SHIP IN OR OUT: TECHNOLOGY FOR INSTRUCTION, LEARNING AND ASSESSMENT IN SCHOOL LEADERSHIP TRAINING PROGRAMMES

The article reports a study conducted to establish experiences and reflections of student principals from the Universities of Limpopo and Venda during the implementation of school leadership and management programme. The purpose of the study was to examine whether contemporary learning environment was created coupled with the use of supporting methods and strategies in promotion and compliance with e-education policy in South Africa. A mixed method research was adopted wherein open-ended questionnaires were used to gather data from 250 randomly sampled student principals; whereas 30 purposively sampled student principals participated in unstructured interviews. Findings reveal that the implementation of the programme promoted the use of case study, dialogue and discourses and portfolio of evidence, inquiry cooperative learning and problem and project based-strategies. However the use of blended learning, flipped classrooms and virtual learning environments that signify transition into e-Education, were not used. The study concludes that programme facilitators did not succeeded in using technology for teaching, learning and assessment with the exception of information communication technology module. This study recommends that facilitators should be capacitated, developed and transformed into e-learning professional that could move swiftly along blended learning, flipped classrooms and virtual learning environments. Furthermore, computer applications should be made available as part of programme design to support transition into e-learning environments.