Abstract:

The rapid advancement of digital technology has transformed global expectations for higher education graduates, emphasising the need for digitally literate and independent alumni. However, limited digital competence among lecturers often constrains students’ ability to effectively use digital tools, resulting in reliance on face-to-face supervision and reduced opportunities for autonomous learning. Within this context, integrating digital technology in higher education has become essential for improving the organisation of teaching, enhancing knowledge transfer, and enriching the overall learning experience. Lecturers are now expected not only to deliver content but also to design engaging, technology-enhanced learning environments that foster digital fluency among students.

Despite growing interest in technology-enhanced education, few studies have examined lecturers’ integration of digital tools in higher education using the SAMR (Substitution, Augmentation, Modification, and Redefinition) model. The SAMR model offers a framework for analysing the depth of technology integration, distinguishing between the mere replacement of traditional tools (Substitution and Augmentation) and transformative practices that redesign or redefine learning tasks (Modification and Redefinition).

This study explores up to 10 purposefully selected, experienced Faculty of Education lecturers’ reflections on their use of digital technology in private higher education institutions in South Africa, guided by the SAMR framework. Participants include lecturers with up to 12 years of lecturing experience who have teaching or lecturing experience both before and after the COVID-19 pandemic, a period marked by a shift to emergency remote teaching that required rapid digital adaptation. This group was chosen for their first-hand experience in navigating the transition to blended and online teaching practices.

Data is being collected through an open-ended questionnaire inviting participants to describe the types of digital technologies they use, how they integrate them into teaching, and their feelings toward digital technology adoption. Preliminary results suggest that experienced lecturers are simply using digital technology at the Substitution level of the SAMR model, namely they are merely replacing traditional tools such as lectures, whiteboards and quizzes with videos, presentation tools and online quizzes. There is some Augmentation whereby lecturers are integrating digital tools such as videos with embedded quizzes into a flipped classroom teaching approach which offers some functional improvements as opposed to students simply studying material and doing homework using a textbook at home. It was highlighted that experienced lecturers require support with regards to the use of AI tools and more advanced digital tools such as Smartboards and Augmented Reality (AR). There was also some concerns surrounding the use of AI and AR as these tools were viewed as having the potential to limit critical skills development and distort students' sense of reality.

By analysing lecturers’ reflections through the SAMR lens, this study seeks to deepen understanding of how experienced lecturers integrate and conceptualise digital technology in their teaching, thus contributing to improving digital pedagogical practices within higher education and to inform strategies that promote more Modification and Redefinition in South African higher education institutions.

Keywords:

Digital Technology, SAMR Model, Education Lecturer.