KNUST inaugurates Ghana’s first multi-studio e-learning centre

The Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology (KNUST) has inaugurated a state-of-the-art facility to cater for its e-learning needs.

The centre, equipped with 23 studios for both live and pre-recorded classes, is the first of its kind to be set up by any tertiary institution in Ghana and meant to underpin digital education.

It offers lecturers the platform to teach and interact with students online and record lectures to be uploaded for students to watch at their convenience, with a space dedicated to instructional design.

At the inaugural ceremony in Kumasi, Professor Ellis Owusu-Dabo, the Pro-Vice-Chancellor, who represented the Vice-Chancellor, Prof. Mrs. Rita Akosua Dickson, said the University was focused on bringing to standard its academic activities, using Information and Communication Technology (ICT).

“In fact, the pandemic has taught us that we need to build systems and infrastructure that will make us resilient to future shocks and challenges to physical interaction,” he said.

"There could not have been a better time to have upgraded the ultra-modern facility than now when the University was determined to spearhead Ghana’s educational strides in this digital age, Prof. Owusu-Dabo said.

He said the University had, over the years, invested significantly to upgrade its academic infrastructure as it strived to revolutionise higher education in the country.

Prof. Eric Apau Asante, the Director of the E-Learning Centre, said the inauguration formed part of activities marking the ‘KNUST E-Learning Week’, which had seen staff, students and stakeholders going through several webinar sessions.

That, he said, had sensitised staff and students on using the ‘VClass’ library resources for effective e-learning, content creation, online assessment strategies, and disability access for e-learning.

It also served as a platform to re-examine online teaching and learning through student-led discussions and creating educational connections with technologies.