If your children were in school or university during Covid-19’s 2020 academic year, you’ll need no reminding of how lockdown forced educators to shift to online delivery. As with dozens of other businesses, educational institutions were – like the white-collar offices that switched to working from home – forced overnight to adopt a remote working environment. And much like the retail stores that had to learn how to deliver their products to your desk, educational institutions were forced to develop and adopt a workable distance-delivery system.
Five years later and the education sector finds itself caught between the new, digitised delivery model, and the old ways of working. The result is an in-between model of blended learning, which combines aspects of in-person learning with online lectures and study materials.
Nisha Detchprohm, a research engineer at Georgia Tech in the US, describes blended learning as ‘the short-term fix that turned into a long-term stay’.
‘This method of course delivery is here to stay, so educators need ways to address engagement and stress to sustain student learning within a blended learning environment,’ Detchprohm writes in Times Higher Education. ‘They can use its modalities to increase content engagement and use open communication to help their students manage the stress of moving between online and in-person learning.’
Farai Mlambo, senior lecturer at Wits Business School, says the pandemic ‘fundamentally reshaped customer expectations, accelerating the demand for seamless, personalised and efficient digital experiences across the board’. ‘Consumers now expect businesses to provide omnichannel engagement, real-time responsiveness and data-driven personalisation.’
Universities and colleges are no different, he says. ‘Our students have the same expectation. We hear it all the time, “I’m doing a master’s in digital business. Why should I come to campus?” And while some courses – particularly executive programmes and professional education programmes – continue to thrive online, there has been a strong push to return to in-person learning for undergraduate and postgraduate coursework degrees. The growth of digital learning hasn’t entirely tapered off, but there is now more emphasis on blended learning, combining digital tools with face-to-face engagement.’
Tebogo Moleta, MD of tech company Think Tank, sees blended learning as an opportunity to close the accessibility gap and provide more SA students with tertiary education. ‘Our country urgently needs innovative, accessible and affordable solutions to empower its youth within their means to enable them to bridge the skills gap, secure meaningful employment and contribute to national development,’ he says. ‘Online, video-based learning platforms emerge as a realistic alternative in such a challenging landscape, offering a transformative lifeline to young school leavers. Online learning platforms are effective in dismantling the financial and geographical barriers that impede the progress of many matriculants. By providing cost-effective access to industry-aligned education and skills development, modern learning platforms can successfully empower South Africa’s youth to unlock their full potential and forge a brighter future, starting where they are and using what they have.’
It’s stirring stuff, and just the prod you might need to sign up for that professional development course you’ve had bookmarked since the pandemic. But Moleta’s comments also highlight the gap between what businesses need and what colleges and universities are currently providing – as well as how they’re providing it.
Take artificial intelligence (AI), for example. A recent Rest of World study found that more than 100 African universities offer courses related to AI, including data science and machine learning. However, the study found that graduates from these courses are largely unemployable because the programmes are not up to date with the industry’s requirements. ‘Africa’s higher learning institutions have struggled to design curricula that align with the ever-evolving technology landscape, making it difficult for graduates to have the right AI skills,’ says Abdul Moosa, chief technology officer at cybersecurity firm Cyberport Africa. ‘Private AI startups have emerged to assist graduates in acquiring relevant, practical, tailor-made AI skills and are collaborating with companies to provide internships. Those with such skills have huge success [in the job market].’
‘Higher education institutions have made significant strides, but there remains a gap between academia and industry needs,’ says Mlambo. ‘While universities have integrated more digital tools into their curricula, the agility of business-driven digitalisation often outpaces the slower-moving university structures.’
There’s a deep irony here, in that the internet began as a vehicle for academics to share studies. But while digitisation is creating new opportunities across industries, many in the education space are struggling to keep up with the rapid rate of change.
Mohamed Goga, MD of distance learning institution Mancosa, points to AI as a useful tool in tertiary education’s rapidly digitising toolbox. He says that responsible AI can analyse data on student behaviours, engagement with learning materials and assessment outcomes, and can then provide personalised learning pathways adaptive to individual learning needs. This could significantly enhance student performance as their learning aligns with their individualised needs – but Goga fears that it could also compound digital education’s broader problem.
‘There is no shortage of benefits to discuss, simply the purely technical adoption and application of AI tools in teaching,’ he says. ‘However, we must also unpack the deeper implications that tech like this may have. We also need to use AI ethically. The adoption of AI in teaching needs to be understood in the context of South Africa’s deeply unequal school system, where well-resourced schools will have access to this type of tech. At the same time, there are schools significantly under-resourced. There is a strong likelihood that well-resourced schools will benefit from tech-based education models, while under-resourced schools run the risk of falling behind.’
Buti Manamela, SA’s Deputy Minister of Higher Education and Training (DHET), highlighted the role that TVET and community colleges play in closing the skills gap and in providing broader access to relevant digital learning.
Speaking at the Huawei ICT Academy Instructor Summit 2024, he noted that the DHET has targeted 2.6 million students to enter TVET colleges by 2030.
‘The current number of students at TVET colleges is anything shy of 500 000,’ he said. ‘The target for 2024 is at 600 000. However, at this rate, we will not achieve the 2.6 million students at TVET colleges by 2030. We need alternative, cheaper, impactful forms of delivering TVET-related programmes. The same applies to our community colleges. Education delivered using ICT tools and solutions will make a dent for the nearly 4 million young people who are not in an education institution and getting the necessary skills.’
Manamela highlighted the value of partnerships with ICT companies in expanding potential for learning platforms. ‘We already have the content and a huge base of instructors that can instruct via ICT platforms,’ he said. ‘We need to collaborate to ensure we deliver education to the gadget.’
Several tertiary institutions are already doing that. Richfield’s online MBA degree for professionals is one of the exceptions that proves the rule. Sholina Durga, MD of distance learning and MBA at Richfield, says the programme combines business fundamentals with digital tech skills, aiming to foster the critical thinking, problem-solving and leadership abilities required to navigate the fourth industrial revolution (4IR). Its modules integrate topics such as business ethics and strategic operations, while providing industry-recognised certifications from global tech giants IBM, Amazon Web Services, Cisco, Salesforce, Oracle and the CIMA.
‘Richfield’s MBA programme is delivered entirely online, catering specifically for working professionals who need an academic programme that won’t disrupt their careers or personal lives,’ says Durga. ‘The structure is ideal for working professionals who are looking for an academic programme that’s as flexible as it is rigorous.’
Meanwhile, the Tshwane University of Technology’s Institute for the Future of Work (IFoW), working with Microsoft, recently launched a 12-month blended learning course on advanced digital skills, aimed at addressing SA’s lack of access to critical and relevant 4IR skills. Speaking at the launch, Tseliso Mohlomi, senior director at IFoW, acknowledged the challenge recent university graduates face when they enter the job market. ‘While it may seem overwhelming, there’s a game-changing aspect that can set you apart: acquiring advanced digital skills in areas including artificial intelligence, cloud computing and data science,’ he said.
And so, the conversation comes back to the education sector’s internal struggle: finding a way to teach digital skills to students while learning how best to use digital delivery systems without discarding proven in-person engagement models.
In other words, educational institutions face the same challenges most industries face in a digitised world – but colleges and universities have the added pressure of students and industries who are counting on them to pass the test.
