Removing barriers that hinder accessibility to digital learning especially at the tertiary education level has become crucial in the 21^st century.

The Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology E-Learning Centre has therefore brought together stakeholders in the sector for the maiden E-learning Ghana Conference.

The 2-day conference is under the theme: Education without borders: digitalizing to improve accessibility, quality, inclusivity and sustainability.

According to the director of the Centre, Prof. Eric Appau Asante, the conference will provide opportunities for interactions among e-learning experts.

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He is hopeful the discussions will help in shaping up the e-learning landscape.

“The forum should sensitise major stakeholders such as academics, trainers, policymakers and students to ensure the integrity and standard of the Ghanaian e-learning landscape.

“The overall aim is to translate all discussions and insights into tangible outcomes, actionable plans and a renewed commitment to break down barriers that hinder access to education, enhance the quality of the learning experience, foster inclusivity and ensure sustainability of efforts,” he said.

Prof. Asante added: “The key to unlocking the true potential of e-learning lies in our ability to work together, leveraging our collective expertise and resources to forge stronger partnerships within supportive ecosystems to nurture innovation, enable scalability and promote sustainability in our e-learning initiatives”.

The Pro Vice-Chancellor of KNUST, Prof. Ellis Owusu-Dabo recounted the university’s digital transformative decisions in the face of the covid-19 pandemic.

He pledged the university’s resolve to ensure a sustained use of digital tools for effective teaching and learning.

“KNUST remains committed to promoting the use of cutting edge e-learning technologies and pedagogical strategies to facilitate teaching and learning, knowledge creation and service to impact our communities. This conference bears ample testimony to this drive,” he said.

Director of Digital Innovation at the University Design Institute of the Arizona State University, Dale Johnson charged the stakeholders to continue investing in the sector for satisfactory student learning experience.

“The challenge now is to build a culture of continuous improvement and experimentation. The Ghanaian universities are building the culture now. It’ll be important for digital learning to enable the faculty members to prepare their courses online and to support them in the process.

“The future is going to be that type of investment over time to ensure the students have the best learning opportunities,” he said.

Minister of Communications and Digitalisation, Ms. Ursula Owusu-Ekuful hinted her outfit is working with the education ministry to set up a national Learning management system for both online and offline learning.

“We also believe it’s important that all universities have a learning management system. But when we’re able to set up a universal one for the country, we’ll be able to tap into instead of each and every university setting up their own standalone system. We hope when we’re able to set up this system, we’ll be able to utilize the open universities resources available currently,” she said.