The Covid-19 global pandemic has resulted in many countries moving teaching and learning online. South Africa is a country with major inequalities in terms of access to electricity, internet and information technologies, which have created considerable problems for online learning at institutions of higher learning in the country. In this paper, we analyse student feedback from two large undergraduate English courses at a school of Education of a major South African university. We specifically focus on two qualitative questions which asked students about the challenges they faced and the skills they developed in online learning. Results are considered through the lens of critical digital pedagogies and decolonisation. Our findings indicate that a lack of access and resources, disruptive home environments and unfamiliarity with online learning methods were significant obstacles for students. In addition, many students indicated developing computer skills and learning how to use online resources during the courses. The study suggests that online teaching and learning in South Africa and similar contexts exacerbates inequalities, and must be accompanied by rigorous support structures for students who are vulnerable in these contexts.

Covid-19 全球大流行导致许多国家将教学和学习转移到网上。南非是一个在电力、互联网和信息技术方面存在严重不平等的国家，这给该国高等教育机构的在线学习带来了相当大的问题。在本文中，我们分析了南非一所主要大学教育学院两门大型本科英语课程的学生反馈。我们特别关注两个定性问题，这些问题询问学生他们面临的挑战以及他们在在线学习中发展的技能。通过批判性数字教学法和非殖民化的视角考虑结果。我们的调查结果表明，缺乏访问和资源，破坏性的家庭环境和不熟悉在线学习方法是学生面临的重大障碍。此外，许多学生表示在课程期间发展计算机技能并学习如何使用在线资源。该研究表明，南非和类似情况下的在线教学会加剧不平等现象，并且必须为在这些情况下易受伤害的学生提供严格的支持结构。