Abstract:
Prior to the occurrence of the global COVID-19 pandemic, some
African higher education institutions had already adopted a hybridmode
for all their programmes, including distance education.
Policies and strategies were put in place to improve the practices,
skills and competencies of staff and students. However, the closure
of education institutions globally due to the pandemic resulted in
the rethinking of current education practices and highlighted the
inherent inequalities in the system. This baseline qualitative study,
underpinned by the Affordance theory, explores the appropriateness
of education responses that were utilised and interrogates the
readiness of educators for e-Learning during the pandemic. The
participants were purposively selected educators (n=11) from
distance and contact African institutions. The study sought to
contribute to the reconceptualisation of policies and strategies
for distance education provision using e-Learning approaches,
which have now become a mainstream reality for the post-school
education and training (PSET) sector. Data were collected through
individual semi-structured interviews. Thematic analysis was
applied to the rich data. The findings identified the successes and
shortcomings of facilitating e-Learning at a distance during the
pandemic. Some participants felt ill-prepared for the extent of work
required to be well equipped to use this approach. In many cases, it was felt that support strategies could have been better structured.
Further analysis highlighted possible restructuring that should
occur to meet the needs of educators in the twenty-first century and
to survive any future pandemics through greater use of e-Learning.
Evidence-based recommendations for policies are discussed.
