9 The missing link: Navigating the educational journey during the Pandemic in the absence of a Learning Management System and ePortfolios
Jennifer Sheokarah
University of KwaZulu-Natal,, South Africa
ABSTRACT
The COVID-19 pandemic presented significant challenges for education, exposing vulnerabilities in schools, particularly those with a lack of access to technology or a Learning Management System (LMS) and ePortfolios. At my school, where these tools were not in place, the transition to remote learning was cumbersome and stressful. When school resumed amidst social distancing protocol, we implemented an alternate-day schedule due to overcrowded classrooms, notably reducing the time needed for learners to submit assignments and get meaningful feedback. While some schools resorted to their online platforms like Google Classroom and Zoom, my school saw classes suspended for three months. To continue learning during the pandemic, physical booklets were created with the aim to keep learners engaged. This system added considerable logistical challenges and caused anxiety for learners and parents who needed to collect the booklets. This is where the potential of ePortfolios is emphasised as it could have provided a more flexible, accessible space for learners to continue engaging with learning materials without compromising safety. This chapter explores the difficulties I faced during the COVID-19 pandemic and examines how ePortfolios could have alleviated many of these challenges. ePortfolios would have helped bridge the gap caused by the lack of a formal LMS. They could have allowed learners to continue their learning independently, despite the limited face-to-face instruction, and provided teachers with a way to offer timely feedback, even on alternate days. The absence of this tool highlights the reliance on face-to-face instruction and the limitations of traditional teaching and learning during times of disruption. The chapter underscores the broader lessons learned from this experience, emphasising the need for digital infrastructures to ensure continuity in education during unforeseen disruptions. An LMS coupled with ePortfolios will not only support individualised learning but also foster resilience, enabling both learners and educators to adapt to sudden change. The chapter offers insights into how ePortfolios can serve as a vital tool for overcoming educational challenges and preparing schools for future crises, creating a more sustainable future for education.
Keywords: COVID-19; Learning Management System; ePortfolios; Remote Learning; Educational Challenges
INTRODUCTION
The COVID-19 pandemic triggered a significant shift in education. The declaration of COVID-19 as a global pandemic prompted South Africa to enter a state of national disaster, resulting in multiple periods of school closures (Spinelli & Pellino, 2020). In early 2020, schools globally were abruptly closed, disrupting normal teaching routines. South Africa was no exception. South African schools had to transition suddenly to emergency remote teaching, depending heavily on Learning Management Systems (LMS) to support instructional delivery (Canani & Seymour, 2021). Lockdowns forced many schools to adopt emergency remote teaching strategies, often without sufficient digital readiness, both infrastructural and pedagogical (van der Berg & Spaull, 2020).
This crisis exacerbated long-standing inequalities in under-resourced settings, further marginalising learners who lacked stable internet access, cell phones, laptops, or support structures. Rural learners in South Africa were excluded from online learning during the COVID-19 pandemic due to limited internet access and inadequate digital infrastructure (Dube, 2020), as was the case in some urban schools. This systemic digital divide continues to undermine equitable access to education and highlights the urgent need for sustainable, inclusive digital solutions in under-resourced schooling contexts (Dube, 2020).
Contrary to this, well-resourced schools navigated the transition to remote learning more effectively by employing Learning Management Systems (LMSs), video conferencing platforms such as Zoom and Microsoft Teams, and asynchronous digital tools. However, rural and township schools – and some under-resourced urban schools, including the one where I was teaching at the time – faced significant challenges due to the absence of such infrastructure. As part of my PhD study, which unfolded during the COVID-19 pandemic, I maintained a research journal originally intended to document the Participatory Action Research (PAR) process and data generation. However, given my dual role as both researcher and English teacher to the participants, the journal also became a critical space for recording the pedagogical challenges experienced during this period. It captured how our school relied on the distribution of physical learning booklets, collected in person. These materials placed additional burdens on families and failed to support meaningful interaction or differentiated feedback. My entries frequently reflect the anxiety and logistical complexities that characterised teaching and learning during national lockdowns, especially when movement was severely restricted.
The primary purpose of this chapter is to reflect critically on how the absence of an LMS and ePortfolios shaped the educational response during the pandemic. Drawing on my dual role as teacher and researcher engaged in second language learning, I aim to reflect on how digital tools, or their absence, affected teaching, learning, and feedback processes. I use my journal entries, which include conversations from informal interviews with learners to provide empirical insight into these dynamics.
Central to the chapter is the assertion that ePortfolios have transformative potential in fostering digital resilience during systemic disruptions. An ePortfolio provides a structured, learner-centred space for asynchronous engagement, multimodal expression, and reflective practice (Jenson & Treuer, 2014; Walland & Shaw, 2020). It supports ongoing feedback cycles that are not bound by classroom presence. Literature on feedback literacy emphasises the importance of timely, dialogic feedback in supporting learning (Nicol & Macfarlane-Dick, 2007; Carless & Boud, 2018). ePortfolios, when thoughtfully integrated, can amplify these effects by extending feedback beyond the limited classroom walls.
From my perspective, shaped by teaching during the COVID-19 pandemic, access to flexible learning tools was essential for sustaining education under rapidly changing conditions. Mpungose (2020) highlights this from a digital resilience standpoint, and my own experiences echo studies showing that LMS-supported models in South Africa enhanced adaptability in schools (Canani & Seymour, 2021). In the absence of such tools, my school’s reliance on printed booklets starkly exposed how digital inequalities deepened existing pedagogical vulnerabilities.
This chapter argues that ePortfolios represent an essential component of digital resilience in education, providing a pedagogical bridge between face-to-face interaction and remote learning. Through reflective exercises and asynchronous teacher feedback, ePortfolios enable continuity, agency, and inclusivity even amid disruptions like the COVID-19 pandemic. In the following sections, I will explore a brief methodology, the educational landscape pre-pandemic, the impact of the pandemic on teaching and learning, the role of ePortfolios in addressing challenges caused by the pandemic, specific challenges posed by the alternate-day schedule, the timing and nature of feedback under constrained conditions, and the unrealised affordances of ePortfolio integration. These reflections draw directly from my PhD journal and pedagogical experience and are situated within recent scholarship on educational technology, feedback literacy, and digital resilience.
METHODOLOGY
This chapter draws on a reflective practitioner methodology within a broader qualitative, action research PhD study that explored my implementation of a co-curricular club to enhance the learning of English in a South African high school. As part of the action research study, I kept a research journal to document important aspects of the journey and the teaching and learning that occurred in the club.
Although the primary focus of the PhD did not centre on the COVID-19 pandemic, the onset of the pandemic disrupted some parts of the research and teaching and learning as a whole. Resultingly, my reflective journal became a space for documenting the challenges and adaptations encountered during the lockdown, considering the lack of a Learning Management System or ePortfolio. This is based on the fact that I was both a teacher at the school and a researcher in my PhD journey.
THE EDUCATIONAL LANDSCAPE PRE-PANDEMIC
Before COVID-19 forced schools to close, the educational reality at my school was already difficult. As a public secondary school with over 900 learners from grades 8 to 12, we served predominantly disadvantaged communities. Many learners travelled long distances by bus from rural and township areas to get to school. Classes were large. My typical classroom held about 60 learners. This overcrowding made meaningful interaction challenging and placed heavy demands on teachers.
From a technological standpoint, the school was significantly under-resourced. Although a few computers were available, they were largely outdated and seldom integrated into teaching and learning. Learners lacked foundational digital skills, which further limited meaningful engagement with technology. A learning management system (LMS) was not implemented, nor was it ever seriously considered, given that many learners did not have access to devices or reliable internet connectivity at home. Under such conditions, establishing an online platform would have been ineffective, as learners were unable to engage with digital tools beyond the school environment. This reflects Dube’s (2020) observation that rural learners were largely excluded from online learning due to infrastructural and connectivity challenges.
The absence of digital infrastructure was not just a matter of resources but of access and skills. Many learners did not have email addresses or experience in navigating digital platforms. Digital access among learners was uneven. Not all learners owned cell phones, and few had functioning email addresses. In classroom discussions prior to the pandemic, it became evident that even those with email access often relied on family members for assistance. This reality underscored the significant barriers to transitioning to online learning and highlighted the extent of digital exclusion in the context of this school.
The socio-economic context of our learners further complicated teaching and learning. Many lived in homes without reliable electricity or internet access. Data was expensive and often shared among family members using basic mobile phones. With internet cafés closed due to lockdown regulations, as noted by Dube (2020), learners lost a crucial means of accessing online learning when the need arose. This situation further exposed the digital access challenges rural and under-resourced learners faced, compounding educational exclusion during the pandemic.
Additionally, learners frequently had responsibilities at home, such as caring for siblings, which limited their time and space for homework and assignments. These circumstances contrast with more resourced urban schools, where learners could more easily transition to online learning during the various levels of lockdowns.
Scholars like Passey et al. (2018) note that digital inequality is not simply about connectivity but about digital agency, which is the ability to confidently and competently participate in online learning environments. Our school’s digital engagement was minimal, not because teachers were unwilling, but because the systemic barriers made it almost impossible. Before the pandemic, attempts to integrate technology were sporadic and unsupported. Some teachers used the multimedia room (the classroom with a projector), but there was no effective strategy to build digital awareness or capacity. Online teaching methodologies were unfamiliar to most staff and learners, and digital literacy was not prioritised in professional development. Despite national policies promoting Information and Communication Technology (ICT) integration (Department of Basic Education, 2004), little had translated into meaningful practice at our school. Resultingly, when the pandemic forced school closures, we faced unpreparedness and found ourselves to urgently get a ‘Plan B’. With no LMS or online tools to fall back on, we resorted to printed booklets so that learning could occur to some extent. This one-way approach offered no scope for interaction, immediate feedback, or support. Learners were required to work largely independently, often without meaningful support, as they faced a range of challenges in their home environments. These included the absence of adult guidance due to working caregivers or the presence of parents and guardians who, in many cases, lacked the educational background to assist with school-related tasks during the pandemic.
As I reflected on these realities during my PhD research, I recognised how fragile our system was. The classroom was the core of learning, and when access to that physical space was cut off, teaching and learning became harshly disrupted. This experience underscored the urgent need for digital tools, like ePortfolios, that could provide continuity and learner agency even when face-to-face contact is limited in the face of emergencies like during the COVID-19 pandemic.
THE SUDDEN IMPACT OF THE PANDEMIC ON TEACHING AND LEARNING
The arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic in South Africa marked an unprecedented disruption to the schooling system, profoundly affecting learners and teachers (van der Berg & Spaull, 2020). At my school, the sudden closure in March 2020 meant a complete halt to face-to-face teaching for three months. This break was not a brief pause but an extended interruption that revealed the fragility of our traditional educational model. Without any digital learning platforms in place, the transition to remote learning was not just challenging – it was, for many learners, essentially impossible.
School Closure and Disruption
The initial closure was met with uncertainty and anxiety. Learners lost access to the physical spaces and structured environments where they typically engaged with content, interacted with peers, and received guidance. In my school, the impact was particularly acute due to the presence of a government-supported feeding scheme. For many learners, the daily meal provided at school was a critical source of nutrition. Beyond food security, the school also served as a safe and predictable space – emotionally, socially, and physically. Its closure meant the withdrawal of a protective environment where learners could temporarily escape difficult home circumstances and receive consistent support. The combination of disrupted learning, social isolation, and the loss of this stabilising space deepened the vulnerabilities of already marginalised learners.
The absence of an LMS or digital platform meant that learners had no centralised way to access learning materials online. Our school’s strategy to distribute physical workbooks in person was well-meaning but fraught with challenges. Learners had to travel to the school to collect these materials, a process complicated by strict lockdown regulations and transport difficulties. In my PhD research journal, I documented several instances of learners expressing feelings of frustration and isolation. One learner confided that she “did not understand the booklet questions” and had “no one to ask for help.” The booklets were largely self-explanatory but lacked the interactive element of classroom instruction. The lack of immediate feedback left many learners unsure if they were on the right track, exacerbating anxiety and disengagement.
Logistical Challenges
The logistical obstacles were significant. Teachers were tasked with preparing and distributing physical materials, coordinating pick-up times, and later collecting completed work. This was done without the support of digital communication tools. Phone calls, text messages, and occasional WhatsApp messages were the primary means of communication at my school, but many learners had limited access to phones or data, and network connectivity was often unreliable.
The breakdown in teacher-learner communication was challenging. Without an LMS to facilitate assignment submission, feedback, or discussions, teachers were largely unaware of learners’ progress or difficulties during the lockdown. In my experience, some learners did not return their completed work when school reopened. This made it difficult to maintain accurate records or to identify those who were falling behind. Furthermore, it made catching up more difficult.
From a teacher’s perspective, the situation was exhausting. The burden of preparing physical materials doubled the administrative workload, which was already a challenge. Feedback, usually given during or after class, now had to be written and returned during brief face-to-face sessions during the alternate-day schedule, which will be discussed next. Teachers worried about learners slipping through the cracks and about their own ability to provide meaningful support under such constrained circumstances.
THE ROLE OF EPORTFOLIOS IN ADDRESSING THE CHALLENGES OF DISRUPTED SCHOOLING
ePortfolios (electronic portfolios) are digital repositories that document learners’ work, reflections, and achievements over time. Many definitions of ePortfolios emphasise their role as ongoing collections of evidence demonstrating continuous learning, typically used for assessment. While ePortfolios are centred on the learner, instructors play a crucial role by shaping the learning environment and implementing strategies that foster student engagement (Mudau & Modise, 2022). The ePortfolio serves as a lifelong learning resource, enabling students to regularly revise and expand its content (Mudau & Modise, 2022). Unlike traditional paper-based portfolios, ePortfolios incorporate a variety of digitally stored media, known as artefacts (Walland & Shaw, 2022). Their content can be highly diverse, shaped by the intended purpose of the portfolio. This may encompass factual information, examples of learning strategies employed, work produced during lessons, reflective entries, proof of learning progress, feedback from teachers and explanatory annotations, and much more (Walland & Shaw, 2022).
As personalised digital learning environments, ePortfolios facilitate assignment submission, feedback exchange, and critical reflection in a space accessible from any location with internet connectivity. This functionality positions ePortfolios as particularly valuable during periods of educational disruption, such as the COVID-19 pandemic, when access to structured classroom environments was severely restricted. Their capacity to support remote, asynchronous engagement and personalised learning trajectories aligns with the need for continuity and flexibility in crisis-affected contexts.
The COVID-19 pandemic laid bare systemic inequalities in access to digital learning infrastructure, particularly in under-resourced schools that lacked Learning Management Systems (LMSs) and reliable internet connectivity. At my school, these gaps became apparent. With no LMS in place and with learners attending on an alternate-day schedule, the logistics of distributing assignments, collecting work, and providing feedback became increasingly complex. In this context, ePortfolios could have mitigated many of these challenges.
One of the key affordances of ePortfolios is their support for asynchronous learning. Learners can upload their work at any time, circumventing the constraints of real-time online instruction, which is a critical advantage for learners without stable internet access or who share devices at home (Mpungose, 2020). During the alternate-day attendance period, such flexibility would have allowed learners to engage with tasks on their home days, reducing the impact of lost contact time. Moreover, asynchronous access respects the diverse learning rhythms. Language learners, for example, benefit from repeated exposure and reflection. ePortfolios allow for this non-linear learning pathway, enhancing opportunities for revision and self-paced engagement (Carless & Boud, 2018).
Formative assessment is a core component of effective pedagogy, yet during the pandemic, reduced contact time limited the frequency and quality of teacher feedback. ePortfolios offer an efficient solution, enabling multimodal feedback (Carless & Boud, 2018). This not only strengthens the feedback loop but also supports deeper comprehension by engaging different modes of communication. In addition, ePortfolios provide teachers with a longitudinal view of learner development, which is particularly useful when face-to-face engagement is limited. For many learners in my school, the sudden shift to independent learning was overwhelming. Teacher contact was limited, and structured support was scarce. In this environment, ePortfolios could have provided a digital anchor – a consistent space for learners to consolidate and reflect on their learning, fostering metacognitive skills essential for academic resilience.
Perhaps most significantly, ePortfolios offer a potential buffer against systemic disruption. By serving as a continuous digital learning space, they enable schools to maintain curriculum delivery and assessment even when physical access to classrooms is interrupted. In my own reflections during the pandemic, I noted how the absence of such tools rendered learning fragmented and inconsistent. A well-structured ePortfolio system could have provided coherence and stability, mitigating the learning loss widely reported during this period (Spaull & van der Berg, 2020), for both school subjects and co-curricular activities.
THE ALTERNATE-DAY SCHEDULE: TIME CONSTRAINTS AND CHALLENGES
Large class sizes remain a persistent challenge in South African schools, with at least 50% of learners in classes exceeding 40 and 10 to 20% in classes with more than 60 learners (van der Berg & Spaull, 2020). In response to these overcrowded conditions during the COVID-19 pandemic, many high schools implemented alternate-day attendance schedules to comply with physical distancing requirements.
When the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted formal schooling, its effects were particularly severe in resource-constrained environments like my public high school. While necessary for health and safety, this approach further reduced contact time, exacerbating existing inequalities in learning and support for already overburdened classrooms. Without a Learning Management System (LMS) or digital infrastructure, I witnessed firsthand how established pedagogical routines collapsed under logistical constraints. At the same time, I was engaged in my PhD journey researching second language learning and learner agency. My research journal unexpectedly became a rich source of data, capturing the unfolding crisis alongside my evolving reflections. This section draws on these journal entries to explore how the alternate-day schedule reshaped teaching and learning and how ePortfolios might have offered a more sustainable, learner-centred solution during this period.
Adapting to the Alternate-Day Schedule
To comply with social distancing, our school introduced an alternate-day timetable: learners were split into groups where different grades attended classes on certain days of the week, with only Grade 12 learners attending daily. While this arrangement reduced overcrowding, it halved the time learners spent physically in school. Instructional time was cut by approximately 50%, forcing rapid pedagogical adjustments.
The shift was immediate and disruptive. Lessons became truncated, focusing on syllabus coverage at the expense of deeper conceptual engagement, and merely so that learners were prepared for the assessments to come. Differentiation and scaffolding were sacrificed due to time constraints.The return to school was nerve-wracking and anxiety-inducing. I had to arrive at school by 6:30 am, well before lessons began, to check the temperature of every learner entering the school premises. This health screening process was repeated at the end of the day, ensuring learners left safely. Maintaining strict social distancing was a constant challenge, as was continually reminding learners that they could not play or socialise as before. The emotional toll was heavy – enforcing these rules while trying to teach and keep my learners and myself safe left me exhausted, both physically and mentally. The fatigue compounded with the pressure to deliver curriculum in less time, magnifying the challenges of the alternate-day schedule. This felt tenfold as a Grade 12 teacher of English, which I was at the time.
Many schools adopted online platforms like Google Classroom or Moodle to manage asynchronous learning (Mpungose, 2020), but without digital infrastructure, my school relied heavily on printed booklets. These materials were intended for completion at home but brought logistical challenges. Parents had to come to the school to collect booklets amid health restrictions, and many learners felt overwhelmed by the absence of guidance.
Backlog and Catch-up
When schools reopened with the alternate-day schedule to reduce overcrowding and maintain social distancing, the challenges multiplied. The limited face-to-face contact time meant that teachers had fewer hours to deliver the curriculum, assess learner progress, and provide revision opportunities to learners who usually needed it. The backlog of unfinished work accumulated during lockdown needed urgent attention.
In my teaching journal, I recorded the tension felt by both learners and teachers as we tried to “catch up” on lost time. One learner remarked, “Every day feels like too little time to finish everything, and when I’m not at school for some days of the week, I lose track of what was done and forget what I need to do.” The pressure to complete syllabi within a shortened calendar was substantial. Lessons were compressed, and homework became heavier, further disadvantaging learners who struggled with resources at home.
The alternate-day system itself introduced complexities. Learners attended school on different days, limiting peer collaboration and increasing isolation. Teachers had to adjust lesson plans constantly, preparing materials for in-person and worrying about learners’ safety simultaneously. Feedback cycles slowed, as returned work often only came back days or weeks after submission. Mpungose (2020) describes the emotional toll on teachers who had to balance professional responsibilities with personal anxieties amidst rapidly changing circumstances.
Learner and Teacher Experiences
The lived experiences of learners and teachers during this period were diverse but marked by uncertainty and resilience. Some learners demonstrated remarkable independence, motivated to keep pace despite obstacles. Others were overwhelmed by the fractured learning environment and were overcome by fear following the loss of their loved ones during this time. One learner shared that she “felt lost without daily lessons” and “missed the support of friends.”
Teachers navigated a complex emotional landscape. Many expressed feelings of helplessness but also a deep commitment to their learners. During a staff meeting I recorded in my PhD journal, I shared that I wanted to do more to reach learners who had sometimes fallen sick and could not attend school but still needed to get the work done. However, this was difficult without the necessary platforms in place. Research from similar contexts supports these observations. Dube (2020) highlights that South African rural learners faced significant exclusion from online education during the COVID-19 pandemic due to limited internet access, lack of LMS infrastructure, and inadequate low-tech resources, emphasising the need to prioritise social justice and inclusion in pandemic responses.
Despite these challenges, the pandemic also exposed areas for growth and reflection. The experience highlighted the urgent need for digital infrastructures that support asynchronous learning and timely feedback, such as LMSs and ePortfolios. It also highlighted the resilience of learners and teachers, who adapted creatively within severe constraints.
Limited Time for Completion and Feedback
The alternate-day model and absence of an LMS severely limited timely feedback. Feedback primarily involves teachers communicating learners’ strengths, areas for development, and strategies for improvement, while emphasising the active role of the learner in interpreting and applying this input to enhance future performance (Carless & Boud, 2018). This was hardly achieved. Learners who completed the booklets wanted feedback on what they had done, but this was not always possible upon returning to school, as teachers needed to “teach towards assessment” and had little time to do corrections and revision.
This breakdown of the feedback loop undermined formative assessment, which depends on timely, dialogic, and specific feedback to guide learning (Nicol & Macfarlane-Dick, 2006; Carless & Boud, 2018). Resultingly, learners felt like they “wasted their time completing the booklets.” Where feedback was given, it was often reduced to brief verbal comments in class that were too broad and general, with no opportunity for clarification or dialogue. Struggling learners particularly found it more challenging.
Reflecting on these challenges, I began to see ePortfolios as a promising alternative. Far from replacing face-to-face interaction, ePortfolios could supplement learning by enabling asynchronous submission of diverse artefacts such as essays, voice notes, and videos, allowing teachers to provide feedback at a sustainable pace. Research in South Africa supports this potential, showing that ePortfolios foster learner autonomy, engagement, and critical thinking (Mudau & Modise, 2022). ePortfolios promote ongoing reflection and revision, enabling learners to engage in scaffolded learning experiences where feedback and self-assessment support knowledge construction over time (Mudau & Modise, 2022). Carl and Strydom (2017) explore the use of ePortfolios as reflective tools during teaching practice in a South African teacher education programme. Their findings highlight that ePortfolios can support professional growth through structured reflection.
From a teacher’s perspective, ePortfolios centralise learner work and feedback, making progress visible and feedback more multimodal and enduring. In isolation, this virtual bridge could preserve relational teaching dynamics disrupted by physical distancing.
OVERALL REFLECTION AND CONCLUDING REMARKS
My PhD research journal functioned as both a methodological instrument and a personal archive throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, enabling critical reflection on the exacerbation of systemic inequities in education. The alternate-day schedule at my school, while necessary for health and safety, revealed the fragility of schooling systems that depend heavily on face-to-face contact. In the absence of digital infrastructures such as learning management systems and ePortfolios, learners and educators faced fragmented, inconsistent engagement with the curriculum and with each other.
ePortfolios represent more than a technological tool; they embody a learner-centred pedagogical approach that fosters flexibility, agency, and sustained engagement beyond the physical classroom. They provide an adaptable platform that can accommodate diverse learner contexts, support asynchronous learning, and facilitate ongoing, multimodal feedback. These features are essential for equitable education in times of crisis.
This reflective chapter underscores that digital readiness must be understood holistically. It requires not only access to devices and connectivity but also strategic investment in pedagogical practices, teacher professional development, and infrastructure that promote inclusive participation. Without such comprehensive preparation, educational disruptions will continue to deepen existing inequalities.
As South African schools prepare for an uncertain future, the integration of ePortfolios into mainstream teaching and learning must be prioritised. This shift offers a tangible means to bridge the divide between traditional and digital modalities, fostering resilience and responsiveness within the system. More importantly, it places learners at the centre of their educational journey, empowering them to navigate change with confidence and autonomy.
Ultimately, this chapter advocates for systemic reform that positions ePortfolios not as an optional add-on but as a critical component of a sustainable, equitable educational future – one that can withstand disruption and nurture lifelong learning.
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AUTHOR
Dr Jennifer Sheokarah is a lecturer in the School of Language Education at North-West University, Vanderbijlpark Campus. She obtained her PhD at the University of KwaZulu-Natal, where her research focused on innovative, anxiety-reducing approaches to second language learning. Her work explores gamified and outdoor learning strategies, fostering learner well-being and engagement. Drawing on her experience as a former high school English teacher, she prepares student teachers to create inclusive, low-anxiety classrooms that enhance language learning.
Email: Jennifer.Sheokarah@nwu.ac.za
