Making the invisible, visible: disability in South African distance education

Abstract

Distance education celebrates its humanitarian mission of providing opportunities for disadvantaged and marginalized individuals who do not have access to traditional campus-based higher education. Large enrolments of students necessitate an industrialized approach in planning, design, and delivery informed by a normative assumption of ableism. In the context of post-apartheid South Africa, distance education fulfills a particular important role in ensuring access to education for all. This scoping review addressed two questions: “What is currently known, in the context of distance education in South Africa, about the educational experiences of SWDs?” and “How should we understand and respond to these experiences?” The scoping study shows, inter alia, that while there is an institutional commitment to providing equitable learning experiences, the lived experiences of students with disabilities provide evidence of their invisibility in the design, planning, and delivery of learning. The study concludes with some recommendations and provocations.

Keywords:

• access
• distance education
• South Africa
• students with disabilities (SWDs)

Acknowledgments

The authors would like to acknowledge the input and guidance received from the reviewers and editorial team.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was declared by the author(s).

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Paul Prinsloo

Paul Prinsloo is a research professor in open distance learning in the Department of Business Management, University of South Africa. His research focuses on student success in open and distributed learning environments, digital identities, learning analytics, as well as issues pertaining to student data privacy and ethics.

Chinaza Uleanya

Chinaza Uleanya is currently a post-doctoral fellow in the Department of Business Management, University of South Africa, Pretoria, South Africa. He is an educationist, passionate about researching into fields capable of enhancing teaching and learning activities. His niche research area includes higher education, leadership education, and rural education and development.