**1. Introduction**

In these uncertain times of the Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR), faced with advanced technological changes, globalization, digitalization, and decolonization of curricular approaches in higher education, the question of what comes next in the higher education sector is likely to require calculated speculation and some risktaking initiatives. It is important to note that the COVID-19 pandemic has not only created significant financial and operational challenges for higher education institutions in the short term but has also magnified the impact of demographic, financial, technological, and political structures that have been long-standing challenges in higher education sector. While lecturers remain committed to their institution's core mission in the face of these challenges, the lessons of COVID-19 have left a legacy that every institution must rethink the core values of the teaching and learning community. This paper has prepared this report to help institutions navigate the uncertainties ahead.

The new urgency for online or blended learning in higher education institutions worldwide and in South Africa caused by the COVID-19 pandemic has created an opportunity to rethink and reexamine the higher education sector. Globally, this has laid the foundation for institutions such as higher education structures, university councils, and public and private education-related professional associations to design and adopt policies to accelerate blended learning practices to support teaching and learning post-pandemic. With some academic programs in higher education being delivered entirely online in 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic, major changes have been required in the academic staff who design and present the programs, as well as the students who deliver them. The change and adaptability to change have been somewhat challenging for both the teacher and the learner, with less training on some Learning Management Systems (LMS) offerings during the pandemic. In a sense, both lecturers and learners learned how to navigate the online platforms to initiate learning and teaching activities.

Traditional on-campus, face-to-face instruction will most likely return as the pandemic subsides, providing the sociocultural elements of the instructor, learning environment, technology, learning activities, and peers that support effective student engagement in undergraduate education. Crosling et al. [1] the development of students' higher-level skills such as problem-solving skills and technical skills appear to be the focal point of effective and interactive learning space.

It is interesting to note that during the pandemic, students' preferences for online compared with traditional face-to-face learning and teaching activities shifted worldwide. This might have been due to some flexibilities toward their studies rather than having a fixed and predetermined teaching and learning pace. Kandri et al. [2] argued that about 78, 83, and 78% of tertiary students in Malaysia, Canada, and China, respectively, indicated a preference for online learning dependent on the program tuition fees if were to be reduced accordingly. Generally, it is expected that an online program should cost less than a blended or full contact program. Evident to Kandri et al. [2] who highlighted that globally institutions of higher learning saw online learning as the solution to advance teaching and learning during the pandemic. Alammary et al. [3] attested that the Singaporean Government deemed it a general requirement of the education sector to conduct their teaching and learning online. Alammary [3] and Zitha et al. [4] argued that it is expected that post-COVID-19 there will be new educational models, policies, and learning methods to emerge or be adopted by institutions of higher learning. The likely teaching and learning method

## *Evaluating STEM Lecturers' Experiences with Digital Assessments and Continuity of Digital… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.113259*

to be adopted is either a blended learning method, which melds face-to-face teaching with online tools, or institutions going fully online for their teaching and learning activities. Zitha et al. [4] argued that blended learning has become immensely integrated in contemporary times owing to the emergence of COVID-19. Furthermore, they stressed that blended learning is an effective approach to meet the accelerated demands of the diverse student population in universities and colleges.

Emerging from an in-depth study of the uses and perspectives of academic staff with Blended Learning in a Singaporean HEI [5], the science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) lecturers seemed to experience challenges in online learning platforms as learning and teaching activities and all forms of assessments were to be given and graded on the Moodle LMS. Technically, the institution-prescribed LMS was not intensively explored on its affordances and used before the COVID-19 pandemic. Learning and teaching activities by then were conducted on traditional face-to-face and paper-based learning. Henceforth, the instant shift from minimal use of the Moodle LMS to being the core tool used to enhance learning and teaching within the institutions brought about challenges to both lecturers and students.

Moreover, the academics at one of the South African rural-based and historically disadvantaged universities constantly raise concerns regarding the Moodle platform in mathematics and science-related modules due to unduly accommodation in the assessments uploaded on the platform. The institution encourages academics to regularly use Moodle over other platforms to integrate online classes and assessments. Moreover, the assessments are mostly not easy to mark on the platform. The LMS affordances to STEM subjects seem lacking, which had a negative impact and vast challenges to teaching practitioners as well as to students when they attempt some of their assessment and module core-competencies tasks.
