Inter-College Lecture
2017/2018 Academic Year
Topic: Understanding the Academic Experiences of Graduate Adult Learners in Ghana
Date: Thursday, February 22, 2018
Time: 4:30 pm
Venue: BoG Auditorium - Dept. of Economics
Abstract
The world’s economy and social landscape have been significantly transformed by the internet, which has enhanced the lives of individuals, promoted business growth and stimulated economic development. The offline population increasingly suffers from constrained prospects of education, class mobility, employment opportunities, and other areas related to quality of life. According to a 2014 research by McKinsey and Company, “…as the Internet becomes even more embedded in every facet of our lives, the costs of the digital divide will mount, and we risk leaving substantial portions of the global population at a disadvantage that they might never overcome.” The research concludes that “….The voices, ideas, and contributions of the offline population can’t be heard and often can’t be made until they’re connected.” The McKinsey and Company’s research raises several key issues for Ghanaian scholars to ponder on, as academic institutions in the country attempt to bring innovation to teaching and learning via the use of Learning Management Systems and emerging technologies, businesses struggle to employ graduates with 21st century skills, and government pursues policies to digitize the Ghanaian economy.
In responding to changing global trends in internet adoption to enhance teaching, learning and research, the University of Ghana, through the Government of Ghana, secured a Chinese Government loan that provided the basic infrastructure to support ICT-based teaching and learning. Encouraged by the opportunities available through the Chinese projects and guided by the University’s belief to become a world-class research-intensive university, the Sakai Learning Management System (Sakai LMS) was adopted in 2014. Sakai has made it possible for the University’s Distance Education programme to transition from paper-based modules to a multi-mode format where web-based (online) courses have been integrated with face-to-face facilitation by assistant lecturers and tutors. Additionally, Sakai is increasingly being used by some faculty members in departments and schools across all the four colleges of the University for delivery of instructional materials, course content, and assessment. Since the internet is the gateway to Sakai LMS and the backbone of most online/e-learning activities, it is imperative to identify the barriers that the offline population faces in adopting the internet and explore mechanisms or solutions that might help overcome the barriers to the internet.
Using data from exit interviews with Distance Education students, in-group discussions with students, course writers, assistant lecturers, and IT Support Engineers in the UG-Regional Learning Centres; and content analysis of letters of student complaints, this lecture examines experiences of faculty, staff and students at the University of Ghana with Sakai LMS. We seek to share success stories and challenges from institutional, faculty and students’ points of view with regard to connecting with services; accessibility and universal design; lessons learned in accessing course materials, uploading, downloading and playing videos; conducting interim assessments (IAs), tests and quizzes, submitting assignments; discussing and communicating between and among students and faculty using the chat room, forums, announcements, messaging, email, and wiki tools.
The lecture discusses LMS best practices and argues that with a combination of Sakai’s suite of tools for content management, engagement, collaboration, and differentiation, course instructors can create project and course sites fully customized for each topic and group of learners to achieve the innovative teaching practices for 21st Century learners- student-centered pedagogy, extending learning beyond the classroom, and integrating technologies into teaching and learning. We conclude that the expansion of the online population at all levels of Ghana’s educational institutions, government, industry, and nonprofit organizations can improve the lives of individuals, build soft skills for the 21st century world of work, provide job opportunities in the country and beyond, promote business growth and stimulate economic development throughout the country.
Recognizing the need to sustain the gains in the deployment and use of Sakai as the LMS of choice for the University of Ghana, it is recommended that, as a matter of priority, a Centre of Innovation/Excellence in Teaching and Learning be established at the University. The Centre should be headed by a Senior Academic Member who reports to the Pro-Vice-Chancellor (Academic and Students Affairs). With budgetary allocation and adequate support staff, the Centre should be responsible for providing leadership for online and blended courses; instructional technology, classroom recording services, video-conferencing and webcasting, academic support and other multimedia services. The mission of the Centre would be achieved by focusing on best practices in professional development that ensure effective integration of emerging technologies in quality course design and delivery across all disciplines.
Profile
Professor Yaw Oheneba-Sakyi (Ph.D.) is a Professor of Sociology and the Founding Dean of the School of Continuing and Distance Education (SCDE), College of Education, University of Ghana. He was earlier the Director of the University’s Institute of Continuing and Distance Education (ICDE). As the Founding Dean of SCDE and the Director of ICDE, he championed the pursuit of academic programmes and activities towards the realization of the potential growth that exists for investing in the expansion of adult, continuing, and distance education and e-learning programmes which would extend the reach of university education to diverse populations in formats which the traditional face-to-face classroom learning cannot provide.
An experienced open, distance, and e-learning (ODeL) teacher, researcher and professional, he was the Senior Responsible Officer of the University of Ghana-Unisplendour Software System Company Ltd., Tsinghua University, China ICT-Based Distance Education (DE) Project to provide the necessary hardware, accessories and training for the implementation of ICT-based Distance Education programmes in Ghana. This project, which began in 2009, is a component of the University’s five-year IT Strategic Plan, which is also in line with Ghana’s ICT Policy on Education. The project equipped the University and its Regional Learning Centres throughout the country with fiber-optic network operating centers, fully-equipped computer labs, interactive whiteboard classrooms, learning management systems and video conferencing facilities.
Prior to returning to Ghana in 2008, Prof. Oheneba-Sakyi taught in the United States of America for 19 years. He started his higher education teaching and research career at the State University of New York (SUNY), Potsdam, NY, USA. In 2002 he was promoted to Full Professor of Sociology at California State University, Fresno, CA, USA where he served as Chair of the Africana and American Indian Studies Department from 2002 to 2006. In 2009, he was named eScholar Faculty by California State University, Fresno, and awarded a certificate for completing the eScholar Programme designed to enhance and improve online course offerings.
Prof. Oheneba-Sakyi has published numerous research articles in respectable international peer-review journals and has received numerous grants and fellowships to support his scholarship.
Mr. Gainford Kofi Amponsah is Instructional Technologist and Designer in the School of Continuing and Distance Education, College of Education. In this capacity, he works on Instructional Technology and Curriculum Design, in support of the University’s Distance Education programme, by assisting faculty and students to bridge their digital literacy and ICT skills gaps, and advising on how to integrate technology into instruction and best practice in the classroom and online.
He has a Bachelor’s degree in Industrial Art (Textile Technology & Design) from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST), a Master’s Degree in Curriculum Development and Instructional Technology from the State University of New York, School of Education, Department of Education Theory, and Practice; and a second Master’s Degree in Global Textile Marketing from the Philadelphia College of Textile and Science (now the Philadelphia University).
Mr. Amponsah has extensive experience in the educational enterprise, particularly in Distance and Online Education. Prior to joining the University of Ghana, he worked with various educational institutions and bodies in New York, United States of America, to provide professional development training for teachers to challenge them to think “outside of the box”, when designing curricula, and to integrate multimedia technologies in their teaching. He has held several workshops to help teachers adopt best practices and strategies that are effective for integrating technology tools in their day-to-day operations to improve and enhance teaching and learning, and to more effectively engage students in the learning process.
Mr. Amponsah was also Statewide Coordinator for the Advanced Technology Training and Information Networking (ATTAIN) Project, a network of educational technology laboratories that promotes digital inclusion and increased access to training in under-served communities located in some of New York State’s most economically challenged communities. In this capacity, he was responsible for managing field operations of these labs, by developing plans, strategies, coordinating and overseeing implementation of ATTAIN's workforce training and Microsoft IT Skills Program in the New York State
In the course of his career, Mr. Amponsah has been a member of various professional bodies, including the Association for the Advancement of Computing in Education American (AACE), Association of Adult and Continuing Education (AAACE), National Association of Workforce Development Professionals (NAWDP), American Educational Research Association, (AERA), American Association of Computing in Education (AACE), American Computers and Machinery (ACM) and Educase.