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Purpose – The chapter reports on a national indigenous games research project and follows the socio-political construction of indigenous games as a sporting code and the post-colonial identity dynamics within South Africa.

Design/methodology/approach – Researchers from 11 tertiary institutions in South Africa collaborated to capture 536 ‘indigenous’ game and sporting activities from 170 communities. An inductive research approach informed an emic typology, with further analysis of the 20 most popular indigenous games (and their variations). This analysis demonstrated hegemonic gender and ethnic layering within the context of participation, as well as in the broader South African society. The institutionalisation of selected indigenous games by Sport and Recreation South Africa and the implementation thereof in the Siyadlala programme (community-based mass participation programme), afforded widespread participation to meet a human rights framework.

Findings – In accordance to the strategic outcomes of the national department, this initiative provided access to sport and recreation, especially for the previously ‘disadvantaged’ communities who experienced high levels of exclusion during the Apartheid years (1948–1994). This politically informed intervention followed a political agenda of national identity association in celebrating the African heritage and ‘unity through diversity’. Standardisation of rules and the re-invention of some games for local, national and international festivals along the line of competitive sport offered contradicting messages and practices.

Originality/value – The underlying discourses of post-colonial resistance, national identity formation and socio-political agendas are interrogated.

This chapter introduces an emerging innovative technology known as MAT (Media Annotation Tool). MAT is an online tool that allows students to annotate video, thus improving student engagement and reflection. This chapter outlines the history of the development of this tool and provides analysis of data provided from a range of course integrations. From idea inception the goal was to render video active and collaborative for learning rather than traditional passive learning. In the multiple-case study it was found that students reported higher engagement/satisfaction with MAT in cases where there was learner-to-learner collaboration, teacher feedback and assessment linkage. This chapter focuses on the undergraduate cases of the study, from the disciplines of teacher education, medical radiation and chiropractic, and also references a postgraduate case from the discipline of law. The data from these cases points to the success of MAT as dependent on two key factors: learning design and the technical effectiveness of the MAT technology.

This chapter explores the perceptions that custodians of African cultures such as parents, grand-parents, village chiefs, and other community leaders hold regarding what higher education institutions ought to achieve for their children, and the extent to which these final ends are being, or can be, achieved through teaching and learning in cyberspace. Using the African context of Botswana as a reference point, the chapter situates learning and teaching practices online in the context of culture. After exploring the literature on cultural worldviews, African expectations of higher education, and online pedagogy and technology, the chapter documents the understandings and perceptions of the final ends that higher education institutions ought to pursue held by 39 village chiefs, community leaders, and parents from different cultural groups and communities. Evidence from phenomenological interviews revealed that Africans held that Afro-communal purposes for higher education in which promoting virtue, supporting culture, facilitating cooperation, and contributing to socio-economic development were seen as the paramount final ends for higher education institutions. The findings support Metz’s (2019) theoretical model of the ends of African higher education institutions. The chapter argues that, for online pedagogy in African universities and colleges to be successful, it should be grounded in collectivism where emphasis is given to the use of synchronous communication systems for the delivery of learning experiences, pedagogical practices are framed within community of practice, students are exposed to education for morality to foster a deeper sense of being real humans, and a socio-economic development agenda is emphasised.