The advent of coronavirus disease, COVID-19, in late December 2019 has wreaked havoc on the economic and educational sectors. As a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, educational institutions were forced to switch from face-to-face to virtual classroom contact. The result was that many academics, particularly university lecturers, turned to remote…

At the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic, many traditional contact higher education institutions, such as the institution where the study was based, transitioned abruptly to remote online learning. Students in the School of Education at the institution who are predominantly from the lower end of the socioeconomic digital divide in South Africa had no…

The abrupt transition in teaching and learning styles and the challenges faced by online tutors as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic are increasing areas of research. At the University of the Western Cape (UWC) preparing for the transition had an impact on tutors who had to make major adjustments to their tutoring. The research presented here…

The adoption of Emergency Remote Teaching (ERT) during the COVID-19 Pandemic brought a shift in how lecturers teach in higher education, posing a threat to the usual development of competencies in students. This study aimed to uncover the knowledge and skills backlogs experienced by pre-service teachers. The study is framed within various concepts…

Regardless of the preparation of teachers, the COVID-19 pandemic and the ensuing social distancing measures forced educational institutions worldwide to convert quickly to online teaching and learning. COVID-19 has disrupted educational processes globally. The relevance of researching COVID-19's effects on the educational system has increased to…

Aim/Purpose: This article aimed to explore student perceptions and experiences of migrating to a fully online mode during COVID-19. Background: The COVID-19 pandemic changed the mode of delivery from face-to-face or blended learning to fully distance learning. The introduction of the Disaster Management Act (2020) in South Africa forced all…

With the closure of educational institutions during COVID-19, some leadership and management teams resorted to technology for online teaching. However, for the teaching practicum (TP) module, the move to online required specially designed interventions, resulting in a variety of different TP COVID-19 configurations. Fortuitously, at the outbreak…

South African higher education (HE) cannot be compared to any other country's HE systems due to the unique political landscape and structural narrative that it has undergone. Subsequent to the reorganisation of HEIs in 2004, a number of complexities arose. These included accessibility to education across race and the alignment of the South African…

This phenomenological exploratory multiple-case study design was conducted at an open distance e-learning university and a traditional contact residential university, and it was found that the participants viewed video conferencing under the COVID-19 lockdown period as an exhausting experience. A second major finding revealed that the participants…

This paper explored the challenges lecturers face in teaching through online platforms. Online learning has become increasingly prevalent in Technical and Vocational Education and Training (TVET) institutions, offering opportunities and challenges for TVET lecturers. The transition from traditional face-to-face teaching to online environments…

Optometry education, like other health professions, has historically been conducted via contact teaching and learning in classrooms, clinics and laboratories. In 2020, COVID-19 imposed an abrupt move to online learning for higher education institutions. This was performed with little insight into the feasibility and readiness for its adoption…

Even before the COVID-19 pandemic created a historic pivotal moment for teacher training programmes on a global scale, the development of digital competencies has been regarded as a focal point for teachers. Tertiary institutions had just become accustomed to including technology in their curricula when COVID-19 forced a critical re-evaluation of…

The integration of digital devices in education has been widely practised throughout the world. The vast availability of digital devices enables teachers to prepare and deliver subject content in different ways. Despite the availability of various digital devices in the Fourth Industrial Revolution, some teachers still experience…

Innovation and technology brought by the 4th Industrial Revolution (4IR) have become an urgent reality to all teachers because of the need for a virtual classroom. In South Africa, over 13 million students in almost 25,000 schools have been affected by the COVID-19 lockdown. Most school teachers were not trained for online teaching, which was the…

Despite high hopes that schools are institutions of integrity and are properly governed, very few have demonstrated this with distinction. With this article we argue that good governance depends on the partnership between schools and parents in times of emergency. The theoretical framework from Epstein's theory of overlapping spheres of influence…