Developing a people-centered digital culture in a South African Higher Education Institution: An analysis of student sentiments during an educational crisis

The Covid-19 pandemic forced many higher education institutions (HEIs) to introduce temporary measures to minimise the learning losses resulting from institution closures, something which affected learning environments globally. Some of the measures introduced by HEIs included emergency remote teaching (ERT) to minimise the time lost in the academic project. Many students faced huge challenges with adapting to the digitalized way of learning. Students’ biggest challenges were insufficient resources and fear of failure. This study conducted a sentiment analysis on opinions shared by students from a South African public university on the introduction of ERT. Guided by a framework for developing a people-centred digital culture, the study analyses how the management of the educational crisis by the HEI led to the emergence of a people-centred digital culture at the onset of ERT. The study applied a qualitative methodology grounded in an interpretivist-constructivist paradigm. Through reflexive thematic analysis, qualitative data (sentiments) collected from an online social network (Twitter) were analysed qualitatively by the researchers to produce themes addressing issues that can be considered by HEIs in developing their digital cultures in an educational crisis. These findings revealed how students’ reaction to the institution's transition to a digital culture within an education catastrophe may be utelised to develop student centred technological development. Furthermore, their sentiments reveal a process that may lead to the development of a digital culture that can balance sound teaching and learning with digital technology and student care. HEIs can leverage student experiences shared on online social networks to strengthen their strategies in developing and sustaining people-centred digital cultures during and beyond an educational crisis.