Abstract
In South Africa and elsewhere in the world, the COVID 19 outbreak in 2020 and the subsequent lockdown regulations forced both academics and students to adapt to a new reality (Cicha, Rizun, Rutecka and Strzeleki, 2021). This situation catapulted relations in higher education into a spotlight. Of particular concern in this paper is how e-tutors in an Open Distance Learning (ODL) university in South Africa have dealt with online interaction with the students during this period in particular. There is available research focusing on online interaction , however, there is paucity when it comes to care enacted by etutors on students to increase online interactions particularly during the Covid 19 pandemic. Through the lens of the pedagogy of care, the paper seeks to reconceptualise care during e-tutor-student interaction in an ODL environment. Therefore, the study explored the possible increase of etutor-student interaction during Covid19 pandemic in an ODL university in South Africa. Data was collected through a survey completed by etutors of one of the English modules at this university. Content analysis was employed to make sense of the patterns and categories that emerged from the data. Preliminary findings point to a marked increase in downloading of resources while there was little or no interaction by the students. Future research should focus on how to manage student online interaction during crisis situations.
Presenters
Thembeka ShangeAssociate Professor, Applied English Language Studies, UNISA, Gauteng, South Africa
Details
Presentation Type
Paper Presentation in a Themed Session
Theme
KEYWORDS
CARING ETHICS, FACELESSNESS, INTERACTION, ETUTORING,ODL
