Influence of Covid-19 on Students’ Learning: Access and Participation in Higher Education in Southern Africa

Abstract

Recent experiences of institutions in COVID 19 have heightened the need for research on its impact on higher education institutions globally. This article’s authors are from higher learning institutions in Botswana, South Africa and Zambia, which used a blended learning model before COVID 19. The majority of their students used the traditional part of blended learning, depending on the print, postal service, and face-to-face. These students’ access and participation in learning during COVID 19 were negatively affected. Using Digital Equity as a framework, this paper explores the influence of COVID 19 on students’ access and participation in online learning. There seem to be significant disparities in access and participation in high-quality technologies and severe educational inequities. This digital inequality impact calls for civic awareness in digital literacy among the citizenry if the gap between the rural and urban, have and have not digital immigrants and digital natives are to be bridged.

Learning and institutional support for youth in higher education institutions during the COVID-19 pandemic in South Africa

“…The lack of or interrupted electricity may stem from financial challenges brought about by the pandemic or that was prevalent prior to the pandemic (Jaka, 2021). While over 75% of students reported having regular access to electricity in this study, it must be noted that students within the lower (Mphahlele et al, 2021). Some of the limitations of this study are that, firstly, the survey was voluntary, therefore out of 13,119 students who accessed the survey only 7011 students completed the rest of the questionnaire which included items on education and learning.…”

“…Those that relied on living on campus residences or close to campus were forced to return home, where a conducive study space was not available due to overcrowding in the household. This also highlighted students being far from campus and unable to access learning, health, and other services (Mphahlele et al, 2021).…”

Insights into the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic on postgraduate students at a university of technology

“…It is within this milieu that studies pertaining to virtual teaching and learning at higher education institutions (Chung, Subramaniam & Dass, 2020;Lei & So, 2021;Chan, Bista & Allen, 2021), perceptions regarding e-learning (Ana et al, 2020), and the psychological impact of Covid-19 among tertiary students (Batra et al, 2021;Chinna et al, 2021) began to proliferate abroad. In South Africa, several studies have emerged related to the effects of Covid-19 on learning and mental-health well-being (Govender et al, 2021;Onwuegbuzie & Ojo, 2021;Osman & Keevy, 2021;Makhado et al, 2022;Mphahlele et al, 2021;Rwafa-Ponela et al, 2022). However, little exists in the literature on the experiences of postgraduate students (Nasir, Ramli & Som, 2021;King, 2022), particularly in the local context.…”

“You Are Essentially Just a Number”: Discourse Elaboration and Devaluation among Natural Science Students

“…The effects of campus shutdowns are undeniable. For example, universities worldwide were compelled to adopt digital strategies, including eLearning [1,2]. Arguably, the transition to eLearning was easier for developed nations than developing nations due to pre-existing digital infrastructure [3].…”