E - Learning during Covid-19 – Perspectives of Academics in a Crisis

This study offers insights into how e learning, can be sustained in universities in developing countries, using a minimalist approach, during a crisis such as Covid-19. The banning of face-to-face classroom teaching in Zimbabwean universities and the adoption of e learning motivated it. Whilst this was unexpected, unprepared for, with no precedent or blue print, very few studies appear to pay attention to the perspectives of the academics - the people who are doing the teaching of the students and from a developing country perspective. Apparently, those studies that have been conducted to date are largely quantitative and appear to concentrate on the perspectives of students. To address this gap, this study explores how academics at one school and in one department at a university in Masvingo province of Zimbabwe were teaching their students, the challenges they were encountering and the opportunities that were presenting themselves. The researchers adopted a qualitative research design, using a case study methodology, with a sample of eighteen (18) purposively selected participants (lecturers). The study used semi-structured interviews to collect data, using WhatsApp because of the imposed lockdown restrictions. Findings reveal that lecturers at this university were using only a few communication applications to teach their students. They cite challenges of the cost of connectivity as well as lack of administrative support as impediments to e learning and teaching. They however highlight training in e-learning technologies and provision of data as opportunities that have arisen.