Reflections on the post COVID-19 teaching and learning: lessons from the emergency transition to online learning at two African universities

Abstract

The COVID-19 restrictions resulted in the most significant disruptions to education in this century. Universities responded differently to the restrictions. For example, some universities in Southern Africa closed and had no academic activities for months. These universities had little online teaching and learning, opting for a phased return to face-to-face teaching and learning. Other universities shifted to online teaching and learning after a short suspension of academic activities. This article reflects on the cases presented by two universities, considering evidence from the literature on the challenges of transition to online teaching and learning, and the affordances of the learner management systems they adopted. The reflections uncovered the fact that although the responses of the two universities were different, the challenges they faced were similar. There are challenges of access to data and devices needed for online teaching and learning, lecturers', and students' struggles to adapt to online teaching and learning, and issues related to the incompatibility of face-to-face pedagogical practices with online teaching and learning. Despite these challenges, the emergency online teaching and learning mastered during the COVID-19 pandemic offer future benefits of lesser workload for staff, increased enrolments, and preparation of students for the fourth industrial revolution. However, universities that quickly return to face-to-face teaching without retaining the good practices developed during the pandemic might not benefit from the lessons learnt and may be unprepared for future disruptions to education.