KNUST hosts first ever OLC Regional Online Learning Colloquium

The Online Learning Consortium (OLC) is a collaborative community of higher education leaders and innovators, dedicated to advocating for and advancing quality digital teaching and learning experiences designed to reach and engage the modern learner anywhere and anytime. The organization has been conducting colloquies, seminars and digital learning drives across the world since its inception. For the 2022 colloquium, OLC decided to bring it to Africa and have African universities share their digital learning implementation successes while benefiting from OLC’s experience and strategic leadership. Through its partners such as the Texas International Education Consortium (TIEC) and the US Embassy Ghana, OLC selected the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology as the host institution for this year’s Regional Online Learning Colloquium.

Thus, on the 19th to the 22nd of July 2022, the Regional Colloquium on Online Learning organized by the OLC in partnership with TIEC was hosted by KNUST. The online event saw the president of OLC - Dr. Jennifer Mathes, Chief Programs & Operations Officer of TIEC - Dr. Heather Farmakis, Public Affairs Chief of U.S. Embassy Ghana - Ms. Virginia Elliott, the Pro-Vice Chancellor - Prof. Ellis Owusu-Dabo and a representative of the Minister of Education - Dr. Yaw Osei Adutwum in attendance.

Delivering a welcome address on behalf of the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Ellis Owusu-Dabo reiterated management’s commitment to making KNUST a center of excellence in e-learning. He mentioned that the University has already made some strides when it comes to e-learning and to safeguard those gains, partners such as the OLC and TIEC are extremely vital to the consolidation and sustenance of the e-learning implementation efforts of the University. He, thus, expressed KNUST’s readiness to strengthen its partnership with OLC and TIEC as well as other organizations that can catapult it to greatness in the e-learning ecosystem. The minister of education in an address read on his behalf highlighted the government’s efforts in digital learning during the COVID 19 pandemic. He mentioned that Ghana had kickstarted its distance and digital learning implementation efforts with the Centre for National Distance Learning and Open Schooling (CENDLOS) which implemented the Ghana Learning TV intervention in partnership with the Ghana Education Service during the COVID 19 pandemic. The minister lauded the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology for its achievements in the digital learning ecosystem and for being ranked as the best University in West Africa and the 12th best in Africa by the Times Higher Education rankings.

Other speakers at the opening ceremony were Dr. Heather Fernakis, Dr. Angela Gunder of OLC, Dr. George Saltsman - Vice President, Chief Academic Innovation and Strategy Officer of Abilene Christian University, Ms. Virginia Elliott - Public Affairs Chief of U.S. Embassy Ghana, Prof. Robert Clement Abaidoo, Prof. Eric Appau Asante and a host of others. The four day program saw participants from all over the world dialoguing and reflecting on various aspects of e-learning implementation in Higher Educational Institutions.

Delivering the keynote address, Prof. Eric Appau Asante highlighted on the Strategies that KNUST adopted in its Digital Transformation agenda. Using five themes of “leadership and culture”, “teaching and learning”, “instructional infrastructure”, “student experience” and “partnership”, he led participants to understand and deliberate on the strategic establishments that have propelled KNUST’s digital transformation agenda. Other presentations were from Dr. Angela Gunder, Dr. George Saltsman and Dr. Heather Fernakis. The KNUST e-learning implementation experience was also well presented by Prof. R.C Abaidoo, Prof. Anthony Andrews and Dr. Jorn Serbe Marfo in their presentations on “Motivation, Perception and Acceptance”, “Capacity building” and “Access” respectively.

Proceedings of the 4 day colloquium were brought to an end with an address from the Chief Executive Officer of the OLC, Dr. Jennifer Mathes. Organizers agreed that the KNUST story is peculiar to other institutions and the reflections done in the conference will facilitate the implementation of digital learning in the region. Consequently, the Colloquium ended with the question of “what next for KNUST and the sub-region in the implementation of digital learning?”

Published:25th July, 2022 Source: KNUST E-Learning Centre