Exploring the Experiences of Rural College Students in a Global Village
Keywords:
Global Village. Information and Communications Technology. Information Technology. Training and Vocational Education and Training College. Computer Illiterate. Social Media Questionnaire ToolAbstract
For the past few years, the concept of the world becoming a ‘global village’, as a result of much reliance on information technology (IT) has taken centre stage in the language and works of many people. The concept has caught up well with people in developed countries but in the developing countries, the same may only be said for those blessed to be residing in the urban centres. The purpose of this research is to get into the world of first semester students of Esayidi Technical and Vocational Education and Training College (Umzimkhulu Campus) in order to explore their experiences in a global village and establish the extent they use IT tools for communication and educational purposes. An explorative survey research approach was used to explore the experiences of the forty participants employed for this study. The participants were recruited by means of the lottery sampling system and the social media questionnaire tool was used to collect data from them which was descriptively analysed. Findings from the study indicated that the participants in this study mostly resided and schooled in rural areas so had not been exposed to the concept of a global village but were gradually making use of ICT tools for communication and educational purposes since enrolling at the college.
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