Can online learning meet the rising need for quality education in South Africa?

Academics & Programmes

08 Aug 2023

Protest action, university shutdowns, allegations of corruption and even assassination attempts, this is the stuff that our tertiary sector seems to be made of these days. At the same time, the demand for quality higher education continues to rise in the country, putting increasing pressure of universities and other institutions of higher learning to find ways to deliver this.

Many are turning to online learning and distance learning to meet the needs of South Africans hungry to learn. Stadio Higher Education, for instance reported an 8% jump in enrolments in 2022, with distance learning its most popular option. Initially, the acceleration of the shift to online learning was of course forced by the COVID-19 pandemic, but studies are now emerging that show this digital exodus could be good for students and institutions alike because it has forced a shake up in how we teach.

Online learning forces us to embrace more dynamic teaching techniques

New research shows that online learning is highly effective in engaging students at tertiary level and can be especially effective in engaging students in large,introductory classes of 100 or more students, where the use of chat and virtual feedback facilities are effective at raising questions and getting more personal interactions with lecturers. However, to be successful in this medium, teachers need to adapt how they engage.

An article published on global forum, University World News, points out that one of the key factors here in improving the quality of online learning, lies with the ability of teachers to effectively teach in online environments. One of the big benefits of an online learning environment is the ability to be flexible about course structures and to introduce new teaching methods that are adapted to a changed world. For instance, case-based learning has been proven to help students embed technical knowledge on more technically advanced courses, like in accounting for instance.

These case studies, a popular format for teaching in business schools for many decades, can tell a basic story that helps to reinforce particular concepts in the curriculum, encouraging students to grapple with the material in a slightly different way, using their own perspectives and life experiences.

There is plenty of research showing the effectiveness of storytelling as a teaching method at school level. When it comes to tertiary education, the onus rests on lecturers to continue to cultivate these dynamic learning environments in the way they present lecturers and how they illustrate content via examples and real-life scenarios.

Role-playing takes the story-telling method a step further, inviting students to participate in the study material more interactively. In an insurance course, for example, using the case studies and the solutions presented, students could take on the roles of, for instance, insurance broker, client, and insured individual to explore various perspectives in real time and gain a lived experiences of the challenges each role player faces. Or students can act out roles of angry clients calling into call centres, actively learning how to deal with conflict resolution as well.

There is evidence that role playing allows students to better connect with study material. One article published in the Journal of Science and Arts in 2010 examined how it could help physics students. It found that role playing increased learning motivation, boosting student interest in the topic while informing teachers about student aptitude.

Study author Dana Craciun broke down why role playing was so effective: “Through this method we develop skills and abilities like responsibility and leadership in learning, peer learning/teaching, group work, confidence or creative problem solving that would be difficult to develop using traditional teaching techniques.” Students can better integrate learning by translating new knowledge into action.

Traditional teaching methods are giving way to peer learning

In contrast to traditional lecturing, students who are encouraged to come prepared to class to discuss practical applications of their learning – through case studies and the like – are challenged to actually apply these concepts. This is especially effective in the final years of a qualification when students have grasped the foundational principles of a subject but have yet to consider the dynamic factors of real-life situations.

This technique is supported by the Pyramid of Learning, which was developed by the US National Training Laboratory, part of the Institute for Applied Behavioural Science in the US. It shows that traditional lectures delivered by a speaker talking to an audience is only 5% effective when it comes to the student retaining and recalling information. Students learn more through interactive, participatory, and collaborative methods. The most effective learning strategy is peer learning, where students teach each other; it is believed to be 90% effective. Teaching others compels us to more thoroughly grasp a topic and its related concepts.

Online learning may not work in all contexts and it may never replace traditional learning entirely. But there is nothing from stopping us applying these learning gained in an online environment back into traditional classrooms too. By embracing these new principles and improving the student experience in a more dynamic and flexible environment, the promise of quality education can truly be fulfilled, even under difficult circumstances.

We can’t get away from the fact that the tertiary sector in this country is navigating a truly difficult time in its history, but we as educators can still work to honour our core purpose of quality knowledge production, teaching and learning that equips future generations of South Africans to build a better future.

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Marisa Grundling HOD: Risk and Insurance