EXAMINING THE INFLUENCE OF COVID-19 PANDEMIC ON MENTORING NOVICE ACADEMICS IN ONLINE DISTANCE EDUCATION AND LEARNING (ODEL)

The purpose of the article seeks to examine the influence of the Covid-19 pandemic on mentoring novice academics involved in Open and Distance Learning (ODEL). The main research question guiding this qualitative inquiry is: "How has the Covid-19 pandemic influenced the mentoring experiences of novice academics in the realm of Open and Distance Learning?" The thesis of this article is that the pandemic posed unprecedented challenges which affected the mentoring relationships of novice academics within the context of ODEL. The qualitative data collection methods were utilized to capture the nuanced aspects of the mentoring process during the pandemic. Literature review served as the primary means of data collection, drawing insights from existing scholarly works to inform the understanding of the mentoring dynamics in the ODEL environment. The study adopted an interpretive paradigm, relying on the interpretation of findings from other scholars' research as well as extracting meaningful insights from the experiences shared in the literature. The analysis was also rooted in the interpretative lens or paradigm. Findings suggest that the unprecedented challenges caused by the pandemic had devastating long term implications on mentoring relationships in the broader discourse within the everchanging landscape of ODEL. Some of the challenges include the following, novice academics were left with no choice but to migrate to online or electronic platforms without the requisite knowledge, skills, literacy and relevant training as they grappled with their daily research activities, virtual platforms are dependent entirely on the access or availability of internet which was not the case. factors like lack of internet connectivity, absence of electricity, intermittent load shedding and limited access to essential infrastructure