An investigation by one WSU academic regarding the perceptions of students with a limited technological schooling background about blended learning has found that the biggest challenge to effective blended learning was inadequate internet connectivity.

Using his second-year cost accounting class as a sample for his study, lecturer Onke Gqokonqana sought to solicit opinions from his students about their experiences in utilizing the blended learning approach during the COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent national lockdowns.

Gqokonqana’s paper, titled “The perception of blended learning among students who are from technologically disadvantaged educational backgrounds” was the subject of acute scrutiny by his peers at the recent ‘Focus Conference’ held at the Mangosuthu University of Technology (MUT) 17 – 19 August in which he and four other WSU academics participated.

“The COVID-19 lockdown compelled higher education institutions to embrace the use of technology in the teaching and learning process more frequently than previously. The student cohorts enrolled in the higher education institution under study in this paper, on the other hand, come from a technologically challenged background. This is largely because the technology was not used as a learning aid in students' previous schooling,” he said.

Gqokonqana said the study revealed that students found the blended learning approach   efficient and effective for learning. Moreover, students expressed that using a learning management system makes learning more exciting and improves students’ learning experiences.

He said his passion for cost accounting is what propelled him to conduct the study, all in bid to enhance his ability in imparting the knowledge and information to his students by understanding, through his students, the opportunities and challenges that exist in the blended learning approach.

“My teaching through BL improved a lot as I managed to explain some of the Cost Accounting concepts better. I did employ teaching aids like pictures, videos, and additional information links to further explain the study principle in a more meaningful way,” said Gqokonqana.

He was also quick to point out that there were two major challenge with which students had to grapple, and those were the inadequacy of internet connectivity, as well as there not being enough reminders on the system regarding the various tasks issued to students and the subsequent submission deadlines. 

By Thando Cezula