AJIC-Issue-18-2016-Van-Zyl-Sabiescu.pdf (136.92 kB)
Symbolic narratives and the role of meaning: Encountering technology in South African primary education.
journal contribution
posted on 2018-03-08, 09:54 authored by Izak van Zyl, Amalia SabiescuAmalia SabiescuThis article draws on the results of a long-term, design-based research study with South African primary school teachers to discuss the role of subjectively assigned meanings and symbolisms of technology, as key factors affecting the adoption, appropriation and use of educational technology in urban poor and under-resourced environments. The paper examines how teachers’ engagements with technology are framed, conditioned, and embedded in multi-levelled “technology encounters”. These encounters give rise to meaningful representations of technology that ultimately transform both the teaching and learning process, and culminate in the emergence of “symbolic narratives”: complex assemblages of symbolisms, meanings and interpretations that arise through and therefore come to influence further technology engagements. We argue that a closer examination of teachers’ symbolic narratives can shed light on the motivations that underpin the appropriation, integration -- or conversely, rejection -- of educational technology in urban poor and under-resourced environments.
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School
- Loughborough University London
Published in
The African Journal of Information and CommunicationIssue
18Pages
0 - 0Citation
VAN ZYL, I. and SABIESCU, A., 2016. Symbolic narratives and the role of meaning: Encountering technology in South African primary education.. The African Journal of Information and Communication, 18, pp. 95-115.Publisher
LINK Centre, University of the Witwatersrand (Wits)Version
- VoR (Version of Record)
Publisher statement
This work is made available according to the conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0) licence. Full details of this licence are available at: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/ by/4.0/Acceptance date
2016-11-16Publication date
2016-01-18Notes
This is an Open Access Article. It is published by LINK Centre, University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 Unported Licence (CC BY). Full details of this licence are available at: http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/ISSN
2077-7205eISSN
2077-7213Publisher version
Language
- en
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