Challenges Facing Online Teaching and Learning in African Higher Education Institutions: Empirical Review

Abstract

Increasing demand for higher education coupled with globalization has led to the adoption of online teaching and learning to cope with the growing number of students. Even though online teaching and learning have advantages, some challenges bedevil its smooth implementation. The purpose of this article was to present a literature review of the challenges that higher education institutions in Africa face concerning online teaching and learning. The method that was employed in the review was the scoping review method. Empirical studies from 25 African countries published between 2000 and 2023 were assembled and reviewed. In all, 65 studies were reviewed in terms of three themes namely: 1) level of readiness/preparedness for online teaching and learning 2) access and participation in online teaching and learning, and 3) effectiveness of online teaching and learning. The results suggest that most of the challenges confronting online teaching and learning in African higher education institutions include inadequate preparation/readiness to adopt an online mode of teaching and learning. Issues of lack of readiness include inadequate ICT infrastructure, low levels of ICT literacy among students and teachers, weak pedagogical skills of teachers, and weak institutional policy framework to drive online teaching and learning. The results further revealed that access and participation of students in online teaching and learning in most parts of Africa are poor due to poor internet connectivity, lack of electricity, lack of access devices such as laptops and smartphones as well as higher cost of data. The review additionally revealed issues of effectiveness such as limited collaboration and interaction among participants in the e-teaching and learning, inability to engage in practical work such as laboratory practical and some mathematical computations. Other issues discovered include poor pedagogical skills of teachers. These challenges must be addressed to enable African higher education institutions catch up with the rest of the world in the adoption and utilization of ICT in teaching and learning.<p> </p><p><strong> Article visualizations:</strong></p><p><img src="/-counters-/soc/0075/a.php" alt="Hit counter" /></p>