eLearning is a crucial area which is redefining education worldwide. Higher Educational Institutions (HEI) have to re-strategize to deliver knowledge and skills to students. Students have to re-adjust to acquire certain skills and discipline to cope with the new methods of teaching. This Article spell out the trend of eLearning in Ghana and efforts made to achieve a successful learning with the “e”.
Higher Educational Institution traditionally produces the required skills needed by a nation to man critical areas of the economy. This role has been extended to training students to be able to compete favourable and also have the necessary technological ‘know how’ and the acquisition of 21st century skills of being analytic, the ability to learn with little supervision, lifelong learning abilities to mention but a few.
HEI in Ghana have equally played their role in producing the necessary skills for the Nation to man its’ critical areas. The duration of education is 6-3-3-4 that is six (6) years in the primary school, three (3) years in junior secondary school, three (3) years in the secondary school and four years (4) at the tertiary level. Though vocational, teacher training colleges and technical education has three (3) years duration. Education in the areas of medicine and architecture have more than four (4) years duration.
There have been efforts in attaining quality eLearning in Higher Educational Institutions in Ghana. Most institutions in Ghana are members of the largest eLearning Network in Africa, the African Virtual University (AVU). AVU was established in 1997 and headquartered in Nairobi, Kenya. The aim of AVU is to provide quality, affordable education which is accessible to the society. AVU has helped trained more than forty thousand (40,000) students. AVU is also the widest reached eLearning network in the continent. It has fifty-three (53) partners in twenty-seven (27) countries (AVU 2015).
Institutions in Ghana are also active participants of The African Council for Distance Education Quality Assurance and Accreditation Agency (ACDE QAAA) activities and its adherence. The ACDE is headquartered in Kenya. It is the body that is responsible for programme reviews and capacity building, institutional audits which are solely evidenced-based, accreditation of institutions and their programmes, and articulation and credit transfer ( ACDE QAAA, 2011). The purpose of ACDE is to expand access to quality education through Open Distance learning, and including eLearning. ACDE is a continental body made up of Universities in the sub-region.
At the West African sub-regional level Ghana has hosted The Regional Training and Research Institute for Open and Distance Learning (RETRIDAL) training workshops, among other nations such as Sierra Leon, The Gambia, and Nigeria. In all, RETRIDAL organized a total of twenty-five (25) training workshops in member countries (Ogunlela & Ogunleye, 2015).
The Ministry of Education established an Agency called Centre for National Distance Learning and Open Schooling (CENDLOS) with the role to “reinforce Open and Distance Learning (ODL) at the tertiary level and make it a reality at the pre-tertiary stage” CENDLOS as it role demands has produce content on various subjects run in the Junior High schools and the Senior High schools which they distribute to schools. There have also been efforts towards using simulation for laboratory lessons for science education in Ghana.
However, much has not been done at the tertiary level. Various tertiary institutions are grabbling with content production. Efforts in the use of technology for Learning have experienced 49% failure in the continent (eLearning Africa Report, 2013). Each institution has their own sets of standards when it comes to delivery of online courses in supplementing face to face learning. Some institutions have Distance Learning centres (DL) where they use mostly internet and ICT tools as the medium of teaching and learning. To this end, the National Information Technology Agency (the ICT policy arm of the Ghana Ministry of Communications) is advocating eLearning delivery approaches for the Distance Learning centres.
For eLearning to thrive at the tertiary level, the National Commission for Tertiary Education should build an institutional memory on eLearning activities of the various Universities. This would serve as implementation guide for other institutions who need certain help in their implementation processes. The necessary time investment must be put in place to help this become a success.
In addition to that, the Commission with collaboration of bodies such as the National Information Agency, National Accreditation board should organize a yearly forum for the eLearning practicing institutions. They should also ensure that participation and representation from each University is fair and would not disadvantage any institution.
In writing these notes reference was made to the following:
ACDE QAAA Report , 2015,
Available at http://www.nou.edu.ng/acde-qaaa/announcement/ACDE%20QAAA%20PROGRESS%20REPORT%20JUNE,%202011.pdf [Accessed on 15/5/2015]
AVU , 2015
Available at http://www.avu.org/AVU-in-the-News/africauniversity-ict-theavu-has- trained-over-40000-african-students-according-to-its-rector.html [Accessed on 15/5/2015]
eLearning Africa Report,2012, 2013 ,2014
Available at http://www.paynamibia.org/documents/eLearningAfrica_Report_2013_EN_WEB.pdf, June, 2015.
Ogunlela, V. B., & Ogunleye, B. O. ,2015. Promoting Quality Assurance Practices for ODL Programmes in West African Higher Education Institutions: The Role of RETRIDAL. International Open and Distance Learning Journal,1(1
