COLLEGE OF BUSINESS, PEACE, LEADERSHIP &

GOVERNANCE
Name of Student : MUTETA KALUNGWE Gloire

Student Number : 160482

Year of Study : 4th
Degree of Study : COMPUTER SCIENCE

Research Topic IMPACTS

: OF ICTs IN EDUCATION IN EQUITY
ISSUES; GENDER SPECIAL NEEDS AND
MARGINALIZED GROUP IN AFRICA.
.
 1. INTRODUCTION

Information communication technologies (ICT) permeate almost every facet of our

daily business and have become one of the most important priorities for formal and
informal education. Readers in developed countries would be familiar with the type of
rhetoric presented in the first sentence and many would identify with the sentiments,
since they would resonate with the everyday evidence of their lives. However, many
people, particularly those in least developed countries, would not have any empathy
with the ICT driven lives common in developed countries. Nor would they always have
any expertise in use of ICT or understanding of the benefits that ICT affords to people
living in developed and developing countries. Nevertheless, very few people can
escape the effects of globalization fuelled by new and emerging technologies. ICT has
become a key driver in culture, economics, politics and education with profound effects
on all countries which in turn affect people in the most remote and least developed
areas, even if they are not directly using the technologies. Culture, economics, politics
and education are all intertwined, and the impact of ICT in one area often has flow on
effects to other areas. Equity issues are critical and acute it is clear that there are
critical equity issues related to the uses of ICTs in education. There is a real danger
that uses of ICTs can further marginalize groups already excluded or marginalized
from existing educational practices and environments. That said, ICT use also holds
very real promise for facilitating greater inclusion of such groups into existing
educational practices and environments as well. To date, much of the research in this
area will focus on access-to-ICT issues as they relate to equity. Much research will
focus on the impact of ICTs on learning outcomes (which, in the case of special needs
students, are in many cases more compelling than for the ‘average’ student), but less
on the impact of ICT of on psychological, emotional and cultural issues of teachers
and learners.

2. Statement of the problem

This study is to examine how the impact of ICTs in equity issues can affect education
and how ICTs can be used to reach marginalized groups (economic, linguistic, cultural,
gender) to benefit education, and how ICT use may have differential impact on such
groups.
Some research question will benefit for our study to have sense such as:

 What do we know about equity issues as they relate to ICTs in education, and
how they are being or can be addressed?
 What is known about how ICTs can be used to reach marginalized groups
(economic, linguistic, cultural, gender) to benefit education, and how ICT use
may have differential
3. Objectives of the research
3. 1 Primary objectives

Impacts of ICTs in equity issues; gender special needs and marginalized group in
Africa.

3. 2 Secondary objectives

This research will focus on the impact of ICTs on learning outcomes (which, in the
case of special needs students, are in many cases more compelling than for the
‘average’ student), but less on the impact of ICT of on psychological, emotional and
cultural issues of teachers and learners. The objective of this study is to examine how
the impact of ICTs in equity issues can affect education and how ICTs can be used to
reach marginalized groups (economic, linguistic, cultural, gender) to benefit education,
and how ICT use may have differential impact on such groups. To date, much of the
research in this area will focus on access-to-ICT issues as they relate to equity.
4. Literature Review
Equity issues are critical and acute
It is clear that there are critical equity issues related to the uses of ICTs in
education. There is a real danger that uses of ICTs can further marginalize groups
already excluded or marginalized from existing educational practices and
environments. That said, ICT use also holds very real promise for facilitating greater
inclusion of such groups into existing educational practices and environments as well.
Gender equity
In the past two decades, there has been a lot of talk about the transformative
power of technology in society, yet little attention has been paid to an emerging digital
gap. According to the International Telecommunication Union estimated that by the
end of 2013, 2.7 billions of people (40 percent of the world’s inhabitants) were using
the internet. However, men are twice more likely to have access to the internet than
women. According to Intel’s report “Women and the Web” on average across the
developing world, nearly 25 percent fewer women than men have access to ICTs, and
the gender gap soars to nearly 45 percent in regions like sub Saharan Africa. Focus
on gender-equity enabled investments is alarmingly lagging in this region. There are
many arguments in support of policies leading to investment in education for girls and
women. For example, a first order analysis which considers women to be equal to men
in their potential contribution to the economy implies a huge untapped reservoir of
talent in developing countries.
Special Needs and disabilities
According to UN statistics, there are currently over 600 million persons with
disabilities throughout the world of whom 400 million live in developing countries and
80 million in Africa. A World Health Organization source maintains that about forty
percent of Africa’s population consists of people with disabilities, including 10-15
percent of school-age children. This percentage would translate into about 300 million
people with disabilities in Africa. Disability is caused by many factors, including
malnutrition and disease, environmental hazards, traffic and industrial accidents, and
civil conflict and war, and the number of people with disabilities continues to increase.
Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) have the potential for making
significant improvements in the lives of persons with disabilities, allowing them to
enhance their social, cultural, political and economic integration in communities by
enlarging the scope of activities available to them.
Marginalised groups
The Dakar 2000 demand for Education for All by 2015 is based on the premise
that education is a human right that enables people to improve their lives and transform
their societies (UNESCO, 2000); a process that is enhanced by engagement with
technology and the Internet (Burbules & Torres, 2000; Stromquist, 2002). Information
Communication Technology (ICT) education practices support the development of
knowledge and skills 1 needed for sustained economic development and social
transformation in developing countries (Lall, 2000, Chopra et al. 2009). ICT education
does not only produce knowledge for creating an informed society, but it is also an
important catalyst and tool for inducing knowledge reforms that change learners into
productive knowledge workers (Newby, 2013). Within education, ICT is seen as a way
to promote educational change, improve skills of learners, and prepare them for the
global economy and the information society (UNESCO, 2000; McNamara, 2003;
Wagner & Kozma, 2005; Letseka, 2014).
5. Research methodology and Design

5.1 Research Design and Plan

The current study is based on quantitative research and utilized the descriptive survey
design. While a survey research is appropriate when a researcher attempts to study
some aspect of a population by using unbiased sample of a population who are asked
to complete a set of instruments to solicit for vital information to be used in the research
work, descriptive study is primarily concerned with finding out “what is” and provide a
clear picture of existing phenomena. This design allowed the research to collect large
amount of data in a short time to address the research questions.

5.2 Population and Sample

The current research will be carried out in the following African countries; Zimbabwe,
and DRC Congo. The participants comprised 125 students selected from 12 schools,
with a population of 15964. This will be done through cluster and simple random
sampling techniques. The cluster will be made up of 2 Provinces in Zimbabwe which
are Masvingo and Bulawayo, and three provinces in DR Congo which are Kasai
Oriental, Sud Kivu and Haut-Katanga. These two sampling techniques helped to arrive
at a sample that was fairly representative of the population. In addition, 24 teachers
will be also selected randomly from the five Provinces of these two African countries.

5.3 Data Collection instruments, Sources, and procedures

The data will be collected through journals, questionnaire where the questions will be
open ended items and close ended items. The questions will be in written form and
also through interviews because the population going to deal with is educated people
who able to read and write without close supervision. This instrument will help to
minimize time for collecting data, so it will help to obtain data within a required specific
period of time.

5.4 Data analysis procedure

The primary data will be classified according to their common characteristics, coded
and put in the table form. The analysis data will be done by using Statistical Package
for Social Science (SPSS) programme. Data presentation will be in form of Tables and
graphs will be generated to present the data analysed. The data presenting will be
used for future development of the problem.

6. Contribution to the study

This study will contribute to the improvement of Information communication

technologies in African continent. The outcomes to be considered consist of helping
African countries on how to use proper approach to educate Africans using ICTs as
an education tool that can benefit the marginalized group, no limit when it comes to
gender. It is important to know how significantly impacts of ICTs in equity issues;
gender special needs and marginalized group may affect the education and economy
of African Country, so that African government can allocate resources to it accordingly.