Abstract:

As the University of South Africa prepared to review its postgraduate programs as part of its quality assurance system in 2020, the world was hit by the COVID-19 pandemic. In March 2020, South Africa declared a national state of disaster, so face-to-face visits were impossible. Online reviews were conducted.
While Covid-19 disrupted the norm, it also brought about innovations in assuring quality in higher education. Going forward, the new system of remote review will ensure that the process is not only efficient but also cost-effective. The new system will also ensure that the quality of the review process is not compromised. This will help to maintain high standards of education and ensure that students get the best possible outcomes.
This paper focuses on the benefits of technology for conducting peer reviews. It also highlights how online peer reviews have taken the world by storm in 2020. According to the analysis of the results, the benefits include huge cost savings for institutions, quicker access to information, greater optimization of resources, online availability of documentation, and positive attendance by stakeholders at interview sessions. Gibbs’ reflective cycle model was used to inform the discussions to describe the experience, reflect on thoughts, evaluate and analyse the experience, draw conclusions about the lessons learned, identify what we could have done differently, and devise action planning. This allowed us to improve the process and increase the quality of the reviews. It also enabled us to develop better strategies for the future and reduce review costs. It allowed us to optimise the process and create a more efficient review system. Furthermore, online reviews are moving towards a paperless approach, as outlined in Sustainable Development Goal 12 which calls for responsible consumption and production.

Keywords:

Use of technology, remote reviews, quality assurance, peer reviews, innovation, COVID-19.