As a leading educational publisher in South Africa with a long local history, Via Afrika prides itself on its successes in meeting the demands of curriculum change, teachers and learners. We have become aware of a shift in learning and teaching materials from printed to digital materials. But we are also aware of how much difference in opinion seems to exist about the readiness of South Africa for eLearning. In keeping with our belief that it is critical to provide the right learning and teaching materials to teachers and learners at all times, we embarked on research into the current situation with regard to digital education in South Africa.

The research was conducted using a questionnaire distributed to ICT officials across all nine provincial education departments and augmented with secondary sources. There is still much room for further research in this area. However, this study marks an important starting point from which to build our knowledge base in this growing field. Future editions of the Via Afrika Snapshot of eLearning in South African schools will track challenges and progress in South Africa’s eLearning landscape from this point of reference.

The results of this inaugural research have provided us with an interesting and positive snapshot of eLearning in South African schools. Click here to download the report.

Via Afrika Snapshot of eLearning in the media:

• Is South Africa ready for digital education?
• South Africa’s e-book spending balloons
• Challenges of digital learning
• Less than a third of SA teachers have basic IT training
• SA e-learning under the spotlight
• e-Learning in South Africa (from enhanced-learning.org)
• e-Learning in South Africa (from CNBC Africa)