Prospects of Blended Learning for the Post-COVID-19 Higher Education: The Instructors’ Perspectives at a University in South Africa

Abstract

The study explored the prospects of the blended learning approach for post-COVID-19 higher education from the perspectives of instructors at a university in the Eastern Cape, South Africa. The study was qualitative and adopted the interpretative phenomenological analysis (IPA) design. Using the purposive sampling method, a sample of twenty-eight academics was drawn from one university. Data were collected through semi-structured interviews and thematically analysed. The findings revealed that blended learning has prospects for higher education in the post-COVID-19 context; such as accommodating vulnerable students without access to the internet and devices, increasing use of technologies for teaching and learning, facilitation of teaching and learning at any time and place, and solving problems of classroom overcrowding, increasing opportunities for higher education enrolment, breaking communication barriers between university instructors and students, and solving problems of truancy and absence of students and lecturers during the face-to-face lecture hours. In light of these findings, this study concluded that the prospects of blended learning should be harnessed for higher education in the post-COVID-19 context. The present study also considered some recommendations for making the blended learning approach effective in attaining higher education goals. These included increasing investment in the use of technologies for teaching and learning; and ensuring that there is continuous training of instructors in the use of emerging technologies for educational purposes while government at all levels continues to support HEIs for the implementation of the BL delivery system. Keywords: Blended learning, Online learning, Face-to-face learning, Higher education, University instructors, COVID-19 lockdown