Reconceptualizing the culture of teaching and learning in South African open distance e-learning institutions: the impact of remote work

The Covid-19 pandemic accelerated the global shift to remote work, disrupting conventional operations across sectors, including higher education. For South Africa’s Open Distance and e-Learning (ODeL) institutions, the pandemic revealed both their readiness for remote engagement and the gaps between ODeL’s theoretical promise and its operational reality. This study aimed to explore how remote work has reshaped the culture of teaching and learning within South African ODeL institutions, with particular attention to staff, students, and institutional practices. Adopting a qualitative, secondary-data approach, the study drew on published scholarship, policy reports, and media sources, with data thematically analysed to identify patterns of change. The findings demonstrate that remote work enhanced flexibility, creativity, and continuity in ODeL, enabling teaching, learning, and administration to continue effectively outside the physical campus. However, it also exposed sharp inequalities in digital readiness, as many students and staff struggled with poor connectivity, high data costs, limited digital literacy, and work–life imbalances. While these challenges mirror global trends, they were intensified in South Africa by persistent socio-economic inequalities and infrastructural constraints. The study concludes that remote work has transformative potential but is sustainable only if supported by policy, investment in digital infrastructure, ongoing training, and hybrid models of delivery