1. LIS education and training:
COVID-19 and beyond
LIASA RETIG Webinar
16th October 2020
Andiswa Mfengu
Department of Knowledge and Information Stewardship,
Faculty of Humanities, University of Cape Town

2. HE context
COVID-19 changed teaching and
learning
Emergency remote teaching
(ERT) – (Hodges, 2020)
Unequal socio-economic
conditions

3. HE context
#BlackLivesMatter
Decolonization
Gender-based violence

4. Opportunities
Innovation
Upskilling/reskilling
Adaptability
Resilience

5. Opportunities
Sensitivity
Compassion
Collaboration
Re-imagine higher education

6. Student survey on ERT
experiences

7. Course load

8. Home and study circumstances

9. Engagement and support

10. Actual realities
Staff burnout
Excessive demands on tutors
Increased student dropout rates

11. Actual realities
Increased financial burden
Increased need for support
structures

12. Way forward
Local environment
Promote positive, face-to-face
Recognise our new realities
Multilingualism project
Teacher training

13. Way forward
Student support services
Access – universal design for learning
Space

14. Effective & appropriate pedagogy
Must not exacerbate existing inequalities
Equity
Short-term approaches
Innovation vs technology vs good solutions

15. References
Cleophas, F. 2020. Covid-19 pandemic highlights challenges of online teaching
and learning. Available: https://mg.co.za/education/2020-08-06-covid-19-
pandemic-highlights-challenges-of-online-teaching-and-learning/ [2020,
October 10].
Hodges, C. et al. 2020. The difference between emergency remote teaching and
online learning. Available: https://er.educause.edu/articles/2020/3/the-
difference-between-emergency-remote-teaching-and-online-learning [2020,
October 13].
University of Cape Town. 2020a. UCT Emergency Remote Teaching student
experience [Unpublished].
University of Cape Town. 2020b. Survey reveals remote learning highs and lows.
Available: https://www.news.uct.ac.za/article/-2020-08-05-survey-reveals-
remote-learning-highs-and-lows [2020, October 14].