Reimaging eLearning technologies to support students: On reducing transactional distance at an open and distance eLearning institution

Abstract

Transactional distance continues to be a major issue in Distance Education (DE) as resolutions to guarantee and support it are not wholly contingent on technological affordances, but depend on interactions, communication, and motivational channels embedded in pedagogical practices. While education during the Covid-19 pandemic is supported by DE, discussions around academic achievement during the pandemic have also begun. This paper argues that without reducing the transactional distance between the lecturers and students in DE institutions, effective teaching and learning cannot occur. This is a qualitative, participatory action research study that uses the experiences of first-year students, interviews from lecturers and observations of the online activity of the students in one academic writing module. This paper draws on one DE University as an example, the University of South Africa. The purpose of the paper is to identify and suggest alternative pedagogical practices to reduce the transactional distance between students and lecturers.