The Digital Divide: Teaching and Learning at the University of KwaZulu-Natal during the Covid-19 Pandemic
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ISA Pedagogy Series
2021, 1(1) 20-31
___________________________________________________________________________
The Digital Divide: Teaching and Learning
at the University of KwaZulu-Natal during
the Covid-19 Pandemic
Dr. Sultan Khan University of KwaZulu-Natal
ABSTRACT
The Covid-19 pandemic affected all facets of life around the globe. Institutions of
higher learning have not been immune to the pandemic, risking the interruption of the
academic year. In a bid to save the academic year, institutions have been forced to
look at how teaching and learning can take place without compromising their academic
credibility and quality of instruction. Digital teaching and learning can be seen as a
way of surmounting the restrictions placed on accessing education for full-time
students, especially amongst those originating from low-income households and living
a distance away from the university. In the more developed parts of the world, access
to Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is much more advanced although
there are some variations in the levels of access. Notwithstanding, it is much more
accessible as compared to their counterparts in developing countries. This digital
divide places universities in a precarious position in developing countries.
This paper examines how ICT can be used effectively to facilitate teaching and
learning in these uncertain times. It focuses on how South African universities moved
to embrace ICT resources post-liberation and the creative use of this to advance their
teaching and learning within their institutions. However, within the country there is a
digital divide between historically advantaged white universities and the Black
disadvantaged ones due to the legacy of colonialism and Apartheid. The University of
KwaZulu-Natal is used as a case to illustrate how, despite the traumatic experience of
a merger between two disparate universities (the University of Natal, comprising
predominantly whites, and the University of Durban – Westville, which was historically
established for Black students), the university seized the opportunity for ICT
development within its teaching and learning programmes. This paper examines how
this merged institution braced itself over the years to invest in ICT infrastructure and
resources, which it used for emergency teaching and learning during the Covid-19
pandemic.
___________________________________________________________________________
ISA.e-Forum
© 2021 The Author(s)
© 2021 ISA (Editorial Arrangement of ISA.e-Forum)ISA Pedagogy Series, Vol. 1
KEYWORDS
Digital Divide, Covid-19, Information and Communication Technology in higher learning, online teaching
in the Global South
Introduction
Globalisation and rapid digital
The COVID-19 pandemic that gripped the advancement requires developing countries
globe required millions of learners and to keep pace with the information network
institutions to adjust their teaching and in order for it to advance their country’s
learning programmes or risk the serious social, political and economic interests.
interruption of the 2020 academic year. Therefore, developing countries need to
Such a disruption would mean that an entire invest in Higher Education Institutions’
generation of the global population would (HDIs) human capital through transition to
have a setback of a year (or perhaps more) digital tools to promote teaching and
of productivity in various socio-economic learning that is globally and locally
and political spheres of life. The inability of competitive, cost effective and accessible.
institutions of higher learning to reproduce Given the poor state of the economy in
skilled labour to meet future market developing countries, investment in
demands can have far-reaching information and communication
consequences, especially in the absence of technology (ICT) as an emergency measure
certainty on when the pandemic will abate. during the COVID-19 pandemic becomes
precarious.
Given the inequality between developed
and developing countries, the response to In the South African context, post-
the pandemic within tertiary institutions democracy, institutions of higher learning
will vary in respect to using teaching and came under pressure to make the transition
learning technology as a tool to reduce the from traditional forms of teaching and
impact of the pandemic on educational learning to ICT-driven ones. Various policy
throughput. Developed countries with documents informed this transition to ICT-
better educational resources are likely to be driven teaching and learning modes. Whilst
in an advantageous position to manage the such a move in institutions of higher
impact of the pandemic and provide a safety learning is lauded by educational policy
net on ensuring the academic program makers, concern has been expressed by the
continues uninterrupted as compared to academic fraternity, especially those
their less developed counterparts. Less originating from a disadvantaged history on
developed countries have many whether all South African universities
infrastructure deficits to provide a could afford this transition given the wide
conducive technological environment for gap between historically advantaged
advancement to the world of digitisation to universities under Apartheid and those that
support the most contemporary teaching have been disadvantaged.
and learning tools.
21Khan
This paper examines the integration of ICT transformation within the ICT sector or risk
in teaching and learning globally, and how the consequence of being under-developed.
it responds to student-centred learning. In the 21st Century, digital literacy (DL)
Thereafter the digital divide in ICT modes has become essential in order to advance in
of learning between developed and the different sectors of society. As a
developing countries is presented. This is corollary to this, globalisation would need
followed by a discussion on digitisation of digital technologies that facilitate
teaching and learning in South African universally accessible, reliable and
Higher Education Institutions (HDIs). inexpensive communication (Njenga,
Finally, the paper examines how the 2018:1).
transition to ICT teaching and learning at
the University of KwaZulu-Natal is used to To address the demands made by
rescue the academic year from the globalisation, educational institutions are
consequences of the COVID-19 pandemic, called upon to prepare students to face the
which is plaguing the world. challenges and opportunities of a global
workforce. Researchers and stakeholders
Integration of Information and alike argue that at all levels of education,
Communication Technology (ICT) in the future success of young people and
Teaching and Learning university graduates depends on being
Information and Communication technologically competent in order to use a
Technology has been part of human variety of technological tools and being
development since the 1840s through the globally competent in order to work with
advent of the telegraph and the telephone diverse and geographically dispersed
leading to present day global electro- people and act on globally significant issues
magnetic communication systems. ICT can (Kopish and Marques, 2020:45).
be said to be a precursor to globalization
which has made the world inter-connected. In the field of higher education, the
The move to ICT in different spheres of life introduction of ICTs in the form of
has been around before the Covid-19 eLearning has transformed the teaching and
pandemic. learning experience as compared to
traditional forms. Such a transition is
With globalisation, digital technologies influenced by several pedagogical factors.
have become major drivers in the socio- Sife et al (2007:57) assert that eLearning
political and economic spheres of society provides greater information access; greater
which needs to be considered when communication via electronic facilities;
transitioning to ICT development. structured learning time; increased
cooperation and collaboration, cost-
The reorganisation of social and economic effectiveness for educational institutions
relations, interdependencies and (e.g. by reaching different students and in
interconnectedness within and between greater numbers) and pedagogical
nation states has become a powerful force improvement through simulations, virtual
that demands advancement and adaptation experiences, and graphic representations. In
to the changing nature of the world. This this respect, teachers and learners can
requires meeting the demands for choose more appropriate applications,
22ISA Pedagogy Series, Vol. 1
which are flexible in time, in place, Unlike in their less developed counterparts
personalized, reusable, and adapted to in developed countries, ICTs have a long
specific domains and more cost-efficient history and, over time, expanded in all
(Sife et al 2007:57). facets of life. Given the disparity in the
distribution of ICT resources around the
There is an intergenerational gap in the use globe, the concept digital divide gained
and application of ICT. The current currency in the 1990s amongst different
generation of ICT users may be dubbed the stakeholders such as scholars, policy
Net, Cyber Generation or Information makers and advocacy groups. The concept
society. This is because students today enter is used to describe the growing gap, or
higher education with a wide range of social exclusion, between those who have
digital technologies, which did not exist access to the new services of the
previously. Even though they do exist, not information society, and those who do not.
all have developed skills to use the Yet for millions of people in the world's
technology effectively. poorest countries, there remains a "digital
divide" excluding them from the benefits of
The transition and adaptation to a new ICTs (Saheb, 2005). Women, children and
range of ICT provides them with an youth, the aged and those living in rural
advantage of being technically proficient environments were ICT infrastructure is
using a range of technological platforms in either non-existent or poorly developed, are
their learning journey. Compared to confined to the margins of digital
traditional forms of teaching and learning, technology.
the current generation do things differently.
It is in this context that higher education The reason for underdeveloped ICTs in
practices need to transform to meet the developing countries may be attributed to a
needs and competencies of these new number of factors. Lack of access to
cohorts of students and those to follow in education or training, fiscal constraint to
the future. Hence, the learning buy required equipment, problems
environments should accommodate by obtaining the required communications
providing a conducive environment for links or services to get online, are some of
these ‘more technology-driven, the challenges. Accessing the Internet with
spontaneous, and multi-sensory’ learners efficiency requires the quality of
(Brown and Czerniewicz, 2010:357-358). connection and support services, processing
Even though today’s students are users of speed and other capabilities of the computer
ICT, it may be argued that they are not to be of a standard that is globally
necessarily producers of digital content and competitive. Unlike the developed nations,
as such they are not all that different from developing ones do not have the necessary
previous generations. resources to invest in and develop ICT
Infrastructure to reap the enormous benefits
ICT Teaching and Learning in that participation in the information age
Developing Countries – The Digital brings. Developing countries are trailing at
Divide a much slower pace compared to their
developed counterparts. These trends are
due to the many socio-economic and
23Khan
political challenges faced by governments, single parents, and child headed households
political leaders, and business exacerbates the effects of poverty in the
entrepreneurs in developing countries African continent. Taking for example
(Saheb, 2005) which militates against any Ethiopia with 65 million people is the
benefits that may be derived from national second largest population in Africa; it has
development through ICT use in no electricity, which is a key component for
development programmes and projects. access to ICT resources. On the other hand,
South Africa being the most
Ponelis and Holmner (2015:164) assert that technologically advanced country in the
the skills for the knowledge economy are continent has been experiencing
built at institutions of higher learning. At intermittent power cuts, which has
these institutions, education ensures that implications for the efficiency with which
sufficient skills are imparted to learners so ICT programmes and platforms are used
that they may become active participants in (Tamrat and Teferra, 2020).
the economy and make a meaningful Notwithstanding persistent poverty levels
contribution to society. Ponelis and and infrastructure deficits, those that are
Holmner (2015:164) note that the tertiary successful in securing access to education
student population in Africa tripled from at institutions of higher learning are
2.7 million in 1991 to 9.3 million in 2006. challenged by the lack of ICT infrastructure
Additionally, in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA), in these institutions. Across the continent
post-secondary education has grown faster ICT infrastructure has been restricted due to
than in any other region with fewer than the lack of investment, policies and systems
200,000 students enrolled in SSA that promote its growth and usage. In
universities in 1970, a number which rose institutions of higher learning, access to
to over five million in 2010 and has been ICT resources cannot be implemented and
increasing by 10–15% annually since then. used if the African continent does not have
It was projected that the entire continent infrastructure to support it so that students
would have between 18 million and 20 could sufficiently develop digital
million students by 2015. Despite the rapid competencies. Sife et al (2007:57) asserts
growth in the student population at that African universities, which should be
institutions of higher learning only 6% of in the forefront of ensuring Africa's
this age cohort were enrolled in 2008, participation in the ICT revolution, are
compared to the global average of 26%. themselves unable and ill-prepared to play
Furthermore, only 11% of African such a leadership role in the continent due
university students are studying subjects to the information infrastructure of African
with potentially high employability universities being poorly developed and
(Ponelis and Holmner, 2015:164). These inequitably distributed.
trends suggest that student absorption rate
at institutions of higher learning is Developing countries, even though they are
precarious in developing countries due to in a position to advance in teaching through
financial exclusion as a result of a variety of ICT tools, are also constrained to pay for
poverty related issues. Lack of physical software licenses and copyright fees. The
infrastructure, skills, political instability, cost of these licenses is prohibitively
unemployment, pandemics, corruption, expensive and as such, universities cannot
24ISA Pedagogy Series, Vol. 1
sustain paying for them. The software tends Charter gave precedence for the liberation
to be produced in developed countries and movement to “open the doors of learning
by the time developing countries have for all”.
access to it and master the technology
behind it, new versions of the software are Upon South Africa’s liberation in 1994,
produced to replace the old. Similarly, transformation of the higher education
online books, journals, periodicals, data landscape received priority attention to
bases and the like, unless there is open bridge the gap between historically
access, pose a major constraint to bridge the disadvantaged institutions (HDIs) and those
digital divide between developed and that were historically for white learners and
developing nation states. academics. Letseka et al. (2018:125)
observe that African people constitute
Digitisation of Teaching and Learning in about 80.8% of the country’s total
South African Higher Education population while whites constitute a meagre
Institutions 8.8%, yet whites constitute over 80% of the
university professoriate. With disparity in
The educational landscape in South Africa
government funding and
has a long and painful history since
underdevelopment in these HDI’s, attention
colonialism and later Apartheid spanning
focused on transforming the sector so that it
over 350 years. During colonialism, many
becomes equitable, competitive and
missionary schools were established on the
meeting the labour demands of the country.
assumption that the majority of
disenfranchised Blacks were barbarians Post-apartheid, the African National
that needed to be civilised through mission Congress (ANC) led government inherited
school education with a Christian ethos. At many socio-economic and political
a community level, the very wealthy also challenges to surmount from Apartheid’s
established schools, aided by the state. legacy. In as far as the education sector was
However, during apartheid racialized concerned, the government expressed a
strong commitment to the use of ICTs in
educational institutions were established by
education so that it could produce a skilled
the government based on one’s racial labour force to support its post-apartheid
background. Institutions of higher learning Reconstruction and Development
were not spared racialized forms of Programme (RDP) (Department of
learning. Separate institutions of higher Education, 2004:13). Former President
learning were established by the Apartheid Thabo Mbeki announced that if South
government for Whites, Coloureds, Indians Africans are to participate in the knowledge
economy, every effort must be made to
and indigenous Africans. Black institutions
prevent social exclusion. He underscored
of higher learning were under-resourced the importance of ICTs for social and
with deficits in infrastructure, skills and economic development at numerous South
teaching and learning tools. Given the African and international fora. He noted:
appalling state of Black higher education in "We must continue the fight for liberation
the country, the Freedom Charter (1956) against poverty, against under-
which was the mandate for political change development, against marginalisation" and
"…information and communication
for the ANC gave due recognition to the
technology … is a critically important tool
importance of education. The Freedom
25Khan
in that struggle” (Department of Education,
2004:10). The University of KwaZulu-Natal was born
out of a merger in 2004 with the
A number of policy documents were Historically Advantaged (HA) white
formulated to support ICT advancement in university (Natal) and the Indian university
higher education. The role of ICTs in (Durban-Westville) which fell into the
education is evident in South African category of Historically Disadvantaged
national and institutional policy documents (HD) universities in the country. Merging
such as The National Plan for Higher of the two universities was motivated by the
Education (Department of Education need to address the historical inequities in
2001), The National Research and higher education, consolidation of
Development Strategy (Department of resources, rationalisation and to promote
Science and Technology, 2002a), the African scholarship. It branded itself to be
National Research and Technology the institution of choice for African
Foresight ICT Report (Department of scholarship. Since the merger, the
Science and Technology, 2002b), and the University of KwaZulu-Natal (UKZN)
White Paper on e-Education informed the (despite historic differences in
policy direction for ICT development in the organisational culture and diversity in the
education sector (Department of Education, two institutions) made major strides
2003). These policy documents argue that investing in its ICT infrastructure based on
using ICTs will variously add value to the various policy documents alluded to
education, improve teaching and learning, earlier.
encourage innovation and contribute to
transformation (Czerniewicz and Brown, Post-merger, the UKZN rationalised its
2005:2). organisational structure by setting up
colleges over five campuses. These
Like most parts of the world, the South colleges comprise the humanities,
African education and training system had agriculture, engineering and science, health
to respond to the pressures and challenges sciences and law and management studies.
posed by the information revolution-taking Below these colleges are schools
place in the globe (Department of comprising a host of programmes.
Education, 2004:13). Since the ICT policy Concerns were raised by the unions and
came into place, South African higher staff about the College organisational
education institutions expended large sums structure, its efficacy and costs involved
of resources on infrastructure, tools, skills and whether this model was suited for an
and software to maintain a competitive African context. Notwithstanding such
edge on knowledge production, exchange concerns, the College model was
and collaboration in the global academy implemented by the management of the
and the region despite ever-increasing institution in order for it to be globally
resource constraints. South Africa's status competitive.
as a middle economy country with its very
wide wealth disparities means that the Since the merger, the university made great
university combines its access to strides in upgrading ICT infrastructure.
sophisticated technology with a need to Audio-visual technology was installed in
address very serious issues of social and teaching venues inter alia, data projectors,
economic disadvantage (Gray, 2007:35). high definition document cameras,
motorised screens, cabling, and installation
Rescue of Teaching and Learning during of wireless access points. Infrastructure for
the COVID-19 Pandemic at the charging technological tools and creating
University of KwaZulu-Natal more learning spaces for wireless facilities
26ISA Pedagogy Series, Vol. 1
were created (UKZN 2016 Teaching and adapting to digital learning and overcoming
Learning Report 2014-2015: 95). Academic gaps. The project plan examined the
software was upgraded to the most implications of digital learning, student
contemporary versions available in training strategies, online teaching strategy,
developed countries and these were made and access to teaching platforms by
easily accessible to staff and students. Staff international and students with disabilities
were provided with laptops so that they (Songca, 2020).
could teach effectively in lecture venues
and have the flexibility to work from home. In implementing the project plan,
The success of digital teaching and learning financially disadvantaged students who
was fully realised in 2015 when 1087 qualified for the National Financial Aid
modules were uploaded on Moodle and Schemes (NSFAS) were supported with
36,089 students were accessing the digital resources for the learning process to
platform (UKZN 2016 Teaching and continue. Logistical challenges in
Learning Report 2014-2015: 93). acquiring laptops and digital/hardcopy
Moodle served as a learning platform that materials to students who are distributed
provided academics, administrators and across the province and beyond, data costs
learners with a personalized learning of streaming/ downloading content at
environment. home, lack of and quality of network
coverage across the province and beyond,
The rapid transition to digital learning has computer literacy issues, mainly amongst
earned UKZN an international reputation first-year students and lastly student
for academic excellence, outstanding orientation on Moodle and other virtual
research output and African scholarship. platforms utilised are some of the
For the 2018-2019 academic year, the challenges that needed to be considered
Center for World University Rankings when implementing the teaching and
(CWUR) ranked UKZN 402 internationally learning project plan (Songca, 2020:2).
and nationally third as compared to other
historically advantaged universities, which As far as academic staff were concerned,
have not merged and have not transformed the project plan aimed at improving
their institutions fully in keeping with the capacity in terms of using ICT tools for
enormous diversity that exists in the curation of online materials. Pedagogical
academic community. approaches to teaching and learning needed
to be adapted for online teaching and
Given the technological advancement made learning. This included teaching and
by UKZN since the merger, the university learning courses for staff. It was recognised
has created a variety of options for teaching by the project management team that data
and learning on its campuses. The COVID- restrictions due to the unaffordability and
19 pandemic in a way placed direct pressure unavailability amongst deserving students
on the institution to test out whether its curtailed the uploading of materials from
eLearning system can cushion the negative home. Faculty needed support for curation,
impact of the pandemic on both students editing and uploading of videos. The
and academics. In this respect, the project management team noted that modes
institution put in place a Teaching and of delivery in certain modules and
Learning Project Plan during the COVID- programmes did not lend themselves easily
19-related restrictions. The plan focused on to online delivery as practical teaching and
ways in which the academic year could be learning requires face-to-face contact in
saved, despite the uncertainty of the laboratories. Last, work experience and in-
pandemic by identifying challenges that service training requirements to use online
both students and academics face in
27Khan
teaching and learning need to be explored June 2020. Since the return of students,
(Songca, 2020:3). with dedicated ICT support the online
teaching platform with some glitches
At a meeting of Universities South Africa concluded the first semester of the
(2020) comprising Vice Chancellors from academic year.
all state funded institutions there was wide
recognition that respective institutions use Although most institutions in the country
ICT as an emergency measure for teaching were in a position to complete the first
and learning if the academic year was to be semester through online teaching and
saved in the context of the pandemic. In learning, upon reflection the Department of
order to test the readiness of online teaching Higher Education claimed that the online
and learning a dry run needed to be learning during the pandemic was a
undertaken. UKZN made strides in “success”. This assertion has been highly
finalising its negotiations with MTN, contested by the South African academic
Vodacom and Telkom for zero-rated access fraternity and in response a petition is
to 11 University sites including Moodle. circulating refuting the claims made by the
Arrangements were made to run the Department of Education. The petition
learning content via a proxy server on contests amongst other things that “closing
campus for the telecommunications campuses may have been necessary to fight
providers as part of getting the University the pandemic, but in the rush to online
ready for online learning. Other logistical teaching we lost important face-to-face
options were also explored to ensure that no engagement with our students. Even as our
students were left out due to lack of access classes are often too big to have the kind of
to online services. For instance, home classroom interactions we would like to
addresses of all registered students were have with our students, the loss of
geo-mapped to establish their location and discussion in lecture rooms, after classes, in
to get a sense of how many students were offices and on campuses, reduced the
located in areas with poor internet quality of university education
coverage. The possibility of providing ‘Wi- dramatically. Much of what students learn
Fi hot-spots’ for these students was at university does not come from lecture
explored. Meanwhile, students were content, but from ongoing interactions with
encouraged to engage in self-directed lecturers and tutors, in seminars and
learning to keep ahead in their studies, workshops, and with the many different
while academics were being urged to people and settings that shape campus life”.
continue preparing for the dry run and
launch of the new system by uploading Conclusion
learning materials and curating content
(Universities South Africa 2020). The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the
way in which teaching and learning take
It would appear that UKZN has taken great place in institutions of higher learning.
measures to ensure digital infrastructure, Considering that, no one really knows when
teaching and learning platforms to be in life will return to normal and given the
place. Other ICT logistical issues to further second wave of the pandemic being amidst
the teaching and learning programme were us, when universities will open to continue
attended to while logistical arrangements with the academic programme, is a grey
were put in place to continue with the area. The paper highlights the enormous
academic programme. A phased access of benefit that can be derived from the
students to the university was planned and transition to ICT teaching and learning.
the first cohort of students to be allowed on Although this could be an emergency
university premises was scheduled for 29 response to teaching and learning, one
28ISA Pedagogy Series, Vol. 1
needs to be mindful of the pedagogical to upgrade ICT infrastructure over time. In
implications of teaching “through” versus the COVID-19 period UKZN has devised a
“with” technology. Teaching “through” project plan for online teaching and
technology now would appear as a safety learning, which commenced on 29 June
measure against social distancing, as 2020 in different phases, whilst more
learners will have very little contact with advantaged institutions in the country have
the teaching fraternity. Teaching “with” already concluded their first online
technology using blended methods would semester in the academic year.
be an ideal, but under the circumstance, one
has to settle for the lesser. This paper has been written at a time when
the pandemic was unfolding and captures
The digital divide between developed and the emergency response by institutions of
developing countries in many instances is higher learning to save the academic year.
wide. Bridging this gap during the COVID- With the second wave of the pandemic
19 pandemic is unlikely to feature, as making its round in the globe, South
developing countries do not have the African institutions of higher learning once
infrastructure to transition to ICT teaching again have to brace themselves to continue
and learning. The challenges have different with online teaching and learning.
dimensions, including structural, economic,
social and technical issues. In the case of Although, a dissenting voice is emerging
South Africa, there is also the divide within the academic fraternity on some of
between historically advantaged and the downsides to online teaching and
disadvantaged institutions given the legacy learning, it need be noted that this
of colonialism and later Apartheid. arrangement was in the context of the world
Historically advantaged institutions are response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
better able to transition to ICT-driven Under normal conditions, perhaps a more
teaching and learning modalities. UKZN is positive attitude will emerge on the benefits
a merger project between the former of online teaching and learning. As alluded
University of Natal, which catered to whites to earlier a blended learning environment
whilst the University of Durban-Westville combining both traditional and e-Learning
was historically disadvantaged and catered approaches could have sound pedagogical
to the needs of Indian students. Despite outcomes.
merger challenges, UKZN responded
proactively to the government’s policy call
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Author Biography
Dr. Sultan Khan is an Associate Professor in Sociology at the University of KwaZulu-Natal.
His sociological interest is in the fields of urban sociology, social policy, sociology of
development, diaspora and migration studies. He has to his credit three co-edited books and
one co-authored book which was published this year titled "Boko Haram". Khan is ranked as
a C2 researcher by the National Research Foundation that provides accreditation to South
African scholars. In addition, he has been recognised by the University of KwaZulu-Natal as a
most prolific researcher.
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