ICT in education policy and practice in developing countries: South Africa and Chile compared through SITES 2006

This paper presents a comparison between South African and Chilean results on SITES (Second Information Technology in Education Study) 2006 study, aiming to show and discuss both disparities and similarities, and trying to explain them through an analysis of their ICT in Education policies and national contexts. Firstly, these policies and contexts portray national backgrounds and initiatives. Secondly, methodological approach is described (a secondary analysis of the international data consisting in a two-way statistical analysis to calculate significant differences between South African and Chilean results, but also including some specific references to the northern hemisphere countries). Thirdly, main results are shown, organized in five sections: a) access to ICT resources; b) support to teachers; c) teachers professional development; d) principals' pedagogical vision and e) teaching and learning practices. Results of the analysis show that most of the disparities between both countries can be explained through differences in their national contexts and corresponding ICT in education policies (particularly those related to ICI equipment provision and teachers professional development programs) as well as due to their implementation period. These conclusions might be particularly useful to policy-makers in South Africa and Chile, highlighting some areas where improvement plans could be implemented. (C) 2010 Elsevier Ltd. All rights reserved.