Abstract:

The abrupt apparition of the Coronavirus (COVID19) pandemic has brought significant changes across the education system. The traditional method of learning has been interrupted such that daily face-to-face teaching and learning activities have become unsafe and hence are no longer convenient. The changes have brought a shock to the education system, leading to a repulse in the system. As a result, teaching and learning are now taking place entirely online where there is no physical interaction between the lecturers and students. Most Universities were not prepared for the abrupt migration to online teaching and learning. However, they have had to be agile and resort to computing network technologies and tap into the e-learning paradigm. The aforementioned technologies have been previously introduced into the educational community for enhancing learning, communication, and teacher-student interaction. In addition to this, web-based services and tools supported by these technologies are widely available and allow educators to easily develop and implement instructional material online to supplement classroom teaching methods, or to deliver distance education courses.

E-Learning is a powerful medium that gives to educational establishments the opportunity to deliver lifelong learning to millions, without any time-zone or distance barriers. Despite the great benefits that can be derived from e-learning, some engineering students at the University of Johannesburg are finding it challenging to adapt. The adaptation difficulties are noted when it comes to practical work that requires the use of physical laboratories. While taking cognizance of the significance of practical work integrated with theory in engineering studies, it has also become clear that the online teaching and learning method has seen the practical aspects of the syllabus suffer.

This paper discusses various aspects of e-Learning, with particular emphasis on Mining Engineering curricula offered at UJ during the COVID-19 lockdown. The approach used in this study is a survey, where a questionnaire is administered to mining engineering students at the university of Johannesburg. The survey questionnaire will compose of 15 5-point Likert scale and 8 open-ended questions. This study made use of both qualitative and quantitative research approach to explore the effects of online teaching and learning as opposed to contact method. The questionnaire aims at addressing the convenience as well as the difficulties faced by the students.

Based on our enquiry and report analysis, the abrupt move towards online learning in response to the restrictions posed by the COVID-19 pandemic brought about several challenges for most engineering students at UJ. Chief amongst others is the lack of stable internet connectivity, the limited access by students to technological platforms with online teaching and learning capabilities for practical work, the difficult interaction between students and their lecturers, and the adoption of technology. These mostly affected disadvantaged and unprepared students as universities in South Africa and UJ in particular were in a total shutdown. This made it difficult for UJ to make the limited resources and facilities available individually to students for their practical work. Research is ongoing aimed at gaining a better understanding of the extent of the challenges identified in this study.

Keywords:

Online education, e-learning, Engineering studies, Teaching and Learning, Tuition, Distance Learning.