The development of ICT networks for South African schools

Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) are increasingly considered valuable tools in education, promoting the development of higher cognitive processes and allowing teachers and learners access to a plethora of information. This paper reports on two pilot studies conducted in South Africa in proto-typical previously disadvantaged schools and their surrounding communities. Each pilot study deployed a local loop network within impoverished communities, connecting schools to one another and central services such as email and voice communications. The benefits of these networks were that teachers, learners and the local community had access to information, and communication and collaboration channels, providing potential test beds for investigating the use of computers as mind tools.