Abstract:

The use of technology for teaching and learning is growing as an alternative means to achieving educational purposes. While technology has been used in teaching and learning in open and distance education contexts since the inception of this kind of educational offering, distance education is increasingly being adopted by conventional face-to-face institutions as well. Literature indicates that the rates of completion in distance programmes are below those of face-to-face educational offerings. Distance learning lecturers’ ineffective use of technology may have a negative influence on student performance. While institutions offer professional development pathways for new and established academic staff, these initiatives are sometimes not taken up by staff. Additionally, some of the programmes do not address the integration of pedagogy with technology and content. Using a descriptive survey, this study sought to assess levels of lecturers’ understanding of technological, pedagogical and content integration in distance learning programmes using the TPACK framework. Quantitative data was collected through Microsoft Forms, as an online survey tool since it saves time. The descriptive statistics (mean, range, standard deviation, factor analysis, chi-square analysis) drawn from technological, pedagogical and content knowledge (TPACK) scores were analysed. The findings revealed that even though lecturers demonstrated an understanding of technology use for work-related purposes, there was lack of understanding regarding its integration with pedagogical and content knowledge. The recommendation based on the results of this study is that technology should not be viewed as a remedy to all teaching and learning challenges, but as an enabling tool that must be applied efficiently and appropriately alongside pedagogical design, research and practice.

Keywords:

Technology integration, pedagogy, content integration, e-learning, distance learning, online teaching and learning, TPACK.