Conquering the barriers to learning in higher education through e-learning

Abstract

ICTs have brought benefits to business as well as to Higher Education Institutions (HEIs), where an unprecedented demand for tertiary education has seen students enrolling for courses, some doing so through distance education. This has made the internet a very significant and indispensable teaching/learning, communication, and marketing tool for information dissemination for both education purposes and business transactions. The Internet possesses the propensity to change not only the way society retains and accesses knowledge but also to transform and restructure traditional models of higher education, particularly the delivery and interaction in and with course materials and associated resources. Universities have been faced with the daunting task of having to grapple with the inevitable change by re-adjusting and re-organising themselves in preparation for the incorporation of e-learning within their institutions. Institutional leaders have also been faced with the challenge of having to align their institutional objectives to meet the needs and demands of the e- learning demand. This article explores the central theme of attempts by HEIs in the South African context: to exert “attitudinal” changes in current “traditional” educational delivery practices by universities in order to fully utilize e-learning strategies for improved delivery of courses for its students.