Factors contributing to the under utilization of the educational technologies at the North west university, Mafikeng Campus

Abstract

The study aims at investigating the factors contributing to the underutilization of educational technologies at North-West University (NWU) Mafikeng campus. The adoption of educational technologies in the Higher Educational Institutions has gained momentum over the years. Many of these institutions have since been found to experience the underutilization of these technologies. To gather an understanding of why educational technologies are underutilized, a quantitative study was conducted amongst the academics at NWU Mafikeng campus. The data was collected through an online self-administered questionnaire. The results revealed that the factors contributing to the underutilization of educational technologies at NWU Mafikeng campus are less of the personal attributes of the academics such as their attitude, beliefs and perceptions, but are rather more influenced by the unsatisfactory operational attributes such as reliability, accessibility, awareness and the institutional drive. This study therefore found that, there's a critical need for Higher Education Institutions to invest in developing integrated adoption plans, formal policies and guidelines aimed at improving and guiding the use of educational technologies. In addition, the study also concluded it is important to involve all the relevant stakeholders within all the phases of implementing educational technologies, from planning to the implementation. Drawing on the conclusion reached, this study recommended possible strategies for guiding the policies and guidelines aimed at improving the utilization of educational technologies.