The changing landscape of teaching and learning : how adult students view online approaches at a university in South Africa

Abstract

As university lecturers of an education program, we aim to enhance community college lecturers' social and economic well-being, empowering them with skills for employment and community development. We respond to the need to train lecturers and prospective Adult and Community Education lecturers in South Africa. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, our traditional content delivery method has shifted to online teaching and learning. This shift can negatively and positively impact adult students' learning processes. Therefore, it is crucial to investigate the perceptions of students involved in online teaching and learning approaches. To achieve this, we adopted a qualitative approach and an experimental design, collecting data from 22 students deemed information-rich. Thematic content analysis was used to analyze the data collected, and the results positively reflected the relevance of the education program and online teaching and learning. Based on the emergent results, we recommend proper funding and close monitoring of the entire education programme to ensure quality delivery using online approaches.