The University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) will switch to remote online teaching and learning from April 20, alongside a range of other contingency and continuity plans.

Wits academics have spent the past few weeks adapting the academic programme to go online largely through the university’s learning management systems, in developing additional resources for remote learning and in preparing to host these sites in the cloud, a statement on April 15 explained.

The university has also put in place additional measures to address challenges related to the lack of appropriate mobile computing devices and access to data. 

“We are acutely aware of the anxiety and uncertainty that online teaching and learning presents for both our colleagues and students. The world as we know it is in flux, and it will take our collective courage, dexterity and commitment to fend off the effects of this pandemic and to adapt to new ways of teaching and learning,” Wits Vice-Chancellor and Principal Professor Adam Habib commented.

He added that, while the faculties would ensure the requisite support was in place, students would have to make “an extraordinary effort” to adapt to remote online learning, particularly over the next few months.

Additionally, the university acknowledged that the playing field was uneven and that while many in society and communities “enjoy greater levels of privilege, the consequences of the pandemic have illuminated and amplified the existing inequalities in society”.

Wits Deputy Vice-Chancellor Professor Ruksana Osman, meanwhile, said the emergency remote teaching and learning plan had to take into consideration the different learning environments of students and their access to learning resources, appropriate devices and data.

Subsequently, multiple surveys across the institution had revealed that between 10% and 15% of Wits students did not have access to appropriate computing devices, adequate access to data or conducive learning environments.

To this end, the university was putting in place various measures to ensure the majority of students were able to learn remotely. This was accomplished through Wits having established a Mobile Computing Bank, which would enable qualifying students who do not have access to appropriate mobile learning devices to borrow basic devices from the bank.

These basic computing devices will be suitable for educational purposes and will be preloaded with the required learning resources before being delivered via the South African Post Office to students who require them.

The cost of the device will be added to students’ fee accounts and will be reversed if the device is returned in good order at the end of the academic year. The students most in need will be prioritised when devices are allocated. 

Additionally, the university has also finalised an agreement with four telecommunications service providers, namely Telkom, MTN, Vodacom and Cell C, to zero-rate Wits’ library and learning management sites from April 15.

Specific disciplines may be patient-based, laboratory-based, studio-based or involve creative practices that cannot be undertaken online. In these instances, the university said that it would explore high intensity immersion classes when it resumes contact teaching, resequencing the academic year to allow for theory to be taught online upfront followed by the practical and laboratory-based components later in the year, and perhaps even recalibrate the almanac.

In instances where students do not have access to any device or data, the university is exploring other options, including the possibility of using the South African Post Office to deliver paper-based material to students.

Additional support will be made available for students when contact teaching resumes, and particularly for students who will have had difficulty in transitioning to online learning. It may be necessary for face-to-face lectures to be extended through the September and December vacation breaks and for some cohorts, to extend the academic programme into 2021.

Students pursuing Masters or PhD degrees will continue to do research from home.

“The next few weeks are going to be challenging for us as a country and as a university. We have no choice but to stand strong to overcome this common invisible enemy. We should galvanise our resources to achieve one common goal – to see our students succeed.

"In so doing, we will develop the high-level skills to rebuild our country and produce the problem-posers and problem-solvers needed to tackle the complex problems that confront our society,” added Osman.