Title:	VIRTUAL LEARNING SPACES: GATEWAY TO HIGHER EDUCATION IN SOUTH AFRICA
Author(s):	Thomas Park , Antoinette Van Der Merwe
ISBN:	978-972-8924-83-6
Editors:	Miguel Baptista Nunes and Maggie McPherson (series editors: Piet Kommers, Pedro Isaías and Nian-Shing Chen)
Year:	2009
Edition:	V II, 2
Keywords:	Satellite technology, Blended learning, African Higher Education, Learning spaces, e-Learning model
Type:	Short Paper
First Page:	3
Last Page:	7
Language:	English
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Full Contents:	click to dowload
Paper Abstract:	In the current global knowledge economy African Universities are faced with major challenges to fulfil their role as the main providers of the skills and expertise necessary for the development of an information society and for the development of a critical mass of intellectuals and researchers. Large proportions of prospective African students experience a typical residential university as literally beyond their reach. Elements of this barrier obstructing access to further studies include factors such as poor primary and secondary school education, insufficient funds, distance from higher education institutions, unreliable public transport systems, lack of on-campus student accommodation, problems related to their working environment such as the unavailability of study leave, family circumstances and the new emerging preference for post-graduate students to engage in advanced studies through a learn-and-earn approach. The socalled digital and price divide is a limiting factor with regards to the use of specifically web-based technologies. Against the background of these barriers, this paper outlines how Stellenbosch University addresses these access challenges experienced by post-graduate students through its unique integrated technology platform, consisting of satellite, webbased, mobile and smart card technologies, and reflects on some of the encouraging results obtained.
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