A case study: cultural preferences concerning the willingness of Batswana students to use ICT in distance education at North-West University

Abstract

This investigation was conceived of as fundamentally interpretative and designed within the framework of hermeneutic phenomenology as it focuses particularly on the world as it is lived and experienced by Batswana Advanced Certificate in Education (ACE) students in order to determine the views of these students regarding their willingness to use Information Communication Technology (ICT) in Distance Education (DE). For this article, the researcher also undertook an interpretivistic hermeneutic analysis of Social Capital Theory in order to identify directions and norms which could serve as benchmarks to establish whether DE at the North-West University (NWU) could contribute to the structure of social capital. When implementing technology in DE, a sense of community should be created within which Batswana DE ACE students can function in a social structure and where a sense of social cohesion and interconnectedness prevails, as well as a sense of belonging Technology (whiteboards etc.) in DE should consequently be implemented according to the needs and skills of these students.