Undergraduate Students’ Experiences with Electronic Learning Platforms During the Covid 19 Pandemic at a Rural-Based Tertiary Institution in South Africa

Abstract

The Covid-19 pandemic necessitated a transformative shift in the South African education sector, compelling universities to adopt electronic learning platforms (E-LPs) as the primary mode of delivering lectures during the pandemic. However, there is a dearth of systematic literature documenting the implications of migration to this electronic based model for undergraduate teaching and learning in South African rural-based universities. Addressing this research gap, this qualitative study drew on transitional distance theory (TDT) to identify the challenges associated with electronic learning (e-learning). The study also examined the implications of these challenges for teaching and learning, based on experiences of 30 purposefully selected undergraduate students at the University of Venda, in the rural Limpopo province of South Africa. A thematic narrative analysis of the students’ experiences shows three major challenges as encapsulating the use of E LPs: practical unpreparedness and lack of skills needed for online learning; complicated domestic obligations; and inefficient interactions with lecturers and peers, which were limited by lack of physical contact. These findings add to the growing body of literature on the impact of Covid-19 on learning at institutions of higher learning in South Africa. The findings have implications for discussions on gender inequality in the domestic sphere in South Africa, as well as the material disparities between traditionally White universities and rural-based universities in South Africa. Based on these findings, it is recommended that rural-based tertiary institutions in South Africa implement effective strategies to enhance students’ computer skills and familiarize them with E LPs at the early stages of their tertiary education.