By Florence Afriyie Mensah
Kumasi, July 12, GNA-Mr Dale P. Johnson, Director of Digital Transformation, Arizona State University (ASU), has urged Ghanaian higher educational institutions to build digital learning culture.
This is critical to improve learning outcomes, while building a vibrant human resource base in an era of Information, Communication and Technology (ICT).
“The future of education hinges on e-learning hence the need to prepare a continuous culture of digital learning and sustain it,” he advocated at an e-Learning Ghana Conference at the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology.
Organised under the auspices of the KNUST E-Learning Center, the Conference sought to create a new era in the academic landscape by sharing ideas and promoting best practices where education transcends beyond boundary.
It comes in the face of the e-learning educational revolution vis-a-vis efforts by Ghana to keep up with the fast-paced advancements in technology, and how it can benefit students and faculty members alike.
The programme brought on board academicians, technocrats, and policymakers.
It was held on the theme, “Education without Borders: Digitalising to Improve Accessibility, Quality, Inclusivity and Sustainability.”
Mr Johnson explained that embracing technology and e-learning tools in academic activities helped students to collaborate, communicate, think critically and be creative in their educational pursuits.
This approach to learning has become the order of the day as it aids students to learn better, faster and research more efficiently.
In so doing, the students are equipped with the relevant skills and expertise to be competitive on the global educational landscape, said the ASU’s Director of Digital Transformation.
Mrs. Ursula Owusu-Ekuful, Minister of Communication and Digitalisation, who joined the programme virtually, said digitalisation had provided new leveraging platforms in the education sector.
“It is in line with this that the state is equipping educational institutions with interventions, including the internet, to enhance education without borders,” she said.
According to her, ICT in general had changed the way of life of the society.
Therefore, the Government is committed to injecting the requisite resources to utilise these tools in all spheres of the country’s economy for rapid socio-economic growth, the Minster assured.
Prof. Ellis Owusu-Dabo, Pro Vice Chancellor of the KNUST, representing the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Rita Akosua Dickson, said the University’s e-Learning Centre had the objective to provide students with the tools and resources to succeed in their academic journey.
He observed that the global digitalisation revolution, having been accelerated by the COVID-19 pandemic, had offered the society with an occupational renaissance, presenting varied opportunities to those who were compliant.
“We should take advantage of the opportunity to reimagine the future of education by freeing it of the era of tradition and traditional practices and grab the opportunity possibilities,” he asserted.
GNA