Prospects and pitfalls associated with implementing blended learning in rural-based higher education institutions in Southern Africa

Adu

et al. 2021

RESSAT

Although the global impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on the education and mental health of the university environment is relatively unknown, it is expected to be very significant considering the high incidence of emotional reactions amongst university students and staff. While fears around COVID-19 exposure, anxieties, and the challenges of support normalize stress, anxiety, and depression as emotional reactions in the face of the pandemic, this psychosocial impact has negative consequences for the university community. Thus, in order to salvage the higher education institutions from the debilitating effects of the pandemic, there is a clear need to safeguard the welfare of students and staff. Hence, it becomes vital to examine the experience of members of the university community during the COVID-19 crisis in order to develop measures and implement interventions that will assist in navigating psychosocial challenges. To achieve this objective, the study employed a mixed-method research approach in which data was collected using web-based survey and online interviews. Concurrent triangulation sampling technique was employed to select a sample of fifteen (15) students, five (5) university managers, and five (5) lecturers – making twenty-five (25) respondents at each of the two universities, thus making a cumulative total of fifty (50) at two (2) rural universities in the Eastern Cape Province, South Africa. Thus, qualitative and quantitative data collected were analysed concurrently by first reporting the qualitative findings and then comparing them to the quantitative findings. Findings revealed that although the university environment traditionally provided opportunities for strengthening social ties which satisfy the universal need to belong to a community, the COVID-19 pandemic has altered rural university life, thus, significantly impacting on psychosocial wellbeing. The study recommends that rural institutions must facilitate psychosocial wellness programming with the assistance of wider stakeholders such as the government and the private sector who can assist in financing this initiative.

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

COVID-19 induced psychosocial challenges in South African higher education: Experiences of staff and students at two rural universities

Adu

et al. 2021

RESSAT

“…While the adoption of online technologies was lauded as the solution to educational challenges that confronted higher education in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, the developing world continues to struggle in the adoption of technologies in learning and assessment (Daniels, Geogan & Parker, 2021;Muhuro & Kang'ethe, 2021). It is contended that teaching, learning and assessment have been difficult to adapt in the developing world and poor communities owing to challenges such as lack of resources, lack of training, lack of adequate infrastructure and many other factors (Mncube, Mutongoza & Olawale, 2021;Guangul et al, 2020).…”

Section: Problem Statementmentioning

confidence: 99%

Safeguarding academic integrity in the face of emergency remote teaching and learning in developing countries

2022

pie

With the operationalisation of lockdowns and restrictions on public gatherings, education systems across the entire globe were confronted with an urgent need to reconsider alternative forms of teaching, learning and assessment. Some institutions in developing countries were especially hard-hit by the shift owing to inadequacies in training and infrastructure because unlike their more developed counterparts who had already made inroads into adopting online technologies, some institutions in the developing world had no such technologies in place. As such, the shift to online learning was rushed and somewhat a "learning on the job" experience for students and educators. While remote online teaching, learning and assessment are novel experiences for many higher education institutions, developing countries are incessantly presented with many challenges, particularly when safeguarding academic integrity. Invigilated assessments, which are often considered more secure, are not an option given the current situation, thus detecting any cheating would be significantly challenging. As a result, this study examined assessment security in the digital domain and critically evaluated the practices to safeguard academic integrity in developing countries across three Southern African universities, including associated challenges. Underpinned by the pragmatist paradigm, the study employed a mixed-methods research approach that utilised in-depth qualitative and quantitative data from university managers, lecturers and students to investigate how academic integrity is safeguarded in the advent of online learning. Our findings revealed that although the transition to online learning and assessment was abrupt, higher education institutions have generated creative strategies to secure and ensure the continuity of learning and assessment. Such strategies include administering several versions of the same examination, as well as the use of "text-matching" software to detect the originality of work done by students. Based on the findings of the study, it was recommended that to guarantee the authenticity of online assessment, institutions must ensure that assessment practices relate to real-world needs and the context in which students can apply acquired knowledge.

“…The education sector has not been impervious to the menacing effects which continue to plummet prospects of quality education -particularly in poor and rural communities (Gunter et al, 2020;Hodges et al, 2020;Naidu, 2020). While the majority of developing countries around the world have been heavily reliant on traditional methods of classroom-based instruction methods which demand classroom presence in order to satisfy the goal of teaching, the 'new normal' has brought to the fore the need for alternative methods of instruction (Motala & Menon, 2020;Roy, 2020;Williamson et al, 2020;Muhuro & Kang'ethe, 2021). The centrality of leadership is thus brought to the fore by the need to rebuild broken academic practices in communities where online learning was inaccessible or indeed accessible to a limited extent (Chinembiri, 2020;Roy, 2020;Wright, 2020).…”

Section: Statement Of the Problemmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Accordingly, the teaching and learning process of over 1.5 billion learners and students (about 72% of children and youth in 10.46303/ressat.2021.35 education institutions), were affected as of May 2020 (UNESCO, 2020). In order to rescue teaching and learning during the COVID-19-induced disruptions, education institutions worldwide were forced to abruptly adopt online learning models (Muhuro & Kang'ethe, 2021). The impact of this abrupt transformation was most acute in the developing world where institutions and communities were underprepared owing to the lack of infrastructure that is essential for online pedagogies and a lack of financing for this transformation (Dube, 2020;Mncube et al, 2021).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…A prominent concern was the widening of inequalities in education as ochestrated by the emergency adoption of online learning. Rural institutions and schools lamented the lack of adequate resources in coparison with their more urban counterparts (Dube, 2020;Muhuro & Kang'ethe, 2021). Crises oftentimes reveal the centrality of leadership in providing guidnce to avert dangers which threaten the continuity of organizations globally (Bundy et al, 2017).…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

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Chronicling school principals’ experiences on school management in the context of COVID-19 stringency

Mzilikazi

2021

RESSAT

The COVID-19 pandemic experience has brought to the forefront the importance of leadership as institutions across the world are now trying to emerge from hibernation and rebuild broken academic practices. As such, this study sought to examine school principals’ experiences on school management in the context of COVID-19 stringency in four rural schools in the Eastern Cape Province of South Africa. Underpinned by a qualitative research approach, the study employed a case study design in which semi-structured interviews were used to collect data from four rural school principals who had been purposively sampled. Findings of the study revealed that in order to combat challenges associated with teaching and learning, school principals engaged among other things, in mobilization of resources, engendering a technological culture among teachers, ensuring effective delivery of content. We further ascertained that although hamstrung by resource inadequacies, school principals in rural schools promoted school safety by ensuring transparent and effective communication, striving for the provision of safe and adequate facilities, among other things. Finally, our study also revealed that rural school principals ensured clear and consistent communication with staff, provided psychosocial assistance to staff members, and adapted performance and workload expectations.