IN the previous installment, I did emphasise the importance of recognising technology as a tool and not as a gadget to be adored like a god.
The point was not to downplay the role of technology.
Rather I was only reminding the people not to put the horse before the cart. And to show how technology is key to our lives, in this installment I am going to underscore the importance of digital communication in the realm of quality assurance in Africa’s higher education.
The need for developing creative and effective communication strategies for socio-economic transformation could never be timelier than now; more so at a time when Zimbabweans are battling left, right and centre to lift the economy from potential extinction.
This article pays special attention to ‘communication strategies for socio-economic transformation’.
As all of you may be aware, education is the catalyst for development as it affects all aspects of human endeavour, being the chief vehicle for socialisation of values, impartation of skills and cultivation of appropriate attitudes.
It is because of this fundamental role of education in development that I shall confine my discussion to the relevance of this theme to quality assurance.
The premise of my argument is clearly that; given the explosion of information as a result of the digital age, what content, from a quality assurance point of view, must be managed and communicated to bring about Zimbabwe’s economic turn-around?
Certainly, the digital era is characterised by technology which has potential to increase speed and breadth of knowledge turnover within the economy of any society.
The digital era can be seen as development of an evolutionary system in which knowledge turnover is not only very high, but also increasingly out of the control of humans, making it increasingly imperative to develop and apply effective scientific methods of information management and control.
You will agree with me that while technology is a blessing, it can also be a curse if it outpaces human faculty.
Apparently this is often the case in a world where technology gallops while mankind jogs behind.
Our understanding of knowledge embedded within human genome about how we relate to the world, generated in association with technology and freely available on the Internet, raises questions about our assumptions of control.
The social and economic implications of the Digital Era are huge and will increase as technological functionality becomes more knowledge-based.
Consequently, our everyday lives and understanding of ourselves become more linked to it, while technology itself takes on a ‘life’ of its own.
Understanding the Digital Era in terms of evolution will, therefore, help ensure we build sustainable socio-economic relationships both with technology and with advanced knowledge that technology helps us create.
At the centre of information science is the role of library systems in our learning institutions all the way from kindergarten to university.
The role of libraries in information collection, storage, management, control and dissemination cannot be overstated.
In this Digital Era, ‘management’ has become a magic word in librarianship.
In recent years attention has increasingly been given to the need to analyse the ways in which a librarian can more effectively carry out his/her role of making resources available to consumers.
New factors have arisen which require a librarian to take cognisance of matters which are more demanding of administrative acumen than was previously the case.
One primary factor is, of course, introduction of computer-based procedures to facilitate practical bibliographical work and thereby improve technical efficiency of a library.
Another important factor is the recent evolution of industrial relations practices which require a librarian to become familiar with the legislation concerning staff relationships which dominates the contemporary scene to an extent not hitherto envisaged.
However, the assumption is that librarians never failed to recognise need for satisfactory relationships with their staff in the interest of making their libraries happy places to work therefore making them effective in providing the human and physical environment in which their resources could be exploited.
One must also take into account the adoption of new methodologies such as the introduction of feasibility studies to determine the best methods of achieving particular aims and of surveys designed to measure the success of individual programmes in fulfilling their purposes.
Of course to achieve efficiency and effectiveness there are obvious managerial skills that are a must for managers of information.
Here I am talking about technical skills, human skills, communication and presentation skills, planning and time-management skills, and leadership skills which involve projection of appropriate personality, perception and attitudes.
I am also talking about organisation and decision-making skills.