Abstract:
The paper focuses on students' perceptions of online teaching and learning amid Covid-19 lockdown
at the University of Limpopo, South Africa. Coronavirus pandemic regulations imposed by South African government
to curb the proliferation of the virus transformed the application of teaching and learning at tertiary
institutions. In South Africa, some institutions had to grapple with migrating their contact teaching programme
to a new online phenomenon. Students were also expected to swiftly adopt to the new teaching and learning
approach. The study employed qualitative approach through focus group interviews. Thus, students were
engaged pertaining to their experiences of online teaching and learning during lockdown period due to Covid-
19 pandemic. The analysis of the qualitative data was carried through reflexive thematic analysis. The study
employed six steps of thematic analysis. Therefore, the study revealed that online teaching and learning had
both positive and negative impacts on the students. A number of challenges were raised i.e. poor connectivity,
lecturers' unpreparedness, and lack of devices. However, some students indicated that new system has
advantages such as recording of the lectures for revision purposes. In the light of this, we recommend an
implementation of online teaching and learning policy at the institutions of higher learning.
Description:
Journal articles published in the 6th International Conference on Public Administration and Development Alternatives (IPADA), 06-08 October 2021, Virtual Conference.