Ford, MBotha, Adèle2010-07-162010-07-162010-05Ford, M and Botha, A. 2010. Pragmatic framework for integrating ICT into education in South Africa. IST Africa 2010, Durban, South Africa, 19-21 May 2010, pp 10978-1-905824-15-1www.IST-Africa.org/Conference2010http://hdl.handle.net/10204/4098IST Africa 2010, Durban, South Africa, 19-21 May 2010The goals of South Africa’s e-Education White paper are for every school learner in the country to be ICT capable by 2013 and for teachers to use information and communication technology (ICT) to enhance teaching and learning. Many initiatives have been undertaken to provide schools with computer labs and infrastructure in order to reach these goals, with varying degrees of success. In the meanwhile, the ICT landscape in South Africa and worldwide has changed dramatically with the advent of the cell phone and its almost ubiquitous penetration into all levels of society, especially amongst the youth. Indigenous services that utilise this new ICT platform have emerged, that specifically target the youth and address very South-African issues, such as affordability. One such platform is MXit, a mobile instant messaging platform that enables real time text-based chatting between users at a fraction of the price of an SMS. This paper discusses the innovative use of MXit as a teaching and learning platform by the Meraka Institute and others and suggests a pragmatic framework for integrating cell phones as ICT tools into the education system in South Africa.enDigital divideMobile instant messagingMlearningMXitICT educationInformation communicationTechnology communicationIST Africa 2010Conference PresentationFord, M., & Botha, A. (2010). Pragmatic framework for integrating ICT into education in South Africa. The authors. http://hdl.handle.net/10204/4098Ford, M, and Adèle Botha. "Pragmatic framework for integrating ICT into education in South Africa." (2010): http://hdl.handle.net/10204/4098Ford M, Botha A, Pragmatic framework for integrating ICT into education in South Africa; The authors; 2010. http://hdl.handle.net/10204/4098 .TY - Conference Presentation AU - Ford, M AU - Botha, Adèle AB - The goals of South Africa’s e-Education White paper are for every school learner in the country to be ICT capable by 2013 and for teachers to use information and communication technology (ICT) to enhance teaching and learning. Many initiatives have been undertaken to provide schools with computer labs and infrastructure in order to reach these goals, with varying degrees of success. In the meanwhile, the ICT landscape in South Africa and worldwide has changed dramatically with the advent of the cell phone and its almost ubiquitous penetration into all levels of society, especially amongst the youth. Indigenous services that utilise this new ICT platform have emerged, that specifically target the youth and address very South-African issues, such as affordability. One such platform is MXit, a mobile instant messaging platform that enables real time text-based chatting between users at a fraction of the price of an SMS. This paper discusses the innovative use of MXit as a teaching and learning platform by the Meraka Institute and others and suggests a pragmatic framework for integrating cell phones as ICT tools into the education system in South Africa. DA - 2010-05 DB - ResearchSpace DP - CSIR KW - Digital divide KW - Mobile instant messaging KW - Mlearning KW - MXit KW - ICT education KW - Information communication KW - Technology communication KW - IST Africa 2010 LK - https://researchspace.csir.co.za PY - 2010 SM - 978-1-905824-15-1 T1 - Pragmatic framework for integrating ICT into education in South Africa TI - Pragmatic framework for integrating ICT into education in South Africa UR - http://hdl.handle.net/10204/4098 ER -