Technology Adoption in Teaching and Learning Within Online Environment

The emergence of Fourth Industrial Revolution (4IR) presented numerous solutions in the institutions of higher learning without connectivity challenges. The outbreak of COVID-19 in 2019 exerted more pressure on institutions of learning still reluctant to utilize technology in teaching and learning. The current study purposes to evaluate the technology integrated in the first-year level within the Mechanical Engineering department in the School of Engineering at the University of South Africa to ascertain performance encountered. The specific technology is a three-dimensional viewing tool to improve students understanding of isometric and orthographic engineering drawings. The research study targeted a previous assessment without the integration of the technology and compared with a current assessment after the intervention, for three first year drawing modules. Online technology adoption survey was utilised to measure the performance during the intervention. The findings of the research indicated that student’s performance with respect to average grade drastically improved from approximately 55% to 70%. This result demonstrates a significant benefit from the intervention for students to develop their mental visualization skills required for technical drawing.