Integrating Technology in Higher Education

The field of education in general and the higher education sector in particular is reaching a point at which Science and Technology is playing a vital role. In nearly every phase of the educational process, technology, especially Information and Communication Technology (ICT), plays an important role. The advent of internet has greatly enhanced the role of ICT in instructional design and delivery. This has impacted positively on the Higher Education Sector in Zimbabwe. Tertiary institutions use computers and the internet extensively to improve the quality of teaching as well as in research. This paper focuses on how the integration of ICT into teaching has impacted on the higher education sector in Zimbabwe. It highlights the various impacts of ICT on contemporary Higher education practices and explores potential future developments. The paper suggests the fact that the higher education teacher generally operates in an ICT rich environment can be key in enhancing the capacity of the higher education teacher to engage positively, collaboratively and critically with the growth of learning technologies. It also provides a brief analysis of policy developments on issues such as e-education. Data was collected mainly through a review of recent selected Zimbabwean and international teaching and learning practice which is increasingly becoming ICT based. Reference is also made to wide debates about the enhancement of student achievement through the use ICT in education. The findings show that there are a number of benefits accrued from the use of ICT in instructional design and delivery in the higher education sector. Successful implementation of ICT backed instructional design requires linking teaching activities to the various software applications used for online learning. Embedding ICT i