Transforming to online teaching and learning is an urgent requirement

During the day two of the 2nd Regional Model Symposium, august education experts continued to share their experiences and good governance to accelerate effective teaching and learning practice in African education institutions. They centred their intensive discussions around the adoption of technology in teaching and learning as an urgent requirement. Themed “Leveraging technology to mediate student support, teaching, learning and assessment: Lessons for an evolving higher education”, the symposium held by Unisa, in collaboration with the Namibian College of Open Learning (NAMCOL) and the Botswana Open University (BOU), concluded on 5 October 2023 at NAMCOL in Windhoek, Namibia.

Distinguished delegates at the Namibia Regional Symposium

The keynote speaker, Professor Elifas Bisanda, Vice-Chancellor of the Open University of Tanzania (OUT), shared insights on “Technology mediated assessments: Lesson from OUT”. Bisanda  maintained that OUT ensured intensive online security through various platforms to prevent compromising online assessment. He explained: “During the COVID-19 pandemic, we developed the Oral Examination (OREX) system, which allowed more than one examiner to assess one student at the same time by splitting questions among themselves.”

Bisanda stated that the OREX online platform enabled the university to minimise physical face-to-face sessions. “It also enabled students to demonstrate understanding of their academic work by sharing what they know with examiners,” he elaborated. “Also,” he added, “this type of assessment saves time and resources. It further boosts students’ confidence and advances their communications skills, which enables them to become competitive in employment assessments.”

Responding to Bisanda’s address, Phindiwe Kamolane, Unisa’s Open and Distance e-Learning (ODeL) Programme Executive, remarked: “To achieve graduate competitiveness, we must ensure that our graduates possess technological skills.” Kamolane explained that Unisa recognised the digital gap issue and, therefore, the university provided digital training and mock examinations for students. Kamolane also explained that through social media and the colleges’ livestreams, the university bridged the gap between academics and students. She urged institutions of higher learning to intensify communication on academic integrity.

Focusing on “Unisa technology mediated teaching and learning: Examining the Comprehensive ODEL (CODeL) notion in our times”, Professor Mpine Makoe, Unisa’s Executive Dean of the College of Education, said: “Technology enables individualised teaching and learning, and lifelong learning and self-directed learning require flexibility. Unisa is a trailblazer as we enable access to education even for the marginalised groups.” Makoe advised that for institutions of higher learning to ensure that students receive return-on-investment through their qualifications, they must reflect on what is working, rethink how it works and reposition their systems, structures and practices to make them industry relevant.

From left: Prof Itumeleng Setlhodi, Unisa’s Acting Director of Academic Quality Assurance and Enhancement, Dr Godson Gatsha, BOU’s Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Student Services, and Dr Sadrag Shihomeka, Head of the Department for Higher Education and Lifelong Learning and a Senior Lecturer for Media and Educational Technologies at the University of Namibia

In response, Professor Itumeleng Setlhodi, Unisa’s Acting Director of Academic Quality Assurance and Enhancement, added that institutions of higher learning should enable openness. “This relates to the distinctive nature and modality in which teaching and learning takes place in an open environment, where students can access resources and support,” she noted. Additionally, Setlhodi said that openness focused on the students’ ability to work together in an open environment where technology and connectivity were not a challenge.

Centring his presentation on “Continuing professional development of teachers and academics on open and distance learning (ODL) in India”, Professor Santosh Panda, Director of Staff Training and Research Institute at the Indira Gandhi National Open University, shared that e-learning involved emerging trends in information and communication technologies. For him, e-learning enabled student support services through social media, and it ensured quality assurance in online programmes. Speaking on staff development in institutions of higher learning, Panda said that it will only succeed through the integration of training, research and technology.

Dr Godson Gatsha, BOU’s Deputy Vice-Chancellor of Student Services, responded to Panda’s presentation, highlighting that in the Southern African Development Community, academics from contact universities were recruited in the ODeL space while they lacked knowledge about that space. He raised a concern that there were few staff development centres in African universities and that these staff members were not prepared to fund their professional development to improve their ODL understanding. Gatsha, therefore, encouraged academics that lacked ODL skills to be trained in that area.

Professor of Education at the University of Adelaide, Philip Uys, provided insights on “Digitalisation in higher education: Systemic imperatives for effective educational technology integration”. He explained digitalisation as the systemic integration of educational or digital technologies. Uys added that institutions should consider the systemic imperatives for digitalisation, which included determining the educational future that they envisioned. He continued: “I encourage education institutions to go beyond being passive consumers of digitalisation, but to also embrace being the future creators of it.”

Dr Sadrag Shihomeka, Head of the Department for Higher Education and Lifelong Learning and a Senior Lecturer for Media and Educational Technologies at the University of Namibia, presented on “The professional development in the era of artificial intelligence: Policies, skills set, ethics and integrity for optimum administration of ODeL institutions”. He said that professional development assisted in gaining new skills in this digital era. He further noted: “Online ethical issues at ODeL institutions, such as the misuse of technical platforms by students, must be safeguarded to ensure that we produce a good calibre of graduates.”

Dr Tommie Hamaluba, BOU’s Programme Developer for Business Subjects, presented on “The evaluation of Moodle open education resources (OERs) for junior course business subjects for students at BOU’s Centre for Open Schooling”. He explained the significance of OERs to include enabling accessibility and stability and that it was affordable. Hamaluba said that the potential outcome of OERs was to improve student performance and student engagement.

From left: Dr Denzil Chetty, Unisa’s Head of the Academic Development Open Virtual Hub, Letlhogonolo Marumolwa, Unisa’s Director of Business Analytics, and Wilhelmina Louw, NAMCOL’s Manager of eLearning

Focusing on “Empowering African students for the Fourth Industrial Revolution: Leveraging technology to foster digital competencies and enhance preparedness for online learning environments”, Dr Denzil Chetty, Unisa’s Head of the Academic Development Open Virtual Hub, reiterated the importance of partnering with various industries, including technology industries, as they drive the pace of technology in higher education. Chetty remarked that if the education system prepared graduates for their employment future, these institutions must be knowledgeable and define the future.

Letlhogonolo Marumolwa, Unisa’s Director of Business Analytics, spoke on “The use of analytics for student success: The case of Unisa”. He affirmed that it was important for institutions of higher learning to understand the context of the analytical modalities they conduct, adding that in providing analytics, the data collected must be purposeful and further enhance student success.

Responding to the presentations, Wilhelmina Louw, NAMCOL’s Manager of eLearning, emphasised that it was important for institutions to apply a systematic approach towards the integration of technology in education. She also reiterated that to further advance student success in the education system, educators must be knowledgeable about artificial intelligence.

Closing the symposium, Dr Heroldt Murangi, NAMCOL’s Chief Executive Officer, encouraged further mutually beneficial collaboration between education institutions as they had a common goal of adding value to students and on society in general.

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Intensifying teaching and learning practice in African universities

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* By Nancy Legodi, Acting Senior Journalist, Department of Institutional Advancement