INSIGHTS ON TEACHING DURING A PANDEMIC: THE CASE OF THE PROFESSIONAL COMMUNICATION SKILLS COURSE AT ONE UNIVERSITY IN ZIMBABWE

Abstract

As suggested in the title, this is a conceptual paper that discusses the
issues on teaching and assisting students to learn during the novel
COVID-19 pandemic. The COVID-19 pandemic is not only a health
issue, but it is also a social and economic phenomenon. This paper seeks
to interrogate how the COVID-19 pandemic has impacted teaching and
learning in one university in Zimbabwe. The COVID-19 pandemic and its
ramifications caught the global community unawares, including the
higher education community which had to quickly shift from face-to-face
lectures to online teaching and learning by an unprepared faculty and to
an equally unprepared student body. The pandemic, therefore, ushered
in a new ‘normal’ where lecturers and students are required to adapt to
online teaching and learning using different platforms as dictated by the
available resources. The paper will reflect on the challenges and
opportunities for online teaching and learning in the university during the
COVID-19 era and beyond the pandemic. The COVID-19 pandemic is a
new phenomenon which is still unfolding and hence no firm conclusions
can be made yet. The methods that were employed in this paper are
insights by the researchers who are the lecturers of the Professional
Communication Skills course, which is a university-wide course. This
paper is relevant insofar as it will provide evidence-based information on
the disruptions to teaching and learning caused by the pandemic which
will be useful for informing future strategies and measures for online
teaching and learning