Factors affecting the adoption of online learning in South Africa using a systematic review
type: CreativeWork
description: South Africa’s Higher Education Institutions, traditionally reliant on face-to-face settings, demonstrated remarkable resilience and adaptability during the coronavirus outbreak. The swift response to the pandemic, including the shift to virtual classes following the lockdown announcement on 26 March 2020, is a testament to the sector's ability to overcome challenges. The most common difficulties cited among higher education institutions were the lack of infrastructure, inequalities amongst students and institutions, the digital divide, economic shortfalls, and social dynamics. The factors that hinder the adoption of online learning, such as facilitating conditions, computer efficacy, usefulness of online learning and adaptability, and social dynamics, can be explored further as the body of knowledge on these factors is limited. This study used a systematic review to determine the factors that affect the adoption of online learning in South Africa. The study used PRISMA guidelines to evaluate the academic articles published between 2019 and 2023. The PRISMA Guidelines is a trusted and credible method applied across the health and education sectors to ensure rigour and transparency, encourage replicability, and eliminate bias. The study retrieved articles from reputable databases such as Google Scholar, Springer, Scopus, etc. Clear inclusion/exclusion criteria and standardised methods were applied to minimise biases and identify relevant studies. Forty articles were reviewed systematically to determine the factors that affect the adoption of online learning in South African Higher Education Institutions (HEIs).
abstract: South Africa’s Higher Education Institutions, traditionally reliant on face-to-face settings, demonstrated remarkable resilience and adaptability during the coronavirus outbreak. The swift response to the pandemic, including the shift to virtual classes following the lockdown announcement on 26 March 2020, is a testament to the sector's ability to overcome challenges. The most common difficulties cited among higher education institutions were the lack of infrastructure, inequalities amongst students and institutions, the digital divide, economic shortfalls, and social dynamics. The factors that hinder the adoption of online learning, such as facilitating conditions, computer efficacy, usefulness of online learning and adaptability, and social dynamics, can be explored further as the body of knowledge on these factors is limited. This study used a systematic review to determine the factors that affect the adoption of online learning in South Africa. The study used PRISMA guidelines to evaluate the academic articles published between 2019 and 2023. The PRISMA Guidelines is a trusted and credible method applied across the health and education sectors to ensure rigour and transparency, encourage replicability, and eliminate bias. The study retrieved articles from reputable databases such as Google Scholar, Springer, Scopus, etc. Clear inclusion/exclusion criteria and standardised methods were applied to minimise biases and identify relevant studies. Forty articles were reviewed systematically to determine the factors that affect the adoption of online learning in South African Higher Education Institutions (HEIs).
author: Mdutyana, Lilitha
keywords: Virtual Learning, South African Higher Education, Coronavirus, Emergency Learning, Online Learning
license: https://uwcscholar.uwc.ac.za/bitstreams/d3088d05-5fd5-4d91-80eb-869a7f1d321e/download
date published: 2025
date modified: 2026-07-24T06:00:40Z
provider: University of the Western Cape
publisher: Networked Digital Library of Theses and Dissertations
type: WebPage
source organization: University of the Western Cape