The use of information and communication technologies in public libraries in South Africa as tools for bridging the digital divide: the case of the Kempton Park public library

ABSTRACT

The information and knowledge society has resulted in the exponential growth of information and communication technologies (ICTs), thus creating a gap between those who use ICTs and those who do not; hence the emergence of the term “digital divide” in the 1990s. One of the milestones of South Africa’s National Development Plan, a policy that charts the country’s development up until 2030, is to ensure that high-speed broadband internet is universally available at competitive prices. Notwithstanding the importance of ICTs in public libraries, the provision of such is still taking place on a limited scale in South Africa. This article investigates the use of ICTs in public libraries in South Africa as a tool in bridging the digital divide. It also examines the inequalities in access and use and suggests ways in which ICTs may be used to reduce the digital divide. A qualitative research methodology was adopted. In order for public libraries to function as an important tool in bridging the digital divide, there is a need to standardize the provision of public library services with regard to the digital divide.     

复制非洲神话--论《黑暗的中心》的殖民主义

康拉德的《黑暗的中心》是一部引起很大争论的小说,本文论述了康拉德的小说《黑暗的中心》中的非洲和非洲人形象以及欧洲殖民者形象,认为康拉德虽然揭露了殖民者的罪恶,对非洲的苦难表示了同情,但由于受欧洲文化相对主义的影响,康拉德在小说中又一次复制了非洲神话,并且相信英国的殖民统治不同于欧洲大陆的殖民统治,它会给殖民地带来光明。因而,康拉德仍然是一个种族主义者。     

WhatsApp use among African international distance education (IDE) students: transferring,translating and transforming educational experiences

ABSTRACT

Much of the research on how social media is embedded into the educational practices of higher education students has a Western orientation. In concentrating on a case study of the varied ways in which African International Distance Education (IDE) students actively use social media to shape their learning experiences, we discuss an under-researched group. The paper draws on analysis of 1295 online questionnaires and 165 in-depth interviews with IDE students at UNISA, South Africa, one of the largest providers of IDE globally. WhatsApp emerges as ‘the’ key social media tool that opens up opportunities for IDE students to transfer, translate and transform their educational journey when studying ‘at a distance’. Although WhatsApp does provide a ‘space of opportunity’ for some students, this is framed through socio-technical marginalisation, itself a reflection of demographic legacies of inequality. Exploring social media practices though the case of African IDE students places these students centre stage and adds to the awareness of the multiple centres from which international education is practiced.     

纪南城南郊布局探析

纪南城遗址是春秋战国时期我国南方重要的文化遗存之一,本文对纪南城南郊的布局进行的探讨,发现纪南城南郊是战国时期楚人的重要活动场所,有祭祀场、市场等重要遗迹分布。结合2010年国家文物局和湖北省人民政府在北京签订的《大遗址保护荆州片区共建协议》,我们主张南郊应该纳入纪南城大遗址保护的范畴,这样才能客观地,立体地、鲜活地将纪南城大遗址展现在人们的面前。     

全球治理视角下的教育援非:问题与策略

教育援非涉及全球共同关注的地域"非洲"、全球共同的议题"教育"以及全球共同的诉求"发展",日益成为一个全球积极参与和共同治理的领域。其成效明显,促进了非洲教育的发展,但在援助理念、模式、经费、效率等方面仍存在着许多问题。基于其成效和不足,在全球"善治"的视角下,教育援非需以建设"和谐世界"为导向,以"以非为本、平等相待、合作共赢"为理念,实施"多方合作、多模式运作、多层次目标"的援助。     

中国在非洲海外利益维护问题初探

中国在非洲的利益一直都是中国对外政策与外交战略的重点,中国在非利益从结构上可分为经济利益、政治利益、安全利益及文化利益,中非交往的不同阶段所体现的利益重点不同,即中国在非利益具有长期性、成长性和阶段性的特征。随着中非交往的不断深化,中国在非洲涉及的利益无论从广度还是深度来说都扩大了,并且在扩大的过程中也随之出现了一系列的矛盾。非洲对于中国和平崛起具有重要的意义,因此维护、协调、巩固和发展中国在非的利益不仅是维护中国国家利益的需要,也是中非友好交往的内在要求。     

The scholarship of research in teacher education in a higher education institution in transition: Issues of identity

This paper examines perceptions of professional and organizational identity of teacher educators in a ‘new’ University of Technology in South Africa, resulting from several recent mergers of colleges of education and colleges of technology mainly serving formerly disadvantaged students and schools. The findings show that most staff consider teaching and research as dichotomous. Research activities are seen to satisfy the institutional requirements for securing research funding and producing publications. Professional identities could be strengthened by a faculty-wide debate on the specific profile of teacher education in a University of Technology, resulting also in an agreed research ethos. Peer support in collaborative research groups with a focus on own practice is seen as an opportunity to strengthen research expertise.     

News You Can Use or News That Moves?

This study investigates how journalists covering international humanitarian crises make decisions regarding what types of information to include in stories. Specifically, the inclusion/exclusion of solutions-oriented information is addressed, since crises represent a key time during which the potential for international engagement is discussed in the mainstream media. Interviews with journalists covering hunger crises in Africa reveal an internal tension between maintaining a neutral, unbiased position and writing in a way that supports engagement and action. Ironically, perhaps, journalists find that including solutions-oriented information amounts to unethical and biased coverage, despite the fact that inclusion of solutions to social problems is an accepted and institutionalized aspect of the US news media’s mandate to the public. Reasons for this seeming contradiction are discussed, and I argue that solutions-oriented information not only can be included without demonstrating bias, but that it ought to be included to support ethical coverage that properly informs citizens about potential paths for political engagement.     

中南地区社会体育指导员现状调查及对策研究

采用文献调研、问卷调查和数理统计方法,对我国中南地区社会体育指导员现状进行了调查研究.研究结果目前中南地区社会体育指导员的等级结构不合理,社会体育指导员的文化程度偏低、年龄偏大;社会体育指导员的指导年限较短,缺乏专业知识,组织管理能力较差;在推行社会体育指导员中存在着经费、活动场地、器材存放、学员流动性大等困难.     

Folklore epistemology: how does traditional folklore contribute to children’s thinking and concept development?

This research utilised a ‘stimulated recall’ methodology [Calderhead, J. 1981. “Stimulated Recall: A Method for Research on Teaching.” British Journal of Educational Psychology 51: 211–217] to explore the potential of African folklore, specifically Ghanaian folk stories in the development of children’s reflective thinking about social life. The research was based on Ghanaian folklore for children, which is popularly known as ‘By the Fireside Stories’, encapsulated traditionally as Anansesem or Spider stories among the Akan of Ghana. Data were collected through storytelling to a group of children and inviting them to recall their concurrent thinking during and after the storytelling. The children’s cognitive recall processes were stimulated by questions and story character dramatisation recorded on a digital video recorder and played back to the children. Findings showed major contributions to children’s learning and development related to imagination, concept formation and thinking, and beyond the self in social relationship. This paper draws attention to how traditional oral storytelling can be an important part of early childhood education to develop children’s reflective thinking about social life.