eLearning at Rhodes University - a case study

Rhodes University is located in a small city in South Africa. It has a modern information and communication technology (ICT) infrastructure that is maintained through a variety of ICT-based university committees. Notwithstanding this, the use of eLearning on campus is limited, and few mechanisms exist to promote or support its implementation. This is largely a result of the residential nature of the campus, traditionalism, and the volatile nature of current higher educational (HE) policies within South Africa. However, a core group of enthusiasts have spearheaded a number of initiatives over the past five years with limited institutional support. This paper presents the details of initiatives, university-wide and in the Department of Information Systems, to expose academic staff at the university to eLearning and describes the experience gained in the process.