ICT Support Environment in Developing Countries: The Multiple Cases of School Teachers in Rural South Africa

Abstract

South African teachers are under pressure due to rising expectations of their content knowledge and digital skills without guaranteed infrastructural or institutional support in using ICTs. The purpose of this study is to find out to what extent ICTs are being used by teachers in rural South African schools and also what support systems, if any, these teachers have. The theoretical lens is that of social network theory to investigate the network teachers use to acquire ICT knowledge and assistance. The data capturing involved a baseline survey where data were collected from 197 rural school teachers in South Africa. The data analysis included descriptive statistics and social network analysis using Kumu as a tool. Our findings reveal that despite the infrastructural challenges and lack of institutional support, rural teachers use technology for teaching and learning. Furthermore, there is evidence that strong social ties with friends and family, faith groups, department of education and businesses that sell or fix ICTs, provide the essential support network. The research provides novel insights into the social networks that sustain the ICT use of rural teachers in South Africa and makes a theoretical contribution through empirical evidence that confirms the strength (degree) of weak ties in explaining sustainable ICT teacher support in rural schools.