College of Education https://ir.unisa.ac.za/handle/10500/4671 2026-08-03T12:15:25Z South African Open Distance e-Learning Student: The Types, Effectiveness, and Preference of Feedback Support https://ir.unisa.ac.za/handle/10500/32835 South African Open Distance e-Learning Student: The Types, Effectiveness, and Preference of Feedback Support Letseka, Moeketsi 2024-02-01T00:00:00Z The Role of UNESCO Chair on Open Distance Learning (ODL) in Advancing Innovation and Flexibility in Distance e-Learning https://ir.unisa.ac.za/handle/10500/32834 The Role of UNESCO Chair on Open Distance Learning (ODL) in Advancing Innovation and Flexibility in Distance e-Learning Letseka, Moeketsi 2025-02-01T00:00:00Z From Engagement to Outcomes: AI-Driven Learning Analytics in Higher Education - Insights for South Africa https://ir.unisa.ac.za/handle/10500/32833 From Engagement to Outcomes: AI-Driven Learning Analytics in Higher Education - Insights for South Africa Letseka, Moeketsi Artificial intelligence (AI) has become central to the evolution of learning analytics (LA), transforming how higher-education institutions capture and interpret student engagement data. This narrative review synthesises research published between 2015 and 2025 to examine how AI-driven analytics link learner engagement to measurable academic outcomes, with emphasis on the South-African higher-education context. Drawing on global reviews of AI in education and emerging governance frameworks, the study highlights the shift from traditional dashboards toward deep-learning and transformer-based systems that integrate behavioural, cognitive, and affective indicators. Ethical and policy challenges, particularly around data privacy, transparency, and institutional capacity, remain significant. Grounded in UNESCO and OECD guidance and South Africa’s Protection of Personal Information Act, the review outlines a governance-driven approach for equitable and transparent adoption of AI-enhanced learning analytics. It identifies key challenges, data fragmentation, algorithmic opacity, and limited contextual adaptation, and translates them into practical recommendations for policy, capacity building, and future research. The findings underscore that sustainable AI adoption requires human-centred ethics, robust data governance, and context-sensitive innovation to achieve inclusive and data-driven higher education. Journal article 2026-02-01T00:00:00Z Church breakaways as a prototype of commercialisation and commodification of religion in the Pentecostal Church Movement in South Africa: considering curricula offerings for pastors https://ir.unisa.ac.za/handle/10500/32832 Church breakaways as a prototype of commercialisation and commodification of religion in the Pentecostal Church Movement in South Africa: considering curricula offerings for pastors Masenya, Madipoane; Masenya, Malesela The common occurrence of church breakaways witnessed in the Pentecostal Church Movement in South Africa today highlights trends that appear bent towards the commercialisation and commodification of religion. Material and financial gain are seen as motivators of such a trend. On the other hand, research shows that signs of underperformance and a poor show in church leadership among religious leaders may be attributed to among others, deficiencies in the initial training of pastors. This article will, through the employment of literature review and careful observation made among communities, discuss breakaway trends and their impact on churches and society. Thereafter, we will suggest pointers to be followed in curriculum development for religious leaders. The article will also briefly refer to the current debate on the decolonisation of curricula offerings in training programmes for pastors. Such an approach could add value to good practice to those who aspire to become religious leaders in serving communities. 2018-12-31T00:00:00Z