The Pro Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Ellis Owusu Dabo has on behalf of the Vice-Chancellor of Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) launched an E-Learning Week celebration. The launching which took place on Monday, 29th August, 2022 was to herald a week-long celebration of the maiden E-Learning Week, being organised by the KNUST E-Learning Centre.

In his welcome address, Prof. Eric Apau Asante, Director – KNUST E-Learning Centre said that KNUST through its Institute of Distance Learning (IDL) had for some time now been implementing e-learning technologies, in response to modern educational trends. However, following the COVID-19 Pandemic and its consequential restrictions, the E-Learning Centre which was formally a Section under IDL was restructured into a Directorate with more leverage. Following this, the University has made great strides in e-learning. This was in tandem with the Vice-Chancellor’s digitisation agenda for the University.

The E-Learning week was, therefore, primarily organised to create the needed awareness about e-learning and its adoption in the University. The celebration will also provide the opportunity for KNUST to engage all the relevant stakeholders in the e-learning ecosystem, offer relevant stakeholders in the e-learning ecosystem the opportunity to network with each other and showcase their products and services that support online education.

In launching the week, Prof. Ellis Owusu Dabo, Pro Vice-Chancellor of KNUST expressed delight that the University community was gradually warming itself into the new age of digital education delivery. He said the University has, and continues to deploy various applications and technologies that would make teaching and learning easier. He added that if KNUST wanted to maintain its position as the best University in Ghana and the Sub-Region when it comes to quality education, all stakeholders must embrace and be part of the digital transformation agenda in education delivery. The Pro Vice-Chancellor added that “today, students can access lecture videos and lecture materials on the V-Class platform to make learning easier. Our lecturers are able to teach from the comfort of their offices and conduct assessments and discussions on the V-Class. We have seen students and lecturers interact in so many ways outside of the physical classroom that we thought could not be possible some years ago”.

The week-long celebration is on the theme “KNUST E-Learning: A New Age for Digital Transformation”. Activities that will take place during the celebration include a virtual tour, panel discussions on emerging strategies for online teaching and learning, webinars on various tailor-made topics in the e-learning environment, an exhibition, and an E-Learning Day awards ceremony.  The maiden edition of the E-Learning week will also be used to inaugurate the Ghana E-Learning Day and as a strategic step to continually create awareness about online education, its benefits and its potential. The launch was followed by an exhibition of products and services in the e-learning ecosystem. The celebration is scheduled to take place from Monday, 29th August, 2022 to Friday, 2nd September, 2022. A schedule for the rest of the programme for the week-long celebration is below:

Present at the launch were Provosts, Deans, Directors, Heads of Departments, E-learning Ambassadors, KNUST Students and Students from selected Senior High Schools.