Transforming Rural Higher Education for the Postdigital Era

Abstract

Postdigital education has become a major subject receiving attention and consideration from various perspectives. For instance, there are crucial issues revolving around the meaning of “postdigital” in the context of education with regard to its implications for educational research and practice and its impact on the learning spaces of higher education, among other issues. However, the focus has been on education in general without any specific focus on rural higher education. Thus, the need to consider rural higher education in the era of postdigital education is pivotal, especially considering its peculiar nature. Hence, this study explores the transformation of rural higher education to fit into the postdigital era through the use of a review method. Relevant literature was reviewed from which themes were generated in the presentation of findings. The findings of the study show, among others, that there are misconceptions regarding the postdigital era and postdigital education—technologies taking over the entire teaching and learning spaces. However, the study also showed that, for rural higher education in the postdigital era, hybridity is pivotal. The study recommends, among other things, that policies promoting hybridity and discouraging the notion of technologies taking over the entire teaching and learning spaces should be made and implemented.