Abstract

The use of information and communications technology (ICT) is gradually increasing in South African schools. In the Gauteng province, the Department of Education has prioritised the provisioning of electronic textbooks (ebooks) to public schools since 2014. However, to this day, there seem to be multiple barriers that hamper the adoption and use of digital technologies, and specifically ebooks. This study was premised on the technology acceptance model, and a mixed-method approach was used with an online questionnaire and a semi-structured interview protocol as the data collection instruments. For the qualitative data, thematic analysis was used to identify themes and patterns. For the quantitative data, descriptive statistics, such as frequencies and percentages, and inferential statistics, such as the two-proportions z-test and the chi-square test of independence, were utilised. Results indicated that although portable electronic devices that facilitate the reading of ebooks are readily available at public schools in Gauteng, the availability and use of ebooks are still very limited. The results also show that the participants found digital resources easy to use and easy to navigate and indicated that teachers would like to have more training to fully develop the necessary skills required to implement the ebooks effectively. Teachers do not seem to have adequate time to prepare teaching materials and learning activities using these ebooks. In this article, the barriers to the successful implementation of ebooks are explored, and the article culminates in putting forward some guidelines to create an enabling environment to support the successful adoption of ebooks in schools.

摘要

南非学校对信息和通信技术 (ICT) 的使用正在逐渐增加。在豪登省，自 2014 年以来，教育部优先向公立学校提供电子教科书（电子书）。然而，直到今天，似乎存在多重障碍阻碍数字技术的采用和使用，特别是电子书. 本研究以技术接受模型为前提，采用混合方法，采用在线问卷和半结构化访谈协议作为数据收集工具。对于定性数据，主题分析用于识别主题和模式。对于定量数据，描述性统计，例如频率和百分比，以及推论统计，例如二比例 z 检验和独立性卡方检验。结果表明，尽管豪登省的公立学校很容易获得便于阅读电子书的便携式电子设备，但电子书的可用性和使用仍然非常有限。结果还表明，参与者发现数字资源易于使用和导航，并表示教师希望接受更多培训，以充分发展有效实施电子书所需的必要技能。教师似乎没有足够的时间使用这些电子书准备教材和学习活动。本文探讨了电子书成功实施的障碍，