Exploring technology as enabler for sustainable teaching and learning during the Covid-19 pandemic at a university in South Africa

Abstract

This paper discusses the use of technology as enabler for sustaining teaching and learning by reviewing various local and international publications. Since the outbreak of the coronavirus (Covid-19) in 2020, the Departments of Basic and Higher Education in South Africa ordered all institutions of learning to shut down and start using online education as a substitute for face-to-face teaching and learning processes. [...]what were educators' and students' experiences and attitudes towards the use of technology as enabler for sustaining teaching and learning during the Covid-19 pandemic? Digital technology played a significant role in enabling teachers to teach students at a distance, using tools that enable both synchronous and asynchronous communication with whole class, groups and individual children or young people, access to learning materials, and interactive and collaborative activities (Starkey et al., 2021). Furthermore, the Covid-19 pandemic presented opportunities and challenges to all educational institutions, regardless of their nature (Fowler, 2020). Besides the social and economic challenges inherent there, lecturers and students also faced personal challenges such as lack of access to internet connectivity, lack of equipment for online learning, and unreliable power supply (Mahaye, 2020).