The influence of eLearning on students at a university of technology in the Western Cape

Abstract

All industries were impacted worldwide by the COVID-19 pandemic, and especially so, higher education. To rescue the 2020 academic year, higher education institutions had to resort to emergency online teaching and learning activities. Fortunately, the advancement in technology provided the opportunity for universities to quickly adapt to online teaching and learning during the pandemic. In addition, funding was provided to support students who had no access, with data and devices. However, the existence of the digital divide was a reality for many students who needed to stay home, where geographically not all areas had the ICT infrastructure in place to accommodate the new teaching model. Therefore, this study aims to characterize the elements that influence students' eLearning experiences at a University of Technology in the Western Cape. Using a mixed approach, a survey questionnaire was distributed among second and third-year students enrolled for the Business Applications subject in the Business and Information Administration Programme within the Business and Management Sciences faculty. A total of seventy-three responses were received. The closed-ended responses were analysed using NCSS 2021 Statistical Software (2021) and the open ended responses were analysed using content analysis. The findings revealed that students had mixed feelings about online teaching and learning activities. Some of the students’ academic performance improved due to eLearning. The biggest challenge for some students, was load shedding; it disrupted their connection during eLearning, which affected their learning process. The recommendations made included: • that the university of technology continue to follow a blended learning approach in the future, to accommodate different student learning styles. • a specific help desk where staff, lecturers, and students can get 24/7 technological support for all eLearning activities. It is intended that the results may shed light on how online teaching and learning affects students' academic performance for other departments and faculties