COVID-19's Rapid Digitalization of Construction Education: Built Environment Instructor Experience in Kwazulu-Natal, South Africa.

The novel coronavirus pandemic has had a significant impact on society and everyday life. The pandemic imposed a global shutdown leading to many challenges such as the suspension of academic programs at universities. The result of this suspension contributed to the rapid overnight migration of educational activities from traditional face-to-face learning to a virtual environment which until then was unfamiliar to both instructors and students. This study identified the experiences faced by built environment higher education instructors in KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa during this sudden switch to online teaching and learning. This pilot study employed a quantitative research approach to survey instructor experiences on online teaching and learning during a global pandemic. The data was computed and analyzed using IBM Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 27. Descriptive statistics were used to analyze the data collected. The study sample comprised of 20 higher education instructors in the region of the KwaZulu Natal province in South Africa. Findings from the study revealed that instructors faced adaptive challenges with rapidly having to redesign and remodel the mode of academic course delivery and assessments to suit an online platform. Additionally, instructors observed that students faced technological challenges such as connectivity and navigating the online learning management system platforms. The challenges identified by instructors and students can be effectively transformed to opportunities for future learning under the 'new normal'.