https://www.journals.ac.za/index.php/sajhe/article/view/6404

Recently, there has been increased popularity in the use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) at all levels of education globally and in southern Africa. This situation results from improved access to technologies and the transformative agency possible in the use of ICT in education. In Malawi, the use of ICT in education is more prominent in higher education settings than in the lower levels of education because of the issue of accessibility and proficiency. Even so, the larger discourse on ICT use in higher education pertains to the ‘typical’ student. There is less focus on how ICT can mediate inclusive learning for students with disabilities. Research that has attempted to study the use of ICT among higher education students with disabilities in Malawi focuses on the convenience the ICT brings to such students. Globally, studies agree that ICT presents practical opportunities for implementing inclusive education at all levels of education. These opportunities are largely missed in the current Malawian education setting. From our experiences, we attribute this situation to the lack of connection between ICT and inclusivity. Therefore, this article conceptualises the use of ICT in higher education for inclusivity from a learning instead of convenience perspective. Through our critical reflections as educators in Malawian higher education institutions, we employ Vygotsky’s theoretical framework of mediation and mediating tools to argue that ICT (mediating tool) can facilitate inclusive learning for higher education students with disabilities if used in a manner that influences the subject (students with disabilities) to engage with the object (learning process).