Impact of Covid-19 Pandemic on Online Teaching and Learning in Higher Education
R. Kamerika
Abstract
Higher education in many countries around the globe has been directly affected by the untimely reality and slow response by the education sectors amid the new Covid-19 pandemic. There is pressure for all Universities to rigorously use digital technology in order to switch over to online programs through first a blended approach rather than fully online. To this end, some higher education institutions have done little to ensure that the academic calendar is not lost or affected by the pandemic. Although, the test brought by the pandemic is so massive, this should be seen as an opportunity for the leadership to readjust and embrace digital technology within the confinement of their academic programs. The institutions need to come up with drastic measures to mitigate the profound challenges of the pandemic on higher education as faced by its leadership. These measures if promptly addressed could avoid compromising the quality of teaching and learning to certain extend. Thus, this paper is aimed at outlining some of the opportunities, challenges and solutions as derived from the pandemic infection, social restriction threats or lockdown regulations that could help the institutions taking full advantage of digital technology in line with their strategic imperatives.