factored in by
strategic planning team and senior management at the
university including the role and significance of emerging

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