Volume 1, Issue 2 (Special Issue) 2020
http://ir.gzu.ac.zw:8080/xmlui/handle/123456789/371
2024-03-29T06:22:41ZMaster of Education students’ experiences and views towards use of WhatsApp platform in lecture deliveries during Covid-19 lockdown at a university in Zimbabwe
http://ir.gzu.ac.zw:8080/xmlui/handle/123456789/382
Master of Education students’ experiences and views towards use of WhatsApp platform in lecture deliveries during Covid-19 lockdown at a university in Zimbabwe
Makaye, Jeriphanos; Gonye, Jairos
The subsequent lockdown of schools and universities world over, in response to the Covid-19 pandemic has led these institutions to adapt more online modes of teaching so as to mitigate the effects of disruption to learning. Using a qualitative case study design, this research explored and assessed how a class of Master of Curriculum Studies students at a state university in Zimbabwe used the WhatsApp platform in their lectures. Two platforms were at their disposal, that is, Google Classroom and WhatsApp platform but students opted for the WhatsApp platform for its perceived affordability. The students engaged in lectures via the WhatsApp platform for three weeks during the lockdown period and were being guided by their lecturer in two Curriculum Studies modules. The students who had been purposively selected were asked to complete a questionnaire which had unstructured questions on what they liked and disliked about their experiences during the three-week learning conducted on the WhatsApp platform and the improvement thereof.The findings revealed that most students benefited and enjoyed using the WhatsApp platform in their learning. Participants also endorsed the platform indicating that it enabled learners to access the material which was recorded on the platform, something which does not normally happen with the face-to-face mode. It was concluded that if appropriately used, the WhatsApp platform could be a competitive platform for teaching and learning even in higher education. It is recommended that with smartphone affordances such as WhatsApp platform students and lecturers could engage in several interactive learning activities outside the four walls of the lecture room, especially where „social distancing‟ and non-face-to-face contact were to be adhered to.
2020-01-01T00:00:00ZImages of Covid-19 in selected socially-mediated WhatsApp messages shared in Zimbabwe
http://ir.gzu.ac.zw:8080/xmlui/handle/123456789/381
Images of Covid-19 in selected socially-mediated WhatsApp messages shared in Zimbabwe
Nyoni, Mika
This paper employs the Reader Response criticism to analyse a selection of artified posts inspired by the Covid-19 pandemic and shared in WhatsApp groups by Zimbabweans. Social media groupings are the ‘in-thing’ today-this is where many now gather and interact variously unfettered by geographical constraints. The reader is a key element in the situation since messages are written with a reader in mind and sent to be read, hence the ‘natural’ selection of the Reader Response lens of analysis assumed here. The study notes that socially mediated messages in the artistic realm such as those analysed in this paper are potent communication and educational means as they are instantaneous and have the potential to reach all corners of the world via social media platforms. They can also be re-sent, edited and repurposed. They can go viral and assume meme status. In doing this, the word gets to the world. If however it gets there contaminated as often happens in pandemic induced infodemic settings, the powers that be can always intervene and address the misinformation.The paper contends that the texts that consist of cartoons, a combination of image and words, apparently photo-shopped pictures, combined with other signs and reassigned tell different stories about the pandemic. They can thus be treated as literature.The paper notes that Covid-19 is dramatised variously in the selected images: as something brought by Satan to win souls away from God, as a hide-out for the socially depraved and as an overly fearsome monster, among others. In spite of the horror of loss, some of the messages may be seen as providing the much needed cathartic outlet for the art producers and recipients cum sharers. In a way, such art provides comic relief especially for the pandemic hostages holed up in different lockdown settings around the globe. In education settings the images that can be perceived as pandemic ‘by-product’ art can be employed in different subjects as media to inculcate critical thinking and sharpen analytic skills.
2020-01-01T00:00:00ZHigher education pedagogy in crisis: Challenges in teaching and learning during the Covid-19 era in Zimbabwe
http://ir.gzu.ac.zw:8080/xmlui/handle/123456789/380
Higher education pedagogy in crisis: Challenges in teaching and learning during the Covid-19 era in Zimbabwe
Mupa, Paul
Covid-19 placed higher education pedagogy in a crisis, particularly in Zimbabwe. This study explores the pedagogical challenges that have been caused by the Covid-19 pandemic in the Zimbabwean higher education system. The study employed the qualitative paradigm and a case study design with three universities in Masvingo province. Seven lecturers and ten students from three universities were purposefully sampled because of their richness in data. Electronic interviews were used to generate data. The major findings from this study were that lecturers faced challenges in employing interactive teaching methods. For example, lecturers in the natural sciences found it difficult to conduct experiments online. Students faced challenges in engaging in group presentations. It was also established that lecturers were sometimes not available online for consultation and this limited interaction between students and lecturers. The study concluded that there were serious pedagogical challenges that had been brought by the Covid-19 pandemic in Zimbabwe. The study recommends that a robust professional development programme on ICT based teaching be developed for lecturers to improve the quality of teaching in the Covid-19 era. Zimbabwean universities should build their own capacities to facilitate and support student learning.
2020-01-01T00:00:00ZHarnessing WhatsApp group communication for university teaching and learning during Covid-19 in Zimbabwe: Successes, challenges and prospects
http://ir.gzu.ac.zw:8080/xmlui/handle/123456789/379
Harnessing WhatsApp group communication for university teaching and learning during Covid-19 in Zimbabwe: Successes, challenges and prospects
Mhindu, Admire
The emergence of theCovid-19 global pandemic has thrown the education system into disarray in Zimbabwe and beyond as national lockdowns have been instituted in order to curb its spread. Face-to-face teaching was abandoned and institutions of higher learning were forced to adopt online options for teaching and learning purposes. The current study sought to establish the successes, challenges and prospects of using the WhatsApp platform for learning. The study adopted a case study research design. An open ended questionnaire and semi-structured interviews were used to gather data from fifteen final year university undergraduate students majoring in English Language and Literature and five lecturers in the school of education at a selected state university in Zimbabwe.A thematic approach was used to analyse the collected data.The study established that to a larger extent, the use of the WhatsApp group feature had facilitated teaching and learning during the national lockdown. Lecturers highlighted that they conducted lectures, sent notes, assignment questions and due dates to students on the class WhatsApp group. Students used the WhatsApp group feature to share reading material and engage in meaningful group discussions. The major challenge with using WhatsApp for teaching and learning was on the cost of WhatsApp bundles which were very expensive .Lecturers and students also indicated that there were some few students who flouted the purpose of the WhatsApp groups established for academic purposes by posting irrelevant material and jokes. The study recommends that universities provide the much-needed data bundles for learning to continue online despite the national lockdown. Lecturers and students in universities and colleges are encouraged to embrace WhatsApp group communication as it can facilitate the sharing of books and journal articles published online. Ground rules should also be respected to improve and formalise online learning
2020-01-01T00:00:00Z