A pragmatic framework for integrating ICT into education in South Africa

The goals of South Africa's e-Education White paper is for every school learner in the country to be ICT capable by 2013 and for teachers to use information and communication technology (ICT) to enhance teaching and learning. Many initiatives have been undertaken to provide schools with computer labs and infrastructure in order to reach these goals, with varying degrees of success. In the meanwhile, the ICT landscape in South Africa and worldwide has changed dramatically with the advent of the cell phone and its almost ubiquitous penetration into all levels of society, especially amongst the youth. Indigenous services that utilise this new ICT platform have emerged, that specifically target the youth and address very South-African issues, such as affordability. One such platform is MXit, a mobile instant messaging platform that enables real time text-based chatting between users at a fraction of the price of an SMS. This paper discusses the innovative use of MXit as a teaching and learning platform by the Meraka Institute and others and suggests a pragmatic framework for integrating cell phones as ICT tools into the education system in South Africa.