Lecturers at North West University (NWU) and Rhodes University (RU) have talked about some their experiences and challenges with the rollout of online teaching and learning at their respective institutions.
Prof Barry Hanyane of NWU’s faculty of humanities’ school of social and government studies‚ said the institution’s e-learning medium and “The Chatroom” had allowed him to communicate with students during the lockdown.
“ WU has an existing platform of eFundi as an e-learning medium which allows interaction with students remotely‚” said Hanyane. “Critical functions within the system such as ‘The Chatroom’ can be utilised to reach out to students.”
Hanyane was quick to add that these e-learning methods of communicating with students came with their own difficulties.
“Some students from disadvantaged backgrounds may find access to these functions impossible, given their socioeconomic status.”
For Paloma Giustizieri‚ a first-year journalism and media studies tutor at Rhodes‚ WhatsApp has been her method of communication with students during this phase of online teaching and learning.
She said tutors had been in communication with their course co-ordinators constantly and had been mainly communicating with them and students via WhatsApp.
“We’ve been trying to update each other and be on the same page through texting and I’ve managed to call each of my tutlings [students] at least once since the beginning of this term to fully explain things to them‚” Giustizieri said.
Like Hanyane‚ she said there were challenges.
“Challenges have been a lack of data. Some students see important messages a few days later and the communication lines are not very clear‚” she said.
In her department‚ course co-ordinators had set up assignments and tasks each week for the students to complete.
Students then submitted their work via e-mail and the tutors had a few days to get back to them with feedback.
She said the journalism department at Rhodes was communicating well, “from my own experience”.
“However‚ not all departments are on the same page and students are suffering because their voices and needs are not being heard.
“The process is slow and requires patience to fully gain anything out of the experience.”
Similarly‚ first-year politics tutor Tsholofelo Manamela‚ also at Rhodes‚ says the nature of her job meant she was the first go-to person for students who needed help with their course work under normal circumstances‚ and that this move to remote learning would double that demand.
“The guidelines that have been put in place have not changed much‚ because there is an understanding that with online learning, students are going to go at the pace that they can go due to an array of reasons‚ and in turn the conditions for DP removal [due performance — what students avoid otherwise they are unable to sit for the exams] have been altered accordingly‚” Manamela said.
She said she planned to give her students learning plans and hoped that would help keep them up to date with what was being taught and when.
For students who had yet to receive the needed learning and teaching devices and mobile data‚ her plan was to keep them in the loop via phone calls.
“The most important thing is consistency‚ supporting them and working according to a good work schedule‚ which is what I am trying to do right now‚” she said.
NWU ran its orientation of online teaching and learning from April 17-30. Actual online classes with assessments began on May 4.
Rhodes had its online teaching and learning orientation phase from April 20-30. Online classes involving assessments began on May 4.
When the coronavirus pandemic hit SA‚ minister of higher education‚ training‚ science and innovation Blade Nzimande ordered institutions of higher learning to go on early recess from March 17.
Since then‚ SA has been on nationwide lockdown‚ starting on March 27‚ affecting the resumption of the second quarter of the 2020 academic year.
This led to institutions exploring the route of e-learning to salvage the year.
Last Thursday‚ Nzimande said his department had resolved not to resume campus-based academic activity at any university or TVET college‚ both public and private‚ during level 4 lockdown.
By Mpho Koko and Amina Asma — TimesLIVE
