Exploring the Adoption and Usage of Learning Management System as Alternative for Curriculum Delivery in South African Higher Education Institutions during Covid-19 Lockdown

Abstract

This study adopted a discursive approach to review the use of the Learning Management System (LMS) popularly known as 'Moodle’ in most South African universities. Moodle as fondly called is one of the online tools that can be effectively used to deliver learning activities as well as online learning assessments to implement curriculum delivery without borders or disruptions during the COVID-19 lockdown across the globe. The author highlights various extant studies on the usage and adoption of LMS into teaching and learning for effective implementation in higher institutions of learning. LMS is a global online tool that has been in use for decades in various higher institutions of learning across the developed countries. It has proved to be an efficient learning platform that has impacted significantly the education sector in these developed countries, as learning experiences are provided to diverse students at their comfort zones. With the break of the COVID-19 pandemic that affects the global world, teaching and learning in most parts of the developed countries continue to be facilitated through various online approaches that include LMS in the developed countries. Unfortunately, the pandemic lockdown in many developing countries like South Africa grossly impacted the delivery of curriculum and educational activities in various learning institutions for several months. The continuous presence of COVID-19 led the South African Department of Higher Education and Training to review approaches to curriculum delivery to salvage academic activities. Thus, declared online learning as an alternative to face-to-face curriculum delivery in higher institutions. The adoption of LMS results as the best approach to engage students in full teaching and learning activities.