This phenomenological exploratory multiple-case study design was conducted at an open distance e-learning university and a traditional contact residential university and it was found that the participants viewed video conferencing under the COVID-19 lockdown period as an exhausting experience. A second major finding revealed that the participants were empowered with digital literacy skills to use video conferencing effectively. The current findings add to a growing body of literature on video conferencing with a focus on Zoom fatigue. Further research might explore the lived zoom experiences of administrators, students and a larger group of faculties over a longer period. The study findings must be considered when planning and implementing video conferencing for academics and students in open distance e-learning contexts. This study showed that video conferencing is one tool in the emergence of a digital zoom revolution that has radically changed the workspace. The evidence from this study suggests that zoom fatigue is a reality check for work-related health management.

The launch of ChatGPT has been revolutionary. This AI chatbot can produce conversations which are indistinguishable from that of humans. This exploratory qualitative study is foregrounded in a constructivist-interpretative perspective. The principal objective of this paper is to explore the views of academics on ChatGPT as an AI-based learning strategy at an open distance e-learning (ODeL) institution of higher education. Thirteen academics, who were enrolled as study participants, posted their views of ChatGPT as an AI-based learning strategy on a Teams chat at an institution of higher learning. The results support a few research studies on ChatGPT. The academics recognized the benefits and risks of using ChatGPT for teaching and learning. Further investigations are recommended to explore similar studies in higher education spaces and specifications.

Due partly to the multimodal and multiscalar nature of technology applications, there lacks theories to explain successful technology integration in teaching and learning in higher education. Such multidisciplinary theories developed primarily within Western contexts as behaviourism, cognitivism, constructivism, connectivism, collaborationism, TPACK framework and authentic learning theory have been used to underpin technology‐enhanced teaching and learning globally. However, their primary focus on basic education and their sensitivity to contextual reality seem to restrict their salience and fecundity to successfully explain technology integration in higher education in the Global South, including Africa. For more contextual relevance and significance, the embodiment in curricula and pedagogy of African knowledge systems and emerging societal needs and challenges is thus critical. Drawing on Asabiyya and Ubuntu humanistic philosophies respectively from Northern and Southern Africa and Yoruba empiricist and Zara Yacob rationalist epistemologies from Western and Eastern Africa, this study proposes African philosophical perspectives to underpin technology integration in higher education. The epistemologies define the nature of student and faculty engagements and strategies, whereas the humanistic philosophies offer values that could guide ethical technology use and engagement. Technologies are conceived alternatively as knowledge banks, communication media and cognitive tools to think through and with. Implications for further research and practice are identified. Practitioner notes: What is already known about this topic: Multidisciplinary theories developed primarily within Western contexts are used to underpin technology‐enhanced teaching and learning globally. Their primary focus on basic education and their sensitivity to socio‐cultural and economic contextual reality restrict their salience and fecundity to successfully explain technology integration in teaching and learning in higher education in the Global South, including Africa. African philosophical, theoretical, conceptual and methodological thinking is critical for successful technology integration. What this paper adds: This study interrogated how African philosophies of humanity and knowledge could support successful technology integration in teaching and learning in Africa. Drawing on Asabiyya and Ubuntu philosophies, respectively, from Northern and Southern Africa, the study proposes strategies for making the oppressive faculty–student relationships rampant in African campuses more humane and emancipatory. Drawing on Yoruba empiricist and Zara Yacob rationalist epistemological orientations from Western and Eastern Africa, this study proposes strategies for supporting truly engaging and empowering pedagogies within technology‐enhanced spaces. Implications for practice and/or policy: The purpose of education in successful technology‐enhanced spaces needs to aim at improving student capacities and skills for further learning and to ensure full participation in practice communities within and outside higher education. The content of education or curriculum needs to primarily embody African/local philosophical, theoretical, conceptual and methodological thinking, as well as emerging community needs and challenges. The method of education and student assessment need to support and promote the cultivation of student skills and capabilities as well as values and ethics highly needed in their communities and beyond.