scholarly journals Exclusion Reloaded: The Chronicles of Covid-19 on Students with Disabilities in a South African Open Distance Learning Context

2021 ◽  
pp. 137-147
Author(s):  
S.A. Ngubane-Mokiwa ◽  
◽  
J.N. Zongozzi
Keyword(s):  
Distance Learning ◽  
Students With Disabilities ◽  
South African ◽  
Assistive Technologies ◽  
Higher Learning ◽  
Learning Context ◽  
Negative Attitudes ◽  
Online Mode ◽  
Institutions Of Higher Learning ◽  
Learning Platforms

Students with disabilities have been going through different forms of discrimination and exclusion. These include inaccessible learning materials and learning platforms, negative attitudes from lecturers, fellow students and more. This paper comes from a qualitative study that sought to explore how Covid-19 deepened these educational inequalities at an Open Distance Learning institution in South Africa. The results of the study reveal that institutions of higher learning had to quickly adjust their teaching and assessment to online mode. This led to heightened exclusion of students with disabilities as their examinations had to be postponed to second semester due to lack of preparations for special examinations. Students also reported experiencing extra pressure as they had to write double the examinations at the end of the year. Some students reported lack of access to assistive technologies which they normally borrow from the library, this was because the Post Office was not operating during the National Lockdown Level 5. The novel nature of Covid-19 is such that the real barriers it caused on people and students with disabilities in particular and it will keep revealing itself gradually. This paper ends by making recommendations on how an ODL institution could accommodate the needs of students with disabilities to enhance their learning experiences during pandemics or natural disasters.

scholarly journals Student access to and skills in using technology in an open and distance learning context

2012 ◽  
Vol 13 (4) ◽  
pp. 250 ◽  
Author(s):  
Hanlie Liebenberg ◽  
Yuraisha Chetty ◽  
Paul Prinsloo
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Distance Learning ◽  
Digital Divide ◽  
South African ◽  
Learning Context ◽  
Access To Technology ◽  
Critical Issues ◽  
Information And Communication ◽  
Definition Of ◽  
South African Higher Education

<p>Amidst the different challenges facing higher education, and particularly distance education (DE) and open distance learning (ODL), access to information and communication technology (ICT) and students’ abilities to use ICTs are highly contested issues in the South African higher education landscape. While there are various opinions about the scope and definition of the digital divide, increasing empirical evidence questions the uncritical use of the notion of the digital divide in South African and international higher education discourses.</p><p>In the context of the University of South Africa (Unisa) as a mega ODL institution, students’ access to technology and their functional competence are some of the critical issues to consider as Unisa prepares our graduates for an increasingly digital and networked world.</p><p>This paper discusses a descriptive study that investigated students’ access to technology and their capabilities in using technology, within the broader discourse of the “digital divide.” Results support literature that challenges a simplistic understanding of the notion of the “digital divide” and reveal that the nature of access is varied.</p>

scholarly journals A Systematic Review of Challenges in Research Supervision at South African Universities

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
King Costa
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Systematic Review ◽  
South African ◽  
National Development ◽  
Research Capacity ◽  
Higher Learning ◽  
Postgraduate Students ◽  
Research Supervision ◽  
Knowledge Based Economy ◽  
Institutions Of Higher Learning

Postgraduate students in South Africa and other parts of the world, particularly in developing nations struggle to complete the research component of their studies. According to the National Development Plan ( 2013) it has become a requirement for South African institutions to play a pivotal role in knowledge production so as to transform South Africa from a resource-based economy towards a knowledge-based economy.&nbsp; In pursuit of meeting this requirement and further to increase subsidy from the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET), South African institutions of higher learning have been on the drive for recruiting postgraduate students en masse. One of the main problems facing South African institutions is that the number of students enrolled does not correspond to those who graduate at the end of the postgraduate programme study period. &nbsp;This study is a systematic review of literature on challenges in postgraduate supervision and further proposes a possible solution.&nbsp; Five South African institutions of higher learning&rsquo;s postgraduate throughput data is carefully studied and substantiated by previous research on postgraduate supervision challenges on these particular institutions. Study findings present challenges related to research capacity development and burden of supervision at these institutions.&nbsp; Collaborative methods of supervision such as the C.O.S.T.A model are hereby proposed as possible solutions to the current throughput problem in South Africa.

Ethnicity, Tribalism, and Xenophobia in a South African Rural-Based University

2021 ◽  
pp. 152-172
Author(s):  
Mavhungu Abel Mafukata
Keyword(s):  
Social Behavior ◽  
Cultural Diversity ◽  
South African ◽  
Higher Learning ◽  
South African Government ◽  
The South ◽  
African Government ◽  
Ethnic Tensions ◽  
Institutions Of Higher Learning ◽  
The University

The South African government has lobbied institutions of higher learning to recruit academics from across Africa to address the challenge of shortage of skills. Some universities have indeed exploited this opportunity. However, it has emerged that these nationals get to face unbearable anti-social behavior from the locals. Among others, these expatriates contend incidences of tribal-ethnic tensions and xenophobia. Multiple theories were adopted to assist the analysis. The results revealed that there was evidence of tribalism, ethnicity, and incited xenophobia at this university. Furthermore, the study found that the acts of tribalism and ethnicity cut across the university community. The study revealed that deaneries and departments reflected ethnic-tribal orientations depending on the tribes of the respective incumbents in those sections. The university should recognise that it has become a space of cultural diversity where people should be recognized outside the ethnic and tribal framework of locality.

Innovations and Use of Assistive Technologies in Libraries of Institutions of Higher Learning

2021 ◽  
pp. 346-365
Author(s):  
Josiline Phiri Chigwada ◽  
Josephine Dinar Phiri
Keyword(s):  
Social Justice ◽  
Assistive Technology ◽  
Special Needs ◽  
Academic Libraries ◽  
Information Science ◽  
Assistive Technologies ◽  
Higher Learning ◽  
Library And Information Science ◽  
Digital Era ◽  
Institutions Of Higher Learning

Access to information for all is a major component of library and information science in this digital era. Libraries in institutions of higher learning are mandated to provide information to all the patrons regardless of their ability to deal with the issue of inclusivity and social justice. A study on the innovations was conducted specifically for patrons with special needs in academic libraries. Different assistive technological types of equipment were outlined as well as the challenges encountered when using the assistive technology tools and applications. The observation was done at one of the academic libraries, and it was discovered that the library has a disability center that is used by patrons with special needs and manned by a trained librarian. The authors recommend the introduction of such services in all the academic libraries to cater to patrons with special needs.

Challenges Confronting Students With Disabilities in Research Engagement in South Africa

2022 ◽  
pp. 1953-1967
Author(s):  
Sibonokuhle Ndlovu
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
Students With Disabilities ◽  
South African ◽  
Time Allocation ◽  
Negative Attitudes ◽  
Feedback Communication ◽  
Research Engagement ◽  
Adequate Funding ◽  
Physical Barriers ◽  
Underlying Causes

This chapter presents physical barriers, lack of adequate funding, poor supervision, delay in feedback, communication difficulties, negative attitudes, and impairment-related disadvantages as the unique challenges confronted by students with disabilities when doing research in higher education in South Africa. Data were collected through scanning South African and international literature available on Google scholar, ProQuest, in books, journal articles, and online resources. Informed by decolonial theory, the invisible underlying causes of the challenges are discussed. Suitable assistive devices, listening to students with disabilities' voices, and more time allocation are suggested as strategies that could improve research engagement for students with disabilities.

scholarly journals ‘Selfishly backward’ or ‘selflessly forward?’: A white male’s insider perspective on a challenge and opportunity of decolonisation for practical theology in the South African context

2019 ◽  
Vol 75 (2) ◽  
Author(s):  
Alfred R. Brunsdon
Keyword(s):  
South Africa ◽  
South African ◽  
Practical Theology ◽  
Higher Learning ◽  
Mass Action ◽  
South Africans ◽  
White Males ◽  
Institutions Of Higher Learning ◽  
Sitz Im Leben ◽  
African Context

Depending on the Sitz im Leben of practical theologian, the issue of decolonisation will be a greater or lesser reality. For South Africans, decolonisation has become a part of their daily living. Decolonisation can be regarded as a second wave of liberation in the post-apartheid South Africa. Following on the first wave, or even the tsunami of transformation, is the urgent call for the decolonisation of colonial knowledge, structures and epistemologies that endured in the new dispensation. Squarely in the aim of decolonisation efforts are institutions of higher learning and by implication all disciplines taught there, including theology. The non-negotiability of the decolonisation of higher education is evident in the recurring violent protests and mass action, as expressed in different ‘#must-fall’ campaigns over the last few years. This article argues that the current decolonisation drive in South Africa is urging local practical theologians to make an important choice, namely to move ‘selfishly backward’ or ‘selflessly forward’. In other words, maintaining current practices or exploring alternatives in a new context. This choice is embedded in the reality that a significant number of practical theologians in South Africa are white males that may, from a decolonisation perspective, be deemed part of the colonisation legacy. Against this background, the article attempts to provide a reflective insider’s perspective on a challenge and opportunity this creates for practical theology.

scholarly journals Mapping the interplay between open distance learning and internationalisation principles

2012 ◽  
Vol 13 (3) ◽  
pp. 97 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pumela Msweli
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
Distance Learning ◽  
Higher Learning ◽  
Prior Learning ◽  
Design Flexibility ◽  
Barriers To Access ◽  
Academic Activities ◽  
Institutions Of Higher Learning ◽  
University Services ◽  
Teaching Learning

<p><span>Open distance learning is viewed as a system of learning that blends student support, curriculum and instruction design, flexibility of learning provision, removal of barriers to access, credit of prior learning, and other academic activities such as programme delivery and assessment for the purpose of meeting the diverse needs of students. Internationalisation, on the other hand, is viewed as a process that blends intercultural international dimensions into different academic activities, such as teaching, learning, and research, into the purpose and functions of higher education. The common feature in the narratives that define open distance learning and internationalisation is the blending of university services to achieve specific outcomes. This blending feature has instigated an inquiry into identifying the interplay between the two concepts in as far as how the concepts are defined and what their goals and rationale are in the context of higher education institutions. While there are a breadth and variety of interpretations of the two concepts, there are differences and common features. The purpose of such an analysis is to open a new window through which institutions of higher learning can be viewed.</span></p><input id="gwProxy" type="hidden" /><input id="jsProxy" onclick="if(typeof(jsCall)=='function'){jsCall();}else{setTimeout('jsCall()',500);}" type="hidden" /><input id="gwProxy" type="hidden" /><input id="jsProxy" onclick="if(typeof(jsCall)=='function'){jsCall();}else{setTimeout('jsCall()',500);}" type="hidden" />

A Contextualized Model for Virtual Learning in Higher Institutions

2016 ◽  
Vol 7 (4) ◽  
pp. 60-81
Author(s):  
Mmatshuene Anna Segooa ◽  
Billy Mathias Kalema
Keyword(s):  
Developing Countries ◽  
South African ◽  
Virtual Learning ◽  
Higher Learning ◽  
University Of Technology ◽  
Institutions Of Higher Learning ◽  
Using Data ◽  
Mind Set ◽  
Higher Institutions ◽  
Different Levels

This study aimed at designing a contextualized Virtual Learning model that suits South African institutions of higher learning. The study identified factors necessary for contextualizing VLE to fit the student's perspective in developing countries. Literature was reviewed to identify the contextualizing factors, based on which a research model was designed and validated using data collected from students at different levels of learning at Tshwane University of Technology, South Africa. The study used quantitative approach and the data was analysed using statistical package called Statistical Package for Social Science (SPSS). Results indicated that, compatibility, complexity, technological factors, organisational and environmental issues as well as mind-set are significant factors for VLEs contextualization. This study contributes theoretically by bridging the gap in literature and apposite model informing the development of VLEs in developing countries. Practically, the findings of this study will be leveraged by institutions of higher learning that want to implement VLEs within their settings.

(Un)feasibility of FeesMustFall Campaign From a Political Economy Perspectives

2019 ◽  
pp. 153-175
Author(s):  
Ndwakhulu Stephen Tshishonga
Keyword(s):  
Higher Education ◽  
South African ◽  
Higher Learning ◽  
Slow Pace ◽  
Poor Students ◽  
The Poor ◽  
Institutions Of Higher Learning ◽  
History Of ◽  
African Student ◽  
The Government

The FeesMustFall campaign since October 2015 has grown to be one of the biggest movements ever witnessed in the history of South African student politics. Similarly to the struggle waged by 1976 youth against the dominance of Afrikaans as the medium of instruction, FMF challenges the current government and universities to provide free, quality, and decolonized higher education. Considering the slow pace of economic growth, the realization of free and quality education might be an impossible dream. Thus, dropping the fees seems to be a financial relieve to the poor students, but not the panacea to challenges faced by institutions of higher learning. FMF movement challenges both the government and ANC leadership to walk the talk by implementing policies and resolutions taken to transform higher education from declining. The question is, What are the costs and benefit of free education as advocated through FeesMustFall campaign? Can South Africa afford sustainable free education without compromising other areas of need?

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