Teaching and Learning in the New Normal: Opportunities and Challenges of Distance Learning Amid COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

To continue with teaching and learning during the novel coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, most tertiary institutions have adopted distance learning. The adoption of distance learning is not without its limitations and challenges which includes limited network coverage and lack of gadgets among the students. Due to the COVID-19, we perceived the need to analyse the opportunities and pitfalls of distance education in Africa. This paper reviews the opportunities and pitfalls of integrating emerging technologies for distance learning during the COVID-19 pandemic. Taking into consideration the categories and the barriers; the challenges faced by tertiary institutions can be categorized to include technological challenges, pedagogical challenges and social challenges. Also, distance education encourages student-centred learning and self-learning. It offers a lot of opportunities to tertiary institutions which includes scalability, research innovations, flexible learning, diversity, remote students support, adjustment of assessment methods, innovation opportunity, offer non-academic courses, change of pedagogical policies.