开云体育

Hi Nancy,

Thank for asking about our experience here in South Africa. As it happens we have a lot of experience in universities which attempted to move teaching and learning activities online during the physical campus shutdowns as a result of Fees Must Fall protests a few years ago. These initiatives were only partly successful in supporting teaching and learning because:

1. Bandwidth and connectivity constraints faced by many students
2. Large numbers of students were more interested in protesting than continuing with the studies during the shutdown
3. Lecturers who were unprepared or unwilling to move their courses online
4. The initiatives by the universities were seen by many as a way to undermine the protests

I expect that if we move to a scenario where university administrations here are considering a period of virtual teaching and learning some of these issues will endure;

1. Bandwidth and connectivity off campus
2. Lecturers feeling like they are being forced to get with the programme
3. Lecturers and students who will strongly raise equity issues as an objection