Assessing Options for Icts Integration in the Classroom at a Rural Based South African University

The swift rise in the usage of information and communication technologies (ICTs) tools in all aspects of life today has placed Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) under pressure to integrate such technologies in their teaching and learning. It is, however, unfortunate that the use of technologies in addressing specific teaching and learning issues faced by SAHEIs still remain a challenge. To contribute to the debate, using the case study research design and a mixed methods approach, this paper investigated options for successful integration of ICTs in the classroom.|The preliminary results obtained show that there are many factors to be considered before the implementation of e-learning at the institution can be successful, for example, the importance of staff training to equip lecturers with the necessary technological and pedagogical skills related to ICT use in learning and teaching. In addition, findings also demonstrate that several approaches to assessing ICTs usage in the perspective of teachers and students were grossly inadequate. Based on the findings, this study proposes some guidelines that are to be taken into consideration when introducing ICTs in the context of elearning at institutions of higher learning.