Information communication technologies and implementation of education for sustainable development in higher education in Uganda:

Abstract

Information and Communications Technologies (ICTs) play an important role in Education for Sustainable Development (ESD), one of the multiple approaches advanced in the last two decades to address the global sustainability crisis. The role of higher education, especially as a main driver of change, in ameliorating the immense sustainability challenges is widely acknowledged. Educators in higher education institutions must strategically engage in profound transformative programmatic, pedagogical and organisational shifts in order to play this role. ICTs are important in enabling educators to make the necessary modifications to effectively promote themes, skills, knowledge, values and attitudes in learners that will foster sustainable development. This study adopted a concurrent mixed strategy to investigate the use of ICT in the implementation of ESD practices by academic staff of Busitema University in Uganda. It sought to find out the dominant ICT activities that staff used for implementing particular ESD practices. The sample consisted of 134 academic staff and students selected using simple random and purposive sampling. The study employed a questionnaire, interview and focus group guides as primary data collection instruments. The results point to a low level of ICT use, with the dominant ICT activities being of communication and sharing information, information creation and management, which did not add much value to the educational experiences of the learners in ESD. The study recommends staff training in ICT skills to address the challenge that comes with the use of new digital technologies, addressing the issues of access to ICTs and internet infrastructure. Keywords: Information and Communications Technologies (ICTs); Sustainable development; Education for Sustainable Development (ESD); Higher education