Original Research

Digital literacy in Ugandan teacher education: Insights from a case study

Samuel Andema, Maureen Kendrick, Bonny Norton
Reading & Writing | Vol 4, No 1 | a27 | DOI: https://doi.org/10.4102/rw.v4i1.27 | © 2013 Samuel Andema, Maureen Kendrick, Bonny Norton | This work is licensed under CC Attribution 4.0
Submitted: 08 August 2012 | Published: 22 April 2013

About the author(s)

Samuel Andema, Department of Language and Literacy Education, University of British Columbia; Department of Language and Communication, Kyambogo University, Uganda, Canada
Maureen Kendrick, Department of Language and Literacy Education, University of British Columbia, Canada
Bonny Norton, Department of Language and Literacy Education, University of British Columbia, Canada

Abstract

This case study investigated the relationship between policy and practice with regard to advances in Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in Ugandan teacher education. Our qualitative study, conducted in 2008, focused on the experiences of six language teacher educators in an urban Primary Teachers’ College (PTC). We also drew on insights from an interview with the then Ugandan Minister of ICT, Doctor Ham-Mukasa Mulira and the national ICT policy. Whilst the Minister expressed the hope that technology would transform Ugandan education, our findings suggest that the success of ICT initiatives depends largely on whether local conditions support such initiatives. Despite their enthusiasm for digital technology, the participants were challenged by the expense of Internet connectivity, inadequate training, power outages, and culturally irrelevant material. We suggest that ICT policy should address teacher educators’ use of digital technology across diverse sites, and that innovations such as the eGranary portable digital library might be particularly useful in poorly resourced educational institutions.

Keywords

Primary teacher education, digital literacy

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