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‘Lockdown’: Digital and Emergency eLearning Technologies—A Student Perspective

Isabella M. Venter Orcid Logo, Desireé Cranfield Orcid Logo, Andrea Tick Orcid Logo, Renette J. Blignaut Orcid Logo, Karen V. Renaud Orcid Logo

Electronics, Volume: 11, Issue: 18, Start page: 2941

Swansea University Author: Desireé Cranfield Orcid Logo

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Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent emergency measures had a fundamentaland disruptive impact on societies and, in particular, on the educational sector. The transition of themodality of educational delivery from face-to-face to online occurred within days; this researchstudy considered the con...

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Published in: Electronics
ISSN: 2079-9292
Published: Basel, Switzerland MDPI AG 2022
Online Access: Check full text

URI: https://cronfa.swan.ac.uk/Record/cronfa61260
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Abstract: The COVID-19 pandemic and the subsequent emergency measures had a fundamentaland disruptive impact on societies and, in particular, on the educational sector. The transition of themodality of educational delivery from face-to-face to online occurred within days; this researchstudy considered the concepts of digital trust and digital access, using structuration, postmodernism, and critical social theory as lenses to understand Higher Education (HE) student experiencesduring the first wave of the lockdown. The study compared these aspects in Hungary, South Africa,and Wales (UK) with different digital and network readiness indices. The digital development ofthe countries is presented using both the Digital Intelligence and Network Readiness indices. Theresearch approach was cross-country, international, comparative, inductive, and quantitative. Theresearch study found that there was a significant relationship between the countries’ GDP and theirnetwork readiness, impacting students’ online learning experiences. Significant differences werefound between the participating universities in terms of digital access and digital trust; this researchprovides valuable insights for informing future pedagogical approaches and teaching best practice,specifically for residential universities. Understanding challenges and barriers to student learningexperiences, and the impact of inequitable access to digital technologies and communication, is keyfor future pedagogical policy and practice. Several recommendations are made to inform practice
Keywords: COVID-19; higher education; student learning; digital technologies; digital trust; digital access; online learning; equitable access; country comparisons
College: Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences
Funders: This research received no external funding.
Issue: 18
Start Page: 2941