Initiating ICT in the Open Distance Learning of Gabonese Teachers
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
Initiating ICT in the open distance learning of Gabonese teachers Jean-Louis Ndoutoume Mendene Dissertation submitted for the degree Magister Educationis in Education Management at the Potchefstroom Campus of the North-West University Supervisor: Prof Dr A. Seugnet Blignaut Co-supervisor: Mr Michael Laubscher Assistant Supervisor: Mr Christo Els November 2012 Acknowledgements I would like to thank and acknowledge the following people and Institution for the great contribution to the success of this dissertation: • God for giving me the chance to be accepted by the School of Continuing Teacher Education and strength and determination to achieve my studies. • My supervisor Prof A. Seugnet Blignaut who was very enthusiastic all the time. You were available and willing to guide me every time I came to your office. I have learnt a lot from you. These acknowledgements are not enough to thank you. • J. Christo Els, my study leader; you have been a great pillar of this dissertation. Your advice was of a great help. May God bIess and protect you! • Michael Laubscher, my study leader; it was a pleasure to work with you. You are a wonderful person. I appreciate your determination. Thank you. • Liezl, you were like a daughter, but we were sharing the office like two adults. You have been of great help. • Verona Cassim, always ready to help, thank you! • Albert Rabe, my friend; every morning we had a chat and from there I went to my office and worked all day long without any stress or tiredness. Your part in this dissertation is also important. Thank you. • Steve Ndinga Koumba and his wife Carine Ndinga; you are my family here in Potchefstroom and you are those to whom I dedicate this dissertation. • My wife Irene Benoit Ndoutoume; you accepted to stay alone, away from me during the writing of this dissertation and you did not stop encouraging me to achieve these studies. Thank you very much. • To my children; for understanding that I could not be there for you. You are lovable. • My late big brother Antoine Nguema Essone; you passed away before I could complete the dissertation. I do not forget your desire, your ambition. Thank you for having understood mine. • Last but not least; the North-West University for financial support. i Abstract Gabon is a Sub-Saharan francophone country which has been independent since August 1960. Its Educational System is modelled on the French System. However, the Gabonese Education System currently does not have any guidelines or policies for the system-wide implementation, integration and use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) into the education system. The Gabonese Government committed itself to some ICT-related partnerships, but did not launch any programme or activity relating to those commitments. In addition, the Government provided funding to change the country’s Internet connectivity by satellite with the WASC/SAT3 sub-marine cable in order to make Internet access and connection ten times cheaper at the international level. Unfortunately, the benefit from this investment is not experienced in the country as the potential users, such as teachers, keep having challenges with Internet connection. After fifty years of independence, the government also does not offer sufficient opportunity for teachers to enhance their pedagogical knowledge and skill through teacher professional development (TPD). As a result, no research, guidelines or policies exist for the implementation and use of Open Distance Learning (ODL) for TPD supported by ICT. The aim of this qualitative descriptive exploratory research study was to explore, describe and understand the enablers and challenges of initiating ICT in the ODL training of Gabonese in-service teachers. Although the academic seat for this research was the School of Continuing Teacher Education on the Potchefstroom Campus of the North-West University in South Africa, the research project’s focus, conceptualisation, data-collection and data-interpretation were all based and conducted within the researcher’s heimat, i.e. the Gabonese Education System context. An interactive qualitative case- study research design (Denzin & Lincoln, 2005; Merriam, 1998) was used in this investigation to obtain in-depth context sensitive data concerning the attitudes, fears, needs, expectations, infrastructure and readiness of the Gabonese Education teachers (at schools and training institutions) for the implementation and use of ICT for ODL training of Gabonese English (second language) teachers, collected through qualitative research methods, i.e. semi-structured open-ended individual and focus- group interviews, as well as additional research artefacts in the form of photographs to visually record the unique contexts involved. The researcher decided to involve Gabonese English (second language) teachers in the investigation, as he has worked in this discipline for at least twenty years. To ensure sufficient participants, the researcher made use of a snowball strategy where participants in the research referred others. Participants were also selected according to specific selection criteria. Two English (second language) teachers, one school principal, four ICT specialists, one advisor of English teachers, and one inspector of English teachers (ICT specialist) participated in eight individual interviews. Nine English teachers and two advisors of English teachers participated in four focus-group interviews. All ii interviews were conducted in French. At the North-West University in South Africa, the researcher transcribed the interview data and used ATLAS.ti™ (qualitative data-analysis software) to construct an integrated data-set for analysis. Qualitative data-analysis was performed under the guidance of an expert researcher in qualitative data-analysis. The relevant research findings were translated into English for the purpose of this report. Qualitative data-analysis of the integrated data-set identified six categories of data related to three themes, i.e. (i) Gabonese Education, (ii) ICT in Gabon and (iii) ODL in Gabon. The six categories are: (i) Challenges of Gabonese Education, (ii) Enablers of Gabonese Education, (iii) Challenges to implementation and integration of ICT, (iv) Enablers of ICT; (v) Challenges of ODL, and (vi) Enablers of ODL. These categories supported by codes and quotations provide basic ideas on the research enablers and challenges of initiating ICT in ODL training of Gabonese in-service teachers. The discussion comprises thirty codes, and recommendations are made. The findings of this rich qualitative exploration could benefit and support the Gabonese Education Department, policy makers and academic institutions in their quest to implement, integrate and use ICT in the TPD of in-service teachers via DE and ODL. Keywords 1. Gabon 2. Gabonese Education System 3. English Teachers (Second Language) 4. Information Communication Technology (ICT) 5. Teacher Professional Development (TPD) 6. Distance Education (DE) 7. Open Distance Learning (ODL) 8. Challenges of ODL 9. Enablers of ODL 10. Qualitative research iii Private Bag X6001, Potchefstroom South Africa 2520 Tel: (018) 299-4900 Faks: (018) 299-4910 Web: http://www.nwu.ac.za Ethics Committee ETHICS APPROVAL OF PROJECT Tel +27 18 299 4850 Fax +27 18 293 5329 Email [email protected] 2012/09/28 This is to certify that the next project was approved by the NWU Ethics Committee: Project title : Initiating ICT in the open distance learning of Gabonese teachers Student : Jean-Louis Ndoutoume Mendene Project leader : Prof S Blignaut Ethics number : NWU -00033-12-A2 Status: S = Submission; R = Re-Submission; P = Provisional Authorisation; A = Authorisation Expiry date : 23 April 2017 The Ethics Committee would like to remain at your service as scientist and researcher, and wishes you well with your project. Please do not hesitate to contact the Ethics Committee for any further enquiries or requests for assistance. The formal Ethics approval certificate will be sent to you as soon as possible. Yours sincerely Me.Marietjie Halgryn NWU Ethics Secretariate Certificate of Proofreading H C Sieberhagen Translator and Editor SATI no 1001489 082 3359846 CERTIFICATE ISSUED ON 11 NOVEMBER 2012 I hereby declare that I have linguistically edited the dissertation submitted by Mr. Jean-Louis Ndoutoume Mendene for the MEd degree. Initiating ICT in the open distance learning of Gabonese teachers H C Sieberhagen SATI number: 1001489 ID: 4504190077088 Telephone: 0182994554 vi Table of Contents Acknowledgements .............................................................................................................................. i Abstract ............................................................................................................................................... ii Solemn Declaration ............................................................................................................................ iv Ethics Declaration ............................................................................................................................... v Certificate of Proofreading .................................................................................................................. vi Table of Contents .............................................................................................................................. vii List of Tables .....................................................................................................................................