Blended Pedagogies for Modern Development in South Africa: Challenges and Prospects for Success.

Educational transformation through the adoption of blended pedagogies has taken international centre stage with the hope of encouraging adoption of e-pedagogies. Arguably, blended pedagogies can be used effectively to acquire knowledge necessary for modern development and participation in the knowledge economy. In South Africa, the Western Cape Province invested in e-pedagogies rather than blending as part of its pursuit of modern development. However, evidence suggest that this educational transformation comes with challenges mostly associated with the inability of teachers and learners to use the e-infrastructure effectively due to absence of e-culture and e-skills. Often, the majority of teachers and learners lack the minimum levels of e-culture and computer and information literacy which are necessary requirements for successful adoption of blended pedagogies. This paper argues that the limited use or lack of e-infrastructure in teaching and learning is to a large extent blamed on absence of e-culture and e-skills necessary for blended pedagogies; and, that the Western Cape Province is not an exception. Theoretically, e-culture and e-skills, among others, are the necessary preconditions that determine the readiness of teachers and learners to adopt blended pedagogies. The paper concludes that e-infrastructure which is assumed to provide sufficient and necessary conditions for educational transformation through e-learning for modern development, is seldom used for the intended purpose due to challenges related to the absence of e-culture and e-skills among teachers and learners. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]