Towards a Research Framework for ICT Use in Developing Contexts

The digital divide describes the gap among individuals, households, businesses and geographic areas on socio-economic level, as well as unequal opportunities to access information and communication technologies (ICTs). Castells holds the view that informationalism of shifting global networks creates a volatile and ruthless world. Those who do not contribute to the new world economies are discarded. Consequently, much of Africa is condemned to information black holes as Africa becomes the graveyard of failed ICT development programmes. However, by sharing expertise and goodwill, worldwide university networks of science and technology can reverse the inequities brought about by informationalism. We have a shared academic responsibility to explore feasible research frameworks on the use of ICT in developing contexts. Bronfenbrenner maintains that the ecology of human development is experimental by nature and design. From his Human Ecological Systems Theory we propose a research framework for the development of socially transformative ICT goals for implementation and validation at the School for Continuing Teacher Education at the North-West University, South Africa.