Since the Covid-19 pandemic, many learning institutions in South Africa, have adapted to online learning. In 2023, as the pandemic slowed down, universities were finally permitted to have students and lecturers on campus to commence face-to-face classes. Many modules continued the hybrid approach, making use of online and face-to-face learning.

When I started my academic career at the University of the Western Cape last year in 2022, we immediately began with online learning. I had no experience of being a student on campus, meeting with my peers and lecturers face-to-face or having the 'varsity experience', as many students call it. 

There was no opportunity to be against online learning, we had to adapt rather quickly. Luckily, iKamva is a user-friendly online system and with a few introductory courses, I adapted quite well to it. As an inquisitive student who is always ready to learn more, ask questions if I do not understand and build relationships with my lecturers, it was challenging at first. 

Online learning affected my learning positively in the following ways:

• I am a motivated student who can concentrate in quiet environments, therefore having no distractions from peers talking in lectures and other distractions is beneficial.

• The ability to re-watch lectures as many times as I want, in preparation for tests, and if I do not understand concepts initially positively influenced my studying and marks.

• The ability to wake up later in the morning - as I stay quite far from campus, it takes me at least 45 minutes to an hour to get to campus. This means that I have to wake up early in the morning to account for the travelling. 

There were also negative aspects to online learning:

• Not being able to ask lecturers questions about the work in person - an email or consultation over a video call sometimes is not enough when I am confused about an aspect of the work.

• Loadshedding caused several issues when it came to attending classes and doing online tests. The changing schedules would sometimes conflict with my tests, and I often had to complete tests during loadshedding.

• More self-studying - Some lecturers struggled to finish their syllabus as online learning and classes can sometimes be very slow compared to face-to-face classes, which are more fast-paced. This meant that there was more self-studying and learning required from us and as a student that thrives on face-to-face learning, this was a difficult adjustment.

• Screen fatigue - Constantly staring at my laptop for online classes and forgetting to take breaks from the screen, negatively affected my eyesight. I got headaches more often and was required to get glasses with a blue-screen filter to avoid this from happening in the future.

In order to adapt to online learning as a student, you have to:

1. Make use of various online platforms (iKamva, email, Google Drive, etc.) - This could be used to make your studying easier, to keep track of your online learning or to help you in completing tasks and group assignments.

2. Be open to change - Switching from face-to-face learning to online learning is a big change for many students. 

3. Stay motivated and diligent - There is no one who will ensure that you attend your online classes, do your homework or submit your assignments. Lecturers have less control over what you do as an online student, therefore you need to remain motivated, determined and diligent in your academic career.

4. Use all the provided resources - When the lecturers send out videos, newspaper articles, websites or extra reading material, make full use of these resources. They will assist you in understanding the work.

Reference: 

Malik, P. (2023). The Kübler Ross change Curve in the workplace (2023). The Whatfix Blog | Drive Digital Adoption. https://whatfix.com/blog/kubler-ross-change-curve/