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Preparing African Higher Education Faculty in Technology

IntroductIon One of the most difficult challenges facing African higher education institutions (HEIs) is the successful resolution of the inherent tension that underlines efficient and effective utilization of existing resources on one hand and intensified demand for more and better education on the other (Okuni, 2001; Sawyerr, 2004). Although the potential of information and communication technologies (ICTs) to enhance participation in African HEIs has been widely recognized, its transformational capacity has barely been reached because of limited infrastructure, technological capacity, funding and sustainability of resources, and human resources and expertise. Poor infrastructure and weak regulatory policies and frameworks have resulted in inadequate access to affordable telephones, broadcasting, computers, and the Internet (Johnson, 2002). For many countries, the uneven use of ICT presents the equity dilemma, where the gap between the information-rich and information-poor further marginalizes disadvantaged groups, inadvertently widening the digital divide (Dunne & Sayed, 2002). Statistics by African Internet Connectivity (2002), for example, indicates that although all African countries have Internet connectivity, there are only about four million Internet users. A report by the Association of African Universities (2002) indicates that ICT in African HEIs is limited and varied. Consequently, the benefits of ICT are not being fully realized due to factors such as struggling economies and rising enrollment. Despite policy pronouncements, the status of ICT shows that the continent is at a growing disadvantage with respect to the global information and technological revolution (Association of African Universities, 2000). Meanwhile, educators are expected to be at the forefront, helping to plan and develop national and international systems that facilitate rapid dissemination of information while simultaneously keeping current with the literature in their various academic disciplines.