Online Learning Amidst COVID-19 Emergency: A Case of the University of Malawi’s School of Education

Abstract

This paper explores faculty members’ concerns and level of preparedness for open and distance learning (ODL) at the University of Malawi’s School of Education during the recent Covid-19 pandemic within a context that considers ODL as a means of mitigating the impact of the pandemic on teaching and learning. Data were gathered through semi-structured interviews with four experienced academic leaders within the school of education. The Concerns Based Adoption Model (CBAM), particularly stages of concerns, served as a framework to understand the faculty’s concerns about the implementation of ODL initiatives. Inductive and deductive analysis approaches were used to analyse the interview transcripts to identify emerging themes. Deductive analysis revealed that faculty members expressed several concerns such as awareness, informational, as well as consequences concerns as they talked about their feelings and attitudes towards the implementation of ODL. Inductive analysis on the other hand revealed that faculty members’ perceptions such as minimal preparation, negative orientations, and lack of policy awareness hamper the implementation of ODL. These findings underscore the importance of members’ orientation change to ensure effective implementation of ODL in contexts like the institution under study. We discuss these and propose that professional development could help members develop positive attitudes towards ODL.

Analysing a Transnational Advocacy Network of Internet Data Affordability in Malawi

“…The implications for symbolic politics were demonstrated in events for COVID-19 lockdown and public demonstrations. Other scholars have noted that the COVID-19 pandemic was also driving digital transformation in societies (Maseko, Gondwe, Winiko & Chiziwa, 2021;Munthali, George & Xuelian, 2020). The findings showed that the government was compelled to consider the reduction of the cost of Internet data because it had implemented the COVID-19 lockdown and was required to support the use of ICTs.…”

“…One of contributing factors could be rising of transit capacity costs which service providers in landlocked countries like Malawi incur (A4AI, 2021). Discussions on the recent causes high cost of internet services are missing in literature despite other studies mentioning the issue of internet cost (Bichler, 2008b;Maseko, Gondwe, Winiko & Chiziwa, 2021). To the knowledge of the author, studies that have analysed internet cost in detail and how public discussions influence government policies and telecommunication sector regulations are missing.…”

“…Issues of internet cost have been raised in online discussion groups and reported in media. However, to the knowledge of the author, scholars mention in passing the problem of high internet cost (see Banda, 2020;Bichler, 2008;Chaputula, 2012;Makoza, 2021;Maseko, Gondwe, Winiko & Chiziwa, 2021). The studies have not analysed how exchanges and discussion on cost of internet influence the decisions of government, telecommunications regulator and mobile network operators to address the cost of internet in Malawi.…”

“…Some of these activities were accessed via online platforms e.g. video conferencing, social platforms, e-learning and virtual tutoring systems as preventive measures to minimise face to face contact (Banda, Dube, Brumfield, Crampin, Reniers, Amoah & Helleringer, 2021;Maseko, Gondwe, Winiko & Chiziwa, 2021). However, some people were failing to interact and access ICT enabled services due to the high cost of internet data bundles (Munthali, George & Xuelian, 2020).…”