Presentation at the 2016 Ghana IGF

1. E-Learning & IT Entrepreneurship
By: Samuel Nii Dodoo
Education Chair, ISOC-Ghana
August 15, 2016
Kofi Annan ICT Centre for Excellence
2016

2. OUTLINE
 Introduction
 Prospects
 Challenges
 IT Entrepreneurship
 Conclusion

3. INTRODUCTION

4.  There is evidence that the ever increasing African
population is willing to engage with new technology-
based tools to improve their education and
knowledge.
 In the situation where physical educational
infrastructure cannot be expanded at the rate at
which the population is increasing, the globally
known technology adopted is E-LEARNING.

5. E-learning: is often regarded as a ‘new’
form of learning that uses the affordances
of the Internet to deliver customized,
interactive, learning materials and
programs to diverse local and distant
communities of practice.

6. Global E-Learning Revenues
 2011 - $35.6 billion
 2016 - $51.5 billion.
Africa E-Learning Revenues
 2013 - $332.9M
 2016 - $512.7M

7. The Value Chain
 Content Specialists
 Instructional Designers
 Multimedia Technology Experts
 Programmers/IT Specialists
 Instructional support personnel
 Managers & Administrators

8.  Studies have shown that the
adoption rates of e-learning are not the
same for every country.
 The cause of this could be traced to
the prospects and challenges this
technology encounters during the
diffusion process.
PROSPECTS AND CHALLENGES

9. PROSPECTS
 Individual
 Institutional
 National

10. Prospects (Individual)
 Flexibility
 Accessibility
 Quality
 Cost effective

11. Prospects (Institutional)
 Increased Enrolment
 Cost effectiveness
 Optimization of Resources
 Competitive Advantage
 International dimension to
the educational experience

12. Prospects (National)
 Opportunities for updating skills of the workforce
 Enhancing the capacity of the educational system
 Emergency training for key target groups
 Job creation
 Increased national revenues

13. Challenges
 Organizational – Financing, Structure, Culture
 Technological - Compatibility, Complexity
 Environmental – Political, legal, Social
 User Adoption – Culture, Perceptions

14. IT Entrepreneurship
• Should Technology Drive
Innovation?

15. IT Entrepreneurship … cont’d
• According to ‘Design Thinking’ MOOC by
Iversity.org, Human needs and experience
should drive innovation – not technology.
• i.e. using the designer’s sensibility and
methods to match people’s needs with what is
technologically feasible.

16.  Infrastructure - Technology, Network,
Bandwidth
 Content - (Free, Open or IP); Quality;
Format
 Course Delivery System
 Human Resource – Instructors, Support
Personnel, Administrators, Managers
 Learners
E-Learning Ecosystem
Human Needs

17. Conclusion

18. Brick & Mortar/1-jacket-fits all Open Schooling
Teachers function as Repository of
Knowledge
Train teachers to function as Leaders
in Education
Teacher-Centered Pedagogy Student/Learner-centered approach
Technology as a subject matter in
Education
Education in synergy with Technology
Technology override human needs Human needs driven innovation
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