Background: Rural learners face severe reading challenges that are unique to their environment. The challenges include parents' low level of education, little or no parental support, lack of reading material, and parents' low socio-economic status. It is therefore important that rural education research highlights these challenges in order to help…

The COVID-19 global pandemic has resulted in many countries moving teaching and learning online. South Africa is a country with major inequalities in terms of access to electricity, internet and information technologies, which have created considerable problems for online learning at institutions of higher learning in the country. In this paper,…

Background: Contextual factors are likely to influence whether young children are able to adhere to recommended health behaviours. This study aimed to: (1) describe the social and environmental characteristics of children under five living in Soweto, South Africa; and (2) determine factors associated with screen time and outdoor play in this…

COVID-19 pandemic forced several higher education institutions (HEI) to operate remotely. Emergency remote teaching, using synchronous and asynchronous instruction, was adopted by several HEIs. The experiences of students with remote teaching and learning in certain situations are not fully understood, thus need to be explored. This study explored…

The shift to Emergency Remote Teaching and Learning (ERTL) in response to the COVID-19 pandemic has necessitated online learning at home for South African (and other) students. Using a critical paradigm, qualitative approach and case study design, this study, underpinned by critical theory, used interviews, voice notes and text messages to…

Introduction: The COVID-19 pandemic has accelerated the transition to online learning, with synchronous e-learning becoming a critical modality in higher education institutions (HEIs) worldwide. This shift, while ensuring educational continuity, has unveiled numerous challenges, especially in developing nations where resources and infrastructure…

The purpose of this study, conducted with 44 participants, was to explore their experiences of learning linear algebra using the online content and materials during COVID-19. The conceptual framework was guided by the notion of social presence and connectivisim in the context of remote learning. The study used a questionnaire comprising closed and…

COVID-19 affected education in many ways. As a response, various strategies were introduced to ensure students' access to education, including online education. For most of the students, fulltime online education brought diverse challenges. This descriptive phenomenological study explored the experiences of transgender students regarding online…

The outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic brought about an abrupt transition from face-to-face to online learning, which caught higher education institutions off guard. Universities had to scramble for solutions to ensure that learning was not disrupted and there was adequate technological infrastructure to conduct classes online; that academics were…

To limit the spread of the COVID-19 virus conditions of lockdown were enforced by countries globally. Universities and schools revised the mode of delivery from contact teaching to online teaching and learning. This qualitative research was conducted at one university in South Africa and explored STEM discipline lecturers' reflections on the use…

Through in-depth interviews with 21 parents and 12 children in lesbian/gay-parented families, we explored the experiences of this unique family form in South African schools. Specifically, families reflected on their positive and negative experiences in the children's education and used these reflections to offer advice to teachers and…

Today's learners are born into a multimedia world and feel quite comfortable in an electronic learning environment. The high-quality sound, realistic colour images, graphics, narrations, real-time recordings and full motion videos from multimedia, which are integrated in History lessons, are what the learners of today want and need in their…

In this paper, we report on the experiences of three 9th-grade South African students (13-14 years) in doing open science investigation projects for a science expo. A particular focus of this study was the manner in which these students merge the world of school science with their social world to create a hybrid space by appropriating knowledge…

Research has revealed that the academic performances of learners in South Africa are below the required level. The Western Cape Education Department (WCED) launched the literacy and numeracy strategy 2006-2016 in response to the low literacy and numeracy levels. In addition, the WCED introduced the Grade 1 baseline assessment in 2006, as part of…

Indoor air pollution is responsible for the deaths and illness of millions of young children in developing countries. This study investigated the acceptability (willingness to try) and feasibility (ability to perform) of four indoor air pollution reduction behaviors (improve stove maintenance practices, child location practices, ventilation…