Abstract
<p class="Style3">This paper examines the possible characteristics and the value of designing learning activities grounded in connectivism—an emerging learning theory. It is an exploratory attempt to connect the theory to the prevailing technology adoption archetypes used in African contexts with the aim of extracting influences that could shape pedagogical technology adoption in African higher education contexts. A reflection on the process of designing learning activities that employ <em>blogging</em> in an experimental training intervention provides a unique context in which to try and infuse connectivist principles while outlining the challenges that surface. The questions driving the argument in this paper include: What do connectivist perspectives offer learning activity design and practice? What can the prevailing technology adoption models used in African contexts offer to learning activity design? Can we combine connectivist perspectives and African-based technology adoption models to inform pedagogical technology adoption in African higher education contexts? These questions are exploratory and are based on one single subjective experience of the author. They are part of an argument put forward as a proposal which is yet to be tested in practice.</p>
Highlights
For more than two decades, institutions have been searching for ways that could shape pedagogical technology1 adoption in African higher education contexts
Despite the progress made in some institutions, there persists an incongruity between the possibilities found through research and the implementation of this research by higher education practitioners
The questions driving the argument in this paper include: What do connectivist perspectives offer learning activity design and practice? What do the prevailing technology adoption archetypes used in African contexts offer learning activity design and practice? Can we combine connectivist perspectives and African-based technology adoption models to inform pedagogical technology adoption in African higher education contexts?
Summary
For more than two decades, institutions have been searching for ways that could shape pedagogical technology adoption in African higher education contexts. Connectivism in Learning Activity Design: Implications for Pedagogically-Based Technology Adoption in African Higher Education Contexts Kizito limited resources (Harley, 2011; Sapire & Reed, 2011) and restricted access to affordable, high quality technological teaching tools (Mtebe, Dachi, & Raphael, 2011). The prevailing technology adoption archetypes used in African contexts are examined in relation to how they could be used to support the construction of connectivist learning environments. Downes (2007) contends that “knowledge is distributed across a network of connections, and learning consists of the ability to construct and traverse those networks” (para.1) This actionable knowledge is assembled from a network of connections arising from experience and interactions within a community (Garcia & Ferreira, 2014). Designing connectivist learning environments that enhance interaction and cognitive engagement requires a framework
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