Lessons from Covid-19: A Silver Lining for Teaching and Learning In Selected Lesotho Institutions of Higher Learning

Abstract

There has been a myriad of negative implications on teaching and learning at tertiary level that came along with the emergence of Covid-19 pandemic. The purpose of this paper is to investigate the lessons and opportunities presented by the pandemic to the learning and teaching process in Higher Educational Institutions (HEIs). The study employed a survey design and used diary and semistructured questionnaires as key data generation tools. A sample of 80 lecturing staff was used from three HEIs in Lesotho adopting a stratified random sampling. The findings from the study suggest that the implementation of online teaching and learning brought positive implications to Lesotho’s HEIs as most of the sampled respondents supported the intervention. The study also revealed that the COVID19 pandemic exposed shortcomings such as a lack of staff capacity to teach online, adoption of blended learning, and teaching and infrastructural preparedness in tertiary institutions. The study further suggests that there is a need to redevelop and redesign the curriculum, harmonize policies of teaching and assessment, and align them to online learning and teaching. The study recommended an inclusive stakeholder approach at the national and institutional level to drafting and implementing online learning supportive policies. Further research is recommended to quality regulators of tertiary institutions to understand their insights and perceptions of adopting online teaching and learning in HEIs