Exploring the extent of ICT in supporting pedagogical practices in Developing Countries

Abstract

Despite the improvements in the access to and use of ICT around the world, there is
evidence which suggest that a persistent digital divide between and within countries.
Nowhere is the ICT gap more evident than in the education sector. The main
stakeholders (i.e. students and educators) in developing countries often lack access to
computers and software, and educators are not always trained in how technology can
aid learning.
Furthermore there is a huge debate about the role and extent of the information and
communication technology (ICT) in transforming the pedagogical practices –
especially in developing countries like Ethiopia.
Despite the fact that ICT related infrastructure in most developing nations are limited,
it has been claimed that ICT based technologies has the capacity to transform the
provision of all higher education globally. In order to investigate such claims, in this
paper, we review the existing literature with the aim of to carry out further an
ethnographic based research at the Addis Ababa University (AAU) which is one of
the oldest tertiary level education institutes in Africa with current enrolment of over
40,000 students in its regular and continuing education programs and at Unity
University which is the first privately owned institute of higher learning in Ethiopia
with current enrolment of over 7,000 students.