Abstract:

The abrupt apparition of the Coronavirus (COVID19) pandemic has brought significant changes across the education system. The traditional method of learning has been disrupted such that daily face-to-face teaching and learning activities have become unsafe and hence are no longer an option. The changes have brought a shock to the education system, leading to a repulse in the system. Teaching and learning in universities are now taking place entirely online with no physical interaction between the lecturers and students. Most Universities were not prepared for the abrupt migration to remote 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 (UJ) 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, 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. A qualitative research approach was used in this study, where mining engineering students were interviewed. Using an interview scheduler open ended questions were asked to allow the students adequate and in-depth response This study finds that the abrupt move towards online learning owing to the COVID-19 pandemic brought about several constraints. The students’ key constraints included amongst others the lack of stable internet connectivity, limited access to technological platforms with online teaching and learning capabilities for practical work, the disruptions in 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 were in a total shutdown.

Keywords:

Online education, face-to-face, e-learning, engineering studies, teaching and learning, tuition, distance learning.