Challenges of Online Pedagogies During Covid-19 Lockdown: Reflections from Teaching Geospatial Technology for Development Planning at the University of Limpopo

Abstract

During the academic year 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic has forced institutions of higher education, especially face-to-face institutions, to adopt alternatives to conventional teaching and learning instructions and methods. As a result, online pedagogies have been unexpectedly adopted by both academics and students in these institutions, with the hope of saving the 2020 academic year. Regardless of being a desirable option compared to no teaching and learning, the abrupt change from face-to-face instruction to online pedagogies came with challenges which affected both lecturers and students in these institutions. Therefore, the purpose of this paper is to explore the implementation challenges of online pedagogies at an honours level of study (postgraduate) during COVID-19 lockdown with specific reflections from GeoSpatial Technology for Development Planning curriculum at the University of Limpopo (UL). The challenges include limited or lack thereof, of stable internet connectivity, Information and Communication Technology (ICT) infrastructure and gadgets and, basic ICT skills among some lecturers and students to support online teaching and learning. To achieve its purpose, qualitative research approach was adopted wherein observations and weekly teaching reports were used to solicit data. The paper revealed that "lack of institutional and curriculum support" and, "operational challenges" are the most common experienced at UL. The paper concluded that the successful implementation of online pedagogies depends on well-established ICT resources and infrastructure as well as both lecturers' and students' technological knowledge and skills.