Don’t Limit e-learning to only Sakai and Google Classroom- GRASAG to management

President of the University of Ghana chapter of the Graduate Students’ Association of Ghana (Legon GRASAG), Chris Atadika, has called on the management of the University of Ghana to diversify e-learning platforms and not restrict students to only Sakai and Google classroom platforms.

Although he agrees that lectures must continue whilst physical lectures have been suspended, he says that the challenges with virtual learning must be addressed to ensure smooth delivery of the initiative.

Speaking on Campus Exclusive on Tuesday, the Legon GRASAG President believed that the initiative was discriminatory as it could likely put some students at a disadvantage.

Chris Atadika adds that should his outfit had been consulted on the initiative, it would have rectified before being announced to students.

“If you have a restricted platform, how should we use other networks to also access this? What if Vodafone is not assessible in my area?”, he quizzed.

“Our point here is that, we were not involved in making this decision. If we had a meeting before this came out, they may have responded to some of the challenges,” he added.

His comment is in reaction to a decision by the University management for the remaining seven weeks of teaching and learning for the second semester to take place online.

The online academic activities will be undertaken using the University’s Sakai Learning Management System.

In line with that, the University says that it is working with telecom companies to guarantee free access to the university’s online learning platform.

However, it has already reached an agreement with Vodafone Ghana.

Accordingly, the University says that it will distribute Vodafone SIMs to all students to facilitate access.

In a statement signed by the Pro Vice-Chancellor in charge of students and academic affairs, Prof. Nana Aba Appiah Amfo, the online teaching schedule is expected to begin from the week of March 30, 2020 and end on May 15, 2020.

The statement, however, adds that the plan will change if the university opens before May 15.