Teaching and learning in online and blended learning environments in South African higher education and the implications for students’ access and success

This presentation shares findings from a doctoral study exploring teaching and learning in online and blended learning environments in South African higher education and the implications for students’ access and success. The research design took the form of a qualitative, multiple case study design, featuring observations and interviews in first-year courses of extended curriculum programmes of various disciplines at a South African university. The nuanced and complex nature of digital inequalities and digital literacies in this context are explored, as well as student agency in this regard, and an argument is made for blended, rather than fully online or contact, teaching and learning approaches. Insights from the study provide valuable takeaways for those considering how to better support students and to adopt more socially just approaches to the use of technology in education.