A survey of the knowledge, use, and adoption of emerging

technologies by academics in an Open Distance Learning

environment
B CHIMBO1 AND M TEKERE2

Abstract

The realisation of the advantages offered by e-learning accompanied by the use of various
emerging information technologies has resulted in a noticeable shift by academia towards
e-learning. An analysis of the use, knowledge and adoption of emerging technologies by
academics in an Open Distance Learning (ODL) environment at the University of South
Africa (UNISA) was undertaken in this study. The aim of the study was to evaluate the
use, knowledge and adoption of emerging e-learning technologies by the academics from
the selected schools. The academics in the Schools of Arts, Computing and Science were
purposively selected in order to draw on views of academics from different teaching and
educational backgrounds. Questionnaires were distributed both electronically and
manually. The results showed that academics in all the Schools were competent at the
use of information technology tools and applications such as emailing, word-processing,
Internet, myUnisa (UNISA’s online teaching platform), and Microsoft PowerPoint and
Excel. An evaluation of the awareness of different emerging technological tools showed
that most academics were aware of Open Access Technologies, Social Networking Sites,
Blogs, Video Games and Microblogging Platforms. While the level of awareness was
high for these technologies, the use by the academics was low. At least 62.3% of the
academics indicated willingness to migrate to online teaching completely and also
indicated the need for further training on new technologies. A comparison of the
different schools showed no statistically significant difference in the use, knowledge and
willingness to adopt technology amongst the academics.
Keywords: UNISA, emerging technology, e-learning, open distance learning, willingness
Disciplines: Information Technology, education.

Introduction
With advances in information and e-learning technologies, academia has witnessed the
growing need and challenges to migrate from known traditional methods to alternative
technology-based teaching methods. E-learning, by definition, covers any electronic-
mediated learning which can be Internet, Intranet-based and Web-delivered teaching-
learning systems with or without face-to-face contact between teacher and learner (Queiros,
Pinto, Rodrigues, Lopes, Oliveira, 2009). The realisation of the advantages that e-learning
brings has resulted in an extensive move towards e-learning, accompanied by the use of
various emerging technological tools (AlShemmary, Niir & Katheeth 2012; Delich, Kelly &
McIntosh, 2008). Advantages of e-learning include instant access to global resources, and
quick and easy ways to update curricula, among others (AlShemmary et al., 2012; Summaka,
Baglibel & Samancioglu, 2010; Kumar, Rose & D’Silva, 2008; Siemens & Tittenberger,

1
. School of Computing, University of South Africa, Pretoria,[email protected]
2
. Environmental Science Department, University of South Africa, Pretoria, [email protected].

TD The Journal for Transdisciplinary Research in Southern Africa, 10(1) July 2014, pp. 67-86.
 Chimbo & Tekere

2009; Dede, 1999). While e-learning is still elective or not fully utilised by various
institutions, recent developments indicate that distance education institutions and academics
have to adopt emerging e-learning technologies since they cannot escape the fact that
migration to online e-learning is a reality (AlShemmary et al., 2012; Veletsianos, 2010;
Kumar et al., 2008). Being prepared to adopt and use technology therefore becomes a must
for open distance learning lecturers.

Emerging e-learning technologies

Properly implemented, emerging technologies in e-learning have the potential to change and
improve education, allow for innovation in curricula, and reshape the nature of knowledge
mobilisation in education (Dede, 1999; Delich et al., 2008; Arthur, Beecher, Elliot &
Newman, 2006). The term “emerging technologies” has become a “buzz word” in different
domains such as commerce and academia, and as such it is worth defining it in the context of
this study. Veletsianos (2010) proposed that emerging technologies could be defined as tools,
concepts, innovations, and advancements utilised in diverse educational settings to serve
various education-related purposes such as organisational, instructional and social. They cover
a wide range of technologies that are designed for application in different sectors. However,
the main focus here is on technologies that have an impact in the educational environment
(Hegarty, 2004). Technology is always in upgrade for new applications and users despite
being already established and should be seen as emerging within a specific context. Emerging
e-learning technologies are therefore not necessarily new but can be old and new innovations
that are still in their infancy or are evolving, or coming into being in terms of their
application or adoption for certain purposes (Ng’ambi, Gachago, Ivala, Bozalek & Watters,
2012; Veletsianos, 2010; Delich et al., 2008; Hegarty et al., 2003). Additionally, “new” and
“old” technologies are evolving organisms that experience hype cycles (Veletsianos, 2010).
Woodill (2006) listed up to fifty-two emerging e-learning technologies that can benefit
learning. In this paper, the term emerging technologies will be used to refer to all new and old
innovations that are being adopted by UNISA in its migration to academic instruction
through e-learning.

Role of academics
In any implementation of academic innovations, academics are seen as a driving force behind
the success of such moves (Lucas, 2006; Panda & Mishra, 2007; Kumar et al., 2008).
Acceptance of emerging e-learning technologies is essential if online delivery is to be
effectively implemented. It is noted, however, that there are challenges encountered if there is
generalisation and scaling up of educational innovations without taking into account the
academics as stakeholders (Lucas, 2006). Such moves can be hindered by the beliefs, theories,
values, assumptions and culture underlying their organisation’s operating practices (Dede,
1999; Panda & Mishra, 2007; Kumar et al., 2008, Summak et al., 2010). The willingness of
academics to adopt emerging technologies can also be informed by their field of specialisation
and how the technology makes their job easier. Those who do not perceive a great benefit are
likely to resist or lag behind in the adoption of new technologies. There is, therefore, need to
engage academics to be flexible and adapt to the changes.
With respect to the use of information technology, personal and behavioural factors
identified to facilitate or prohibit computer usage among academics include attitude,
perceived ease of use, perceived usefulness, self-efficacy and computer compatibility (Kumar
et al., 2008; Wang & Reeves, 2003). Environmental factors identified included subjective

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 Emerging technologies and academics in Open Distance Learning

norms and job relevance (Kumar et al., 2008). There is a need for academics to accept the
paradigm shift and engage in progressive mindset change and be willing to tap into all the
best of opportunities that emerging e-learning technologies offer to learning (Panda &
Mishra, 2007).

Factors that influence adoption

Emerging interactive media can enable virtual communities that provide effective social
support, which may lead to deeper behavioural changes in educational practices (Dede, 1999;
Anand, Saxena, & Saxena, 2012). Panda & Mishra (2007) noted, however, that faculty
attitude and motivation plays a significant role in the adoption of e-learning. Attitudinal
predisposition is an important factor in the shift from traditional distance education to web-
enabled learning (Panda & Mishra, 2007; Summak et al., 2010). It was also reported in Dede
(1999) that it is generally difficult to change someone’s professional mind set and change can
be overwhelming to the academics. The successful adoption of emerging technologies
particularly in developing countries where there are still a lot of disparities in terms of
technological knowledge and access is also dependent on the academic’s level of knowledge,
access, willingness and readiness to adopt such technologies (Dede, 1999; Kumar et al., 2008;
Summak et al., 2010). Altering deeply ingrained and strongly reinforced professional rituals
takes more than an informational interchange of the kind typical in conferences and most
professional development (Dede, 1999).
Implementation of new academic initiatives has been found to require that academics
restructure their belief system (Ahmad, Basir & Hassanein, 2004; Summak et al., 2010; Dede,
1999). Motivators to e-learning adoption include personal interest to use of technology,
intellectual challenges and sufficient provision for technology infrastructure (Panda &
Mishra, 2007). Acceptance to adopt emerging technologies is essential if online delivery is to
be effectively implemented. In a study on roles of organisational readiness for emerging
technologies, Ogunyemi & Johnston (2012) indicated that challenges encountered include
lack of awareness, expertise, skills, change readiness, cost of adoption and integration with
existing technologies. Reported barriers elsewhere to the uptake of emerging e-learning
technology in higher education include; lack of time by practitioners, lack of technical
expertise and understanding of use and benefits of the new tools (Lucas, 2006; Summak et
al., 2010).

Emerging e-learning technologies at UNISA

UNISA as a mega distance educational university in Africa has embarked on the assertive use
of technology in all aspects of its mandate, ranging from tuition development and delivery
and academic management. In its strategic planning, UNISA advocates various emerging e-
learning technology tools in all academic aspects, including administration, courseware
delivery, and formative and summative assessment (UNISA Revised Curriculum Policy,
2012). To this end, the e-learning platform, myUnisa, was adopted with the accompanying
Sakai platform. Through myUnisa, the staff and student community can access news and
general information about UNISA, administrative and support functions, course specific
functions, online learning opportunities and many other resources. Social networks are also
part of the myUnisa platform. UNISA has discovered that, by using technology as an open
and distance learning (ODL) institution, it enhances students’ problem solving abilities and it
can reach students irrespective of student numbers, place and time (UNISA Revised

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 Chimbo & Tekere

Curriculum Policy, 2012). Through online student assessment, lecturers can provide feedback
more effectively and timeously (Dede, 1999; Hegarty et al., 2005).
In light of the rapid development of technology and advocacy to migrate to e-learning at
UNISA and elsewhere, it was important to undertake this study so as to enable us to have
informed insights on the knowledge, use and adoption of emerging e-learning technologies
by academics in different teaching disciplines. Academics in the Schools of Arts, Computing
and Science were used as respondents.

Research Questions
The research questions guiding this study were:
i. What is the knowledge and use of selected emerging e-learning technologies by
selected academics at UNISA?
ii. What are the perceived benefits of emerging e-learning technologies by the
academics?
iii. How willing and ready are the selected academics in embracing emerging e-learning
technologies in teaching?
iv. How does educational and teaching specialisation affect the use, willingness and
readiness to adopt emerging e-learning technologies?

Research Approach
This was a quantitative and descriptive study. Quantitative data was required to answer the
research questions both in terms of the frequencies of the knowledge and use of emerging
technologies by academics and how willing and ready the selected academics were in
embracing emerging technologies. Descriptive research, also known as statistical research, which
describes data and characteristics about the population or phenomenon being studied, was used as
it answers the questions who, what, where, when and how. Thus, based on the above, the two
research designs were appropriate for the study as it was important to gauge the knowledge, use,
willingness and readiness of academics in adopting emerging technologies.
This study was transdisciplinary in nature, encompassing respondents from various
disciplines. Trans disciplinary implies a research strategy that crosses many disciplinary
boundaries to create a rounded approach. It applies to research efforts focused on problems
that cross the boundaries of two or more disciplines. In this study, we looked at e-learning as
a concept which academics with different academic backgrounds in sciences and humanities
were involved in. The concepts or methods of e-learning that were originally developed by
one discipline are now used across many disciplines.

Participants
The study was conducted at the University of South Africa (UNISA), and the Schools of
Computing, Science and Arts were purposively selected to represent academics from different
academic backgrounds and teaching areas, i.e. sciences and humanities. All fixed-contract and
permanent academic members of staff in the schools were used as the study population. The
questionnaires were distributed electronically to all 346 academics in the schools, but some
were distributed manually (printed and handed to individuals who had indicated that
preference). Details of the distribution of academics and departments in the Schools are given
in Table 1.

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 Emerging technologies and academics in Open Distance Learning

Table 1: Distribution of departments and academics in the Schools of Computing, Science and Arts
at UNISA (Source: UNISA HRIS, March 2013).
No: School Departments Total No. of Total No. of
academics in each Academic Staff
department
1. Computing Computing 77 77

i) Statistics i) 12 88
2. Science ii) Chemistry ii) 30
iii) Physics iii) 18
iv) Mathematical Science iv) 28

3. Arts i) Afrikaans i) 22
ii) Information Science ii) 18
iii) Classics and Work iii) 26
Languages
iv) African Languages iv) 20 181
v) Communication Science v) 40
vi) English vi) 40
vii) Linguistics vii) 15

Research instrument and Data collection

Questionnaires were used to collect data and the questions covered aspects that included:
• Personal information (gender, age, etc.);
• Qualifications and areas of teaching responsibilities;
• Knowledge and use of available Internet/myUnisa-based techniques;
• Factors affecting willingness, such as time constraints, knowledge to create learning
activities online, educational knowledge background, and lack of awareness on what
can be taught with emerging techniques; and
• Availability of support, authenticity, perceived benefits/advantages and disadvantages
of emerging e-learning technologies.
The emerging e-learning technologies evaluated were:
• Cell/mobile phones and devices;
• Open Access Technologies, e.g. myUnisa, Blackboard, Mystats lab, Google chat,
Blogs, Video games, Wikis and Wiki books;
• Word processing and publishing software, e.g. Microsoft PowerPoint, Word, and
Excel;
• The World Wide Web and email;
• Social Networking Sites e.g. Facebook;
• Open Educational Resources and Pod and video casts, Pod usage production models;
• Virtual worlds, e.g. the Sims online;
• Data mashups;
• Online grassroots video; and
• Pedagogical agents e.g. Adele, Skype, Digital libraries, Webinar.
The fixed-term contract and permanent academic staff in the Schools were selected for this
study. A pilot study was undertaken during the development of the questionnaire to test the

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 Chimbo & Tekere

reliability upon re-testing of the same respondents during the study and to see if the
instrument was sufficient in gathering all the relevant information as required. This study
received ethical clearance from the College of Science Engineering and Technology (CSET)
and informed consent was sought from the participants before the study.

Data analysis
Data from the questionnaires were captured in Excel and coded. A statistical analysis and
graphics software package (SPSS) was used to apply descriptive statistical techniques on the
data. The summary of the data was presented in the form of frequency tables and charts,
followed by their discussion and interpretation.

Results analysis and interpretation

Out of 346 questionnaires distributed, only 101 were received back, giving a response rate of
29.2 %, which gives us an acceptable and adequate response rate to produce useful results
(Leedy & Ormrod, 2010).

Demographic Profiles

From a total of 101 respondents who participated, the distribution of the respondents by
School was 20.8% from the School of Science, 38.6% from the School of Computing, and
40.6% from the School of Arts. The School of Arts had the highest number of respondents.
The distribution of respondents per department was as indicated in Table 2.
Table 2: Distribution of respondents per department in the Schools (N = 101)
Departments Frequency (%)
School of Science
Mathematical Science 5 4.9
Chemistry 3 3.0
Physics 4 4.0
Statistics 9 8.9

School of Computing
Computing 39 38.6

School of Arts
Afrikaans 8 7.9
Information Science 6 5.9
Classics and Work Languages 3 3.0
African Languages 5 5.0
Communication Science 6 5.9
English 2 2.0
Linguistics 11 10.9

Total 101 100.0

100 respondents indicated their gender status. Fifty-two percent (52%) of the academics were
males, and forty-eight percent (48%) were females. The ratio of male to female respondents
was therefore almost 1:1.

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All the respondents indicated their academic positions as shown in Table 3. The majority of
the respondents were senior lecturers, followed by lecturers. The distribution of respondents
was in line with UNISA academic staff distribution, where the majority of the academic staff
is senior lecturers and lecturers (UNISA HRIS, March, 2013).
Table 3: Distribution of academics at UNISA and the respondents’ positions of employment

Position Total No of % Total No of Frequency of % of

Academics at Academics at respondents per respondents
UNISA UNISA position
Junior Lecturer 75 4.96 22 21.8
Lecturer 451 29.81 25 24.7
Senior Lecturer 501 33.11 32 31.8
Associate Professor 211 13.95 6 5.9
Professor 275 18.18 8 7.9
Research assistant Data not provided 4 4.0
Postgraduate assistant Data not provided 4 4.0
(Source: UNISA HRIS, March 2013)

The age distribution of the respondents showed that most of the academics that responded
were within the age group of 31 to 40 years as indicated in Figure 1. Overall, respondents
were more or less evenly distributed across the age groups. This was important as it meant
that the responses for the study were evenly drawn across the different age groups.
Figure 1: Age distribution of respondents (N = 99)
30  

25  

20  
% Respondents

15  

10  

5  

0  
21 - 30 years 31 - 40 years 41 - 50 years 50 years and above
Respondents age groups

Ninety-eight responses were valid when it comes to teaching experience at UNISA. Fifty one
percent of the respondents had less than 5 years teaching experience, 15.9% had 5 to 10 years
of teaching experience and 30.7% had above 10 years teaching experience. The results show
that there was an almost equal distribution of those less experienced (below 5 years) and
experienced (5 years and more).

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 Chimbo & Tekere

The distribution of respondents in terms of teaching area as shown in Figure 2 showed that
most respondents taught languages, followed by Computing and Natural Sciences.
Communication and Information Sciences were the areas where the least number of
respondents taught. The remainder of the responses (16.7%) were not indicated within these
major teaching area groups.

Figure 2: Distribution of respondents in terms of teaching areas

5.9% 5.9%

28.8% Languages
Computing
19.9% Natural Sciences
Communication Sciences
Information Sciences

22.8%

In terms of the courses taught by the respondents, 67.3% of the courses were for
undergraduate, 26.9% were honours courses, and the remaining 5.8% were either Masters or
Doctoral studies.
Ninety-eight respondents indicated their educational background. The information is shown
in Table 4. This was a multiple response question. Most of the respondents’ areas of
specialisation were in Computer Sciences, Humanities and Social Sciences. This is attributed
to the fact that 80% of the respondents were from the schools of Computing and Arts.
Table 4: Respondents’ educational background (N = 98)
Area Frequency % of Cases
Humanities and Social Sciences 47 48.0
Computing Sciences 37 37.8
Natural Sciences 16 16.3
Engineering Studies 7 7.1
Human movement sciences 1 1.0
Business Studies 1 1.0
Economics 1 1.0
Commercial Studies 1 1.0
The respondents’ competences in six selected ICT resources are indicated in Figure 3.
Information and communications technologies (ICT) are defined, as a “diverse set of
technological tools and resources used to communicate, and to create, disseminate, store, and
manage information” (Blurton 1999:46), and they encompass a wide range of rapidly evolving
technologies including software applications such as email, word, PowerPoint and excel as

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 Emerging technologies and academics in Open Distance Learning

well as digital technologies, such as computers, information networks (Internet, the World
Wide Web, intranets and extranets) etc.
Figure 3: Competence of respondents in ICT resources

100%  
90%  
80%  
% Competency levels

70%  
60%  
50%  
Incompetent
40%  
Average
30%  
Competent
20%  
Very Competent
10%  
0%  

ICT resources

The resources which most of the respondents were competent in were:

• Email (93.0%)
• Word (89.1%)
• Internet (86.9%)
It can be noted that respondents indicated competences that were more than 60% in all the
ICT resources. However, it was worrying that there was a high percentage (26.3%) of
academics indicating average competence on the use of myUnisa. This is because myUnisa is
the primary UNISA resource that academics should be well versed with in their teaching and
academic administration.
In terms of emerging e-learning technologies that the respondents were aware of, there were
99 valid responses. This was a multiple response question, where more than one emerging
technology could be indicated. The results are shown in Table 5. In terms of emerging e-
learning technologies that the respondents were currently using, there were 98 valid
responses. The data is also presented in Table 5.

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 Chimbo & Tekere

Table 5: Awareness (N = 99) and Use (N = 98) of emerging technologies by the respondents
Emerging Technology Awareness: % of Use: % of
No of cases No of cases
respondents respondents
Cell/mobile phones and devices 95 96.0 81 82.7
Open Access Technologies e.g. myUnisa, 92 92.9 89 90.8
Blackboard
Social Networking Sites e.g. Facebook 89 89.9 47 48.0
Blogs 85 85.9 15 15.3
Video games 81 81.8 18 18.4
Microblogging platforms e.g. Twitter 80 80.8 15 15.3
Wikis and Wiki books 78 78.8 19 19.4
Open Educational Resources and Pod and video 68 68.7 29 29.6
casts

Virtual characters, Avatars 50 50.5 6 6.1

Pod usage production models 43 43.4 6 6.1

Virtual worlds e.g. The Sims online 38 38.4 6 6.1
Data Mashups 34 34.3 10 10.2
Online grassroots video 15 15.2 2 2.0
Pedagogical Agents e.g. Adele 9 9.1 2 2.0
Skype 2 2.0 2 2.0
Digital libraries 1 1.0 - -
Webinar 1 1.0 1 1.0

From the emerging e-learning technologies provided in the survey, awareness percentages of
50% or more are indicated in Figure 4. With the exception of Cell/mobile phones and devices
(82.7%) and Open Access Technologies (90.8%), the utilisation of all the other technologies
was less than 50% as shown in Figure 4.
Figure 4: Awareness and use

100  
% awareness and use

50  

0  
% Awareness
% Use

Emerging technologies

It can be seen from Figure 4 that, while technology awareness was high, usage was much
lower for most technologies. Awareness of the technologies therefore does not necessarily

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 Emerging technologies and academics in Open Distance Learning

translate to usage. Table 6 shows the technologies in use by the respondents in the different
schools.
Table 6: Technologies in use by different respondents in the different Schools
Technologies in use

Online grassroots
Social Networks
Social networks
Microblogging

Data mashups
Virtual world

Pedagogical
Cellphones
SCHOOL

Pod usage

myUnisa
Avatas
Wikis

Video
Blogs

OER
Science 3 2 3 14 1 6 1 16 2 1 0 19 0 8
Computing 9 9 11 13 1 10 2 29 4 0 9 33 1 11
Arts 10 8 15 22 0 6 4 29 2 1 1 30 1 14
From Table 6, it is clear that the emerging e-learning technology that academics in the
School of Computing used more than academics in the other Schools was Data mashups.
Social Networks and Wikis were used more in the Arts than the Science and Computing
Schools. Generally, Blogs, Wikis and Microblogging were less used by the respondents in the
School of Science than they were used in Arts and Computing Schools. The frequencies of
usage of the emerging e-learning technologies by the respondents are presented in Table 7.
Table7: Frequency of usage of emerging e-learning technology
Emerging technology Frequency of use
Everyday Once a Once Once a month
week two weeks
Cell/mobile phones and devices 81.3% (61) 4.0% (3) 5.3% (4) 9.3% (7)
Virtual characters, Avatars 75.0% (3) 25.0% (1) - -
Open Access Technologies e.g. 54.7% (41) 20.0% (15) 16.0% (12) 9.3% (7)
myUnisa, Blackboard

Microblogging platforms e.g. Twitter 38.5% (5) 30.8% (4) 23.1% (3) 7.7% (1)
Pedagogical Agents 33.3% (1) 33.3% (1) 33.3% (1) -
Wikis and Wiki books 29.2% (7) 37.5% (9) 20.8% (5) 12.5% (3)
Social Networking Sites e.g. Facebook 26.1% (12) 39.1% (18) 19.6% (9) 15.2% (7)
Data mashups 25.0% (2) 25.0% (2) 50.0% (4) -
Online grassroots video 25.0% (1) 25.0% (1) 50.0% (2) -
Open Educational Resources and Pod 15.2% (5) 33.3% (11) 21.2% (7) 30.3% (10)
and video casts
Blogs 11.5% (3) 23.1% (6) 15.4% (4) 50.0% (13)
Video games 5.9% (1) 17.6% (3) 11.8% (2) 64.7 (11)
Virtual worlds e.g. The Sims online - 66.7% (2) 33.3% (1) -
Pod usage production models - 50.0% (5) 40.0% (4) 10.0% (1)

The emerging e-learning technologies that the majority of the respondents tended to use
every day were:
• Cell/mobile phones and devices (81.3%)
• Open Access Technologies e.g. myUnisa, Blackboard (54.7%)

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 Chimbo & Tekere

• Social Networking Sites e.g. Facebook (26.1%)

Additionally, some respondents mentioned Skype and Google Chat as the other technologies
they frequently used. The areas of use of the different technologies by the respondents are
shown in Figure 5a and Figure 5b. This was a multiple response question. The results show
well-distributed responses for the different uses.
Figure 5a: Use of technology

Pod usage
Microblogging platforms
Vides game
Emerging technologies

Blogs
Personal
Wikis and Wiki books Research
OER Module management
Social networking sites Referencing
Cel/Mobile phones Student Support

Open Access Tech: myUnisa

0   20   40   60   80   100  

% Respondents using the technology

Figure 1 5b: Areas of use of technologies

Webinar

Skype
Emerging Technologies

Pedagogical Agents Personal  

Research  of  Subjec  Ma>er  

Virtual characters
Module  Management  
Virtual world
Referencing  
Online grassroots video Student  Support  

Web 2.0

0   50   100   150  
% Respondents using the technology

From the results in Figures 5(a) and 5(b), the majority of the respondents used Open
Educational Resources and Pod and video casts, social networking sites, Open Access
Technologies, Cell/mobile phones and devices, and Blogs for student support. The most used
service for module management was Open Access Technologies. The technologies used
mostly in research matters were social networks, Wikis and Wiki books, Open Access
Technologies and blogs. Other uses included email, Skype, Webinar and Web browsing.

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 Emerging technologies and academics in Open Distance Learning

From the results shown in both figures, Video games, Social Networking Sites e.g. Facebook,
Cell/mobile phones and devices, Wikis and Wiki books, Open Access Technologies,
Cell/mobile phones and devices, and Blogs were used more for personal use than academic
applications. As expected, the UNISA official platform, myUnisa, was the most used
technology across the different applications. The perceived benefits of emerging technologies
in tuition are shown in Table 8.
Table 8: Perceived benefits of emerging technologies
Perceived Benefit Level of Agreement

Agree
Strongly

Agree

Neutral

Disagree

Disagree
Strongly
Offers teaching place flexibility 34.0% 49.0% 13.0% 2.0% 2.0%
(34) (49) (13) (2) (2)
Offers teaching time flexibility 32.3% 49.0% 13.5% 3.1% 2.1%
(31) (47) (13) (3) (2)
The use of technology cuts the (38.4%) 42.4% 15.2% 3.0% 1.0%
distance between student and (38) (42) (15) (3) (1)
lecturer
Increased information access 43.0% 36.0% 15.0% 2.0% 4.0%
and distribution (43) (36) (15) (2) (4)
Offers better student support 23.7% 51.5% 13.4% 11.3% -
(23) (50) (13) (11)
Environmental friendly 26.8% 43.3% 21.6% 5.2% 3.1%
(26) (42) (21) (5) (3)
Saves on resources 30.6% 34.7% 21.4% 10.2% 3.1%
(30) (34) (21) (10) (3)
Fast and efficient way of 23.5% 40.8% 26.5% 8.2% 1.0%
teaching (23) (40) (26) (8) (1)
Cost effective 20.2% 35.4% 27.3% 14.1% 3.0%
(20) (35) (27) (14) (3)
Enhancing student’s problem 11.3% 32.0% 43.3% 8.2% 5.2%
solving abilities (11) (31) (42) (8) (5)
Cuts on administrative process 20.2% 26.3% 23.2% 19.2% 11.1%
(20) (26) (23) (19) (11)

The perceived benefits of emerging technologies with a level of agreement of more than 70%
were:
• Teaching place flexibility (83.0%)
• Teaching time flexibility (81.2%)
• The use of technology cuts the distance between student and lecturer (80.8%)
• Increased information access and distribution (79.0%)
• Offers better student support (75.3%)
• Environmentally friendly (70.1%).
Perceived benefits which had a level of agreement of less than 50% were:
• Enhancing student’s problem solving abilities (43.3%)
• Cuts on administrative process (46.5%).

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 Chimbo & Tekere

The other benefits further mentioned by the respondents, which were not on the list, were
that emerging technologies engaged students in active learning and some were affordable in
terms of easy access to some online resources.

Technology adoption readiness and willingness

Respondents were asked to give their agreement level on readiness and willingness (Figure 6).
Figure 6: Technology readiness and willingness
% readiness and willingness

70%  
60%  
50%  
40%   Agree
30%   Neutral
20%   Disagree
10%  
0%  
Readiness Willingness
Technology readiness and willingness

From Figure 6, it can be seen that there was a higher level of willingness to migrate to e-
learning based teaching completely (62.3%) than readiness, which was at 57%. The neutral
responses of 17.3% for willingness and 26% for readiness showed that a significant number of
academics were undecided. The group of neutral responses and those who disagreed
presented a large pool of potential willing and ready adopters, depending on how easily their
mind set could be swayed towards technology adoption.
From the other indicator questions related to readiness and willingness, the following
indicators had a level of agreement of more than 50%:
• I am willing to learn new technological approaches for teaching (86.0%)
• I require online tutorial training (64.3%)
• Emerging technology is positively improving the way I teach (60.6%)
• I am competent in using these technologies for research (60.4%)
• Emerging technology is positively improving the way my students learn (50.5%)
• Students’ availability and access is a problem (64.9%)
While several readiness and willingness indicators had a level of agreement of more than
50%, there were a high number of neutral responses on:
• The relevance of emerging technologies to their subject areas of teaching (20.2%),
• a lack of knowledge of opportunities that new technologies offer to teaching (32.7%),
• lack of knowledge on preparing e-learning teaching materials (31.3%),
• how emerging technology positively improve their throughput (55.1%),
• the use of emerging technology takes more of my time than traditional methods
would do

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 Emerging technologies and academics in Open Distance Learning

• (39 %),
• emerging technology positively improve the way my students learn (39 %) and,
• emerging technology creating information of lasting value (39 %).
The result where most respondents seem not to give a clear response shows the uncertainty
that exists amongst academics with respect to their willingness to adopt technology.
Academics showed willingness to migrate fully to e-learning of 68.1%, 56.4 % and 62.5% for
Science, Computing and Arts, respectively. The respondents’ willingness to learn was 100%
for Arts, 95.4% for Science and 58.9% for Computing. It can be seen that the academics in
the schools of Arts and Science were more willing to learn than those in the School of
Computing. When linking this to technologies being used, one conclusion that can be drawn
is that, by virtue of being in Computing, the academics in the School of Computing were
probably already aware and competent in the technologies, that they did not find it too
compelling to learn more about the emerging technologies.
The respondents also indicated other comments regarding their readiness and willingness in
adopting emerging e-learning technology-based methods in tuition. These comments are
presented in Table 9.
Table 9: Additional comments on readiness and willingness in adopting emerging e-learning
technology (N = 53)

Comments No of % of
Respondents case

Problems with platforms like myUnisa which are not stable. 14 36.8
Willing to adopt the technologies with conditions. 10 26.3
People should have enough access to the resources to be able to use them. 6 15.8
Availability of staff to use these technologies. 5 13.2
Emerging technologies change rapidly and this may mean always 3 7.9
spending time working on new stuff.
I prefer to stick to traditional ways of teaching. 3 7.9
It is not time saving. 2 5.3
Use online resources. 2 5.3
Clear guidelines as of what is expected. 1 2.6
Students in rural areas are marginalised by these technologies. 1 2.6
Technologies not user friendly to some modules. 1 2.6
Technologies should start at primary level. 1 2.6
Technology is only a tool. 1 2.6
Ensuring authenticity is a big problem in any ODL assessment. 1 2.6
Diversity 1 2.6
Lecturers, see for what works. 1 2.6

Stability problems of e-learning platforms such as myUnisa were indicated as a major

concern. Respondents also felt that they were willing to adopt emerging technologies but
with some conditions. However, these were not further elaborated here.

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 Chimbo & Tekere

Discussion
Integrating emerging technologies in teaching and learning is vital when considering that
educational institutions cannot escape the fact that migration to online learning is a reality in
this technological era. In supporting teaching and learning, UNISA endeavours to embed e-
learning in their academic teaching and administration (UNISA curriculum policy, 2012).
With this advocacy, all academics are required to play an important role in the integration of
ICTs in teaching. There is a need for academics to accept and adopt emerging technologies
for effective implementation of online teaching.
This study, focusing on UNISA academics’ use, knowledge, and adoption of emerging
technologies in teaching, showed a high level of knowledge and usage of ICT resources such
as emails, MS Word, Internet, MS Excel and Open Access Technologies (myUnisa in the
case of UNISA). The study also revealed that awareness was high, with most emerging e-
learning technologies having a high percentage of responses of above 80%. This can be taken
as an indicator of a strong technological background across the Schools studied. However,
some technologies such as Pedagogical agents, Skype, and Webinar, were less commonly
known to academics. This can be attributed to the fact that these were not common UNISA
ICT resources. According to Panda & Mishra (2007), a good technological base is seen as a
pre-requisite for one’s willingness and readiness to migrate towards e-learning.
It should be noted, however, that knowledge of a technology does not necessarily translate to
increased usage. While the frequency of use was high amongst the respondents for the two
ICT resources – mobile devices and open access technologies – the frequency of everyday
usage was not as high for all the other ICT resources. Academics tended to use the
technologies they required for everyday social and academic engagements most, and they
became more competent in these. The most common areas of technology use showed that
academics actively used technologies for student support, module support and personal use.
Educause (2003) reported that these were the basic areas of technology application in
academia and it is hoped that as the academics continue to use and become more proficient in
these areas, their confidence to move towards other more academic applications will grow.
The areas of use of myUnisa, Pod and video casts and cell phone mainly showed that
academics were aware that the University required them to use such technologies for student
support. The use of myUnisa in student support and module management and administration
is generally prescribed and as such, it is not surprising that this platform received the most
positive use response.
Uncertainty as to the importance and relevance of emerging technologies is an important
aspect of adoption (Veletsianos, 2010). From the analysis of the perceived benefits that these
technologies brought, place, distance and time flexibility ranked the highest while the
benefits that emerging technologies enhanced student problem-solving and cuts on the
administrative costs ranked lowest . It can be concluded still, that the respondents positively
perceived the benefits that emerging technologies brought to academia and this related well
to responses on willingness and readiness by academics to go online fully. However, it must
be noted that there were reservations amongst the respondents as to how emerging
technologies will enhance students’ problem solving abilities.
Considering the society in which we live and the direction technology is going, academics
should be willing and ready to adopt technology relevant to their disciplines. From the results
of this study, it can be noted that many academics were willing to use technologies for full
online teaching (62.3%). Furthermore, 86.0% of the respondents indicated willingness to

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 Emerging technologies and academics in Open Distance Learning

learn new approaches for teaching. These results are encouraging and it is hoped that with
such willingness, academics will be more accepting toward and ready for e-learning. There is
however, a need to convince and train those lagging behind on the use of technology. As with
all innovation, once all stakeholders mastered the new approaches they will easily come on
board (Dede, 1999; Summaka et al., 2010).
Studies by Kumar et al. (2008) showed that there was a positive relationship between attitude
and usage, acquiring and integration of knowledge and skills for e-learning. In this study,
academics from different faculties understood the benefits and/or importance of using
emerging technologies and responded appropriately. There is also a need here to accept the
utility, relevance and use of emerging technologies. There were some concerns amongst the
respondents, which included issues of authenticity and the ability to think and work
independently in practice. Student availability was also expressed as a concern by 64% of the
academics. It was felt, furthermore, that emerging technologies might increase disparities
among subgroups of students, e.g. those in rural areas might be disadvantaged. Moreover, the
respondent academics indicated that they were willing to adopt the technologies given a series
of conditions. It is imperative that further studies evaluate such conditions and their potential
relevance for adoption.
Veletsianos (2010) echoed that there was need to be cognisant of the fact that resistance and
failures are possible with emerging technology use in education, and, it will be helpful if this
is documented in the literature. The indication by some academics that they did not know
how to prepare material for e-learning and they needed training meant that staff will require
support with their e-learning teaching activities. Educause (2003) indicated that e-learning
presented a need for a range of support needs, and that institutions must provide the
appropriate resources to address them. To this end, UNISA has designed and is
implementing a number of professional development workshops and training designed to
enable academics to be very competent in e-learning. In its revised curriculum policy (2012),
UNISA seems committed to ensuring that employees and students (where appropriate)
receive adequate training to play their part in the development, implementation and
experience of e-learning/m-learning across the University (UNISA curriculum policy, 2012).
Educause (2003) and Morgan (2003) indicated that department area and subject matter can
affect technical proficiency with some technology tools. In this study, the academics in the
School of Science gave the highest indication of their willingness to migrate to e-learning
followed by Arts and lastly the School of Computing. No direct relationship could be
established as to the relationship of readiness and willingness to discipline area and school, as
similar responses were obtained across Schools. The higher indication of willingness to learn
as given by academics in Science and Arts, compared to those in Computing, could also be
indicative of their being less conversant with these technologies than colleagues in
Computing such that they were willing to learn more. Indeed, it is possible that a more
positive perception of the use of ICT in education leads academics to experiment more with
these technologies, leading to more experience with it (Dede, 1999, Dede, 2004; Summaka et
al., 2010).

Conclusion
Taylor (1999) echoed the fact that as the world has fast entered into the information era and
economy, demands are being placed on higher education delivery to be more flexible and
offer lifelong learning. There is widespread scepticism as to whether educational systems will

83 TD, 10(1), July 2014, pp. 67-86.

 Chimbo & Tekere

be able to overcome their traditional inertia and respond to the challenge of the knowledge-
based revolution (Taylor, 1999; Alshemmary, 2012). From the results of this study, it can be
seen that the respondent academics were not opposed to adopting e-learning. There is
sufficient knowledge and understanding of the benefits of e-learning, and a healthy
willingness to employ emerging technologies for teaching. From these results, the usage of
technology was not related to the academic school or teaching area of the respondents. The
choice and use of some technologies could be linked to academics use in the different
Schools. For example, Data mashups were the most used by respondents from the School of
Computing.
Considering the gap between awareness and use of technologies observed in this study, there
is a need to evaluate and address why academics were not using the technologies that they
were aware of. Further training on the different applications of the less used technologies at
UNISA is recommended. Also considering the high neutral and disagreement responses
obtained on some of the indicators, it would be essential for further studies to look into the
reasons why the academics expressed these notions and the necessary measures implemented
to ensure successful emerging e-learning technologies adoption at UNISA.

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