Int. J. Knowledge and Learning, Vol. 3, Nos. 2/3, 2007 171 Copyright © 2007 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd. Enabling and constraining ICT practice in secondary schools: case studies in South Africa Cheryl Hodgkinson-Williams, Ingrid Siebörger* and Alfredo Terzoli Departments of Education and Computer Science, Rhodes University, P.O. Box 94, Grahamstown 6140, South Africa Fax: +27-46-636-1915 E-mail: c.hodgkinson@ru.ac.za E-mail: i.siebörger@ru.ac.za E-mail: a.terzoli@ru.ac.za *Corresponding author Abstract: The use of Information Communication Technology (ICT) in education is being seen as a way of widening access to education, particularly in developing countries. This paper addresses the issue of ICT implementation in secondary schools and focuses specifically on the practices that enable or constrain the successful implementation of ICT for teaching and learning activities. It reflects upon the lessons learned from a collective case study undertaken in 12 of the 13 secondary schools in Grahamstown in the Eastern Cape in South Africa. School principals and designated IT teachers were interviewed and on-site infrastructure audits conducted. This paper identifies a number of key enabling and constraining factors surrounding practical issues, including sufficient hardware, appropriate software and affordable connectivity, sufficient technical support and training, policy-related issues such as the role of national, provincial and school policy, the vital contribution of principal leadership and champion teachers as well as ongoing teacher professional development coupled with a willingness to change. Keywords: information communication technology; ICT; secondary schools; case study; enabling factors; constraining factors; policy; principal leadership; teacher professional development. Reference to this paper should be made as follows: Hodgkinson-Williams, C., Siebörger, I. and Terzoli, A. (2007) ‘Enabling and constraining ICT practice in secondary schools: case studies in South Africa’, Int. J. Knowledge and Learning, Vol. 3, Nos. 2/3, pp.171–190. Biographical notes: Cheryl Hodgkinson-Williams is a Professor in the Department of Education at Rhodes University in Grahamstown South Africa. Her major areas of interest are integration of ICT into teaching and learning activities in higher education and at school level. Ingrid Siebörger is a Research Assistant in the Telkom Centre of Excellence in the Department of Computer Science at Rhodes University. Her research interests include the use of ICTs in education and affordable networking. Alfredo Terzoli is the Project Director of the Telkom Centre of Excellence in the Department of Computer Science at Rhodes University. His main areas of interest are next generation help systems and real-time multimedia