Abstract
In response to the surging COVID-19 pandemic, the government of Ghana shut down all schools on March 16th, 2020. This compelled many higher education institutions globally and in Ghana to adopt emergency remote teaching and learning (ERTL) to ensure continuity of academic work. This chapter chronicles the experiences of Ghana Communication Technology University (GCTU) with the ERTL from March 2020 to date. Specifically, the chapter discusses what they did as an institution in terms of ERTL from the perspective of management, faculty, and support services. In this chapter, the authors provide a chronology of experiences with ERTL, the rationale behind actions taken, the mode of implementation, as well as the results of ERTL for faculty and students. Based on these experiences, the chapter advocates for the adoption of the pragmatism, accessibility, content, context, and empathy (PACCE) framework as a useful heuristic tool in ensuring equity and effectiveness of ERTL.
TopBackground
Ghana Technology University College (GTUC) was officially inaugurated on August 15, 2006, as a university college from the erstwhile Ghana Telecom Training Centre (GTTC) run by the then British Administration. The University College is governed by a University Council, supported by the President, Vice President, Registrar, Deans of Faculties, and staff. Ten years after its inception, the institution has expanded. Since 2006, the university college has grown into a multi-campus university with five (5) satellite campuses in Accra, Kumasi, Ho, Koforidua, and Takoradi. Further, the institution has couched a niche for itself as a model university for transnational education, offering a diverse pool of programs in telecommunications, engineering, computer science, and business. GTUC is affiliated with the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) and University of Professional Studies (UPSA) in Ghana; Aalborg University in Denmark, Coventry University in the United Kingdom, CASS Europe, Anhalt University of Applied Sciences and Wildau University in Germany, as well as Maharaja Agrasen University, and M. S. Ramaiah University of Applied Sciences in India.
In recognition of the University College’s critical role in training the requisite manpower to meet the skill demands of the fourth industrial revolution, the Parliament of Ghana in August 2020 passed the Ghana Communications Technology University Act (2020), thereby transitioning GTUC into a fully-fledged public university. Thus, the status of the university changed at the heights of the ERTL implementation. The University’s mandate makes it imperative to be at the forefront of technology-based education in Ghana and the sub-region.
Key Terms in this Chapter
Pedagogy: The method and practice of teaching, especially as an academic subject or theoretical concept.
Emergency Remote Teaching and Learning: Is defined as a sudden interim shift of instructional delivery to an online delivery mode as a result of an immense catastrophe, in contrary to the online courses which are initially planned and designed to be delivered virtually and students assessed virtually using digital tools.