ABSTRACT
BackgroundAfrica, like other parts of the world, continuously strives to deliver quality health professions education. These efforts are influenced to a larger extent by the socio-economic and cultural context of the region, but also by what happens globally. The global disruption caused by the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020 necessitated the implementation of emergency remote teaching to continue delivering on the mandate of educating future health professionals. The purpose of this research was to describe the response of selected health professions education institutions in Southern Africa to the impact of COVID-19 and their preparedness for remote learning and teaching.MethodsA case study design was applied using an adapted ADKAR model as a conceptual framework for data interpretation. The purposively selected study population consisted of educators, students, and administrators in undergraduate medical and nursing programmes from six institutions in five countries.ResultsA total of 1307 respondents provided data for the study. Many of the institutions were caught off-guard when most educators and almost all students were required to leave their universities and go home. Stakeholders immediately became aware of the need to adopt online approaches as an emergency measure. In all programmes, educators, students, and administrators agreed that change was desired, and students realised that they had to take charge of their own learning independently. Overall educators reported confidence in the ability to use of standard Microsoft software, while knowledge of learning management systems proved more challenging for both educators and students. Many stakeholders, especially students and administrators, reported uncertainty about their ability to function in the new reality. Conducive family dynamics, a quiet space to study, good connectivity, a reliable electricity supply and appropriate devices were reported to reinforce learning and teaching.ConclusionsThe findings highlight the need for higher education institutions to prepare for alternative modes to face-to-face learning and teaching approaches with the ultimate aim of transitioning to full online learning more expeditiously. This requires scaling up educational infrastructure, prioritising strategic directives driving continuous professional development of educators and fostering co-constructivist approaches towards student centered education.
ABSTRACT
AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT : Namibia's State of Emergency was announced on 27 March 2020. Institutional attempts to introduce blended learning and formal online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic prior to the students leaving campus came too late. We subsequently did not have the luxury of time to plan and prepare formal online material. Emergency remote teaching (ERT) was started whilst our students were on recess with many stuck at home in rural off-grid settings. They were subsequently faced with erratic internet connectivity and limited data. This limitation necessitated a small file size alternative that addressed the educational needs of our students whilst permitting constructive alignment with the intended learning objectives. Furthermore, it was also found that students prefer communication through WhatsApp. Here the authors report on a novel and content-specific approach to ERT through to-the-point anatomy video tutorials that are data friendly - i.e., Goldilocks Anatomy