Browsing by Author "Ng'ambi, Dick"

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    Converging institutional expertise to model teaching and learning with emerging technologies
    (UNISA Press, 2013) Bozalek, Vivienne; Ng'ambi, Dick; Gachago, Daniela
    There is an increasing disjuncture between the use of technologies and the impact that this has on teaching and learning practice. This challenge is compounded by the lack of institutional preparedness to support emerging practices that harness transformative potential in higher education (HE). Most staff development initiatives have tended to focus on skills acquisition, which have often not translated into pedagogical change. In the previous two years (2011 and 2012), four higher education institutions (HEIs) in Cape Town, South Africa, convened a collaborative short course on ‘Emerging Technologies for Improving Teaching and Learning’, which was targeted at 43 educators at the four HEIs over the two years it was offered. The objective of the course was to empower educators from the four HEIs with pedagogical knowledge for teaching with emerging technologies by modelling authentic practices. The course provided a unique opportunity for academics to come together in a relaxed and supportive atmosphere to learn, discuss and benefit from valuable experiences of peers and expert facilitators from the four HEIs in our region regarding the use of technologies for improved teaching and learning. This article draws on the theory- based design framework for technology enhanced learning (TEL) to reflect on the two-year inter-institutional facilitation of a course aimed at empowering educators to teach with emerging technologies through modelling practice.
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    Exploring the use of digital gaming to improve student engagement at a resource poor institution in South Africa
    (Academic Conferences International Limited, 2014) Titus, Simone; Ng'ambi, Dick
    Although student engagement has potential to enhance learning and student retention, the use of digital games to achieve this learning outcome remains a challenge in higher education. while the role of gamification is highly predicated in horizon reports to enter mainstream education, the popularity of game-based learning has remained marginal. in this paper we report on the use of game-based learning at a higher education institution where students are pre-disposed to play games outside formal educational settings. this is further compounded by the challenging nature of designing learning activities that fully exploits students' capacity to engage. this paper reports on a case study using game based learning as a tool to mediate engagement for students enrolled in health science education at a resource poor higher education institution in south africa. the aim of this study was to examine the role of a digital game to enhance student engagement within the classroom. by means of mixed methods, this study utilised a design-based enquiry using a case study of sport science curricula. design-based research was used as part of the design and implementation of an interactive learning environment using a technology (gaming) innovation within an education setting. sixty-four students from a sport science department volunteered to participate in this study. quantitative and qualitative data was collected. results indicate that even though 89% if participants indicated that they have played digital games, only 46 % indicated that they have engaged with a digital game for the purpose of learning. baseline data prior to intervention suggested that students did not learn well in groups (70.3%, m=1.91; sd=0.938). however, in post-intervention focus group interviews students expressed that the introduction of a digital game for learning in the classroom aided co-construction of knowledge in a fun and meaningful way. this study concludes that the use of digital games is a valuable mediating tool in sport science education as it strengthens collaborative learning and improves engagement. this paper recommends a strategy to improve engagement and ultimately student retention. this study offers new insight into understanding student engagement within a game based learning environment.
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    Leveraging informal leadership in higher education institutions: A case of diffusion of emerging technologies in a southern context
    (British Educational Research Association, 2013) Ng'ambi, Dick; Bozalek, Vivienne
    In the last decade, emerging technologies and transformative practices have diffused into higher education social systems in ways that formal leadership styles are increasingly stretched to both keep abreast of and to manage. While many scholars have argued for the importance of the role of leadership styles in shaping the strategic direction of institutions, there is a paucity of research on the role that informal leaders, and more particularly opinion leaders and change agents, can play in enabling wide-scale adoption of innovations in higher education institutions. This paper focuses on the ways in which leadership in higher education can best extend their influence to accelerate the diffusion of transformational educational practices using emerging technologies by leveraging informal leaders. To illustrate how this could be achieved, we report on a study of 22 public higher education institutions in South Africa involving 259 participants who responded to an online survey. The survey focused on the uses of emerging technologies to transformthe teaching and learning practices and the nature of institutional support such initiatives received.The findings reveal that for emerging technologies to be diffused in institutional social systems, more transformative and less transactional leadership is required. The paper proposes a model for accelerating the diffusion of emerging technologies in higher education institutions and concludes that leveraging informal leadership is particularly critical in accelerating the uptake of emerging technologies practices.