Interrogating the preparedness of Uganda’s Higher Education and the Role of Information and Communication Technology in the era of COVID-19 Pandemic and its Aftermath
Keywords:
COVID-19 lockdown, Uganda’s Higher Education, Information Technology, PedagogyAbstract
This article is based on a qualitative study conducted to establish the preparedness of Uganda’s Higher Education and the role of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) during COVID-19 pandemic and its aftermath. Coincidentally, the dynamics of COVID-19 pandemic predicated the need for urgent adoption and scale up of ICT in education. However, universities in Uganda were strategically ill-prepared to adopt and sustain to digital and online methods of engagement, sighting problems ranging from policy and curriculum deficit, to lack of staff and student preparedness. Ideally, the inability for universities to adopt and sustain to digital and virtual mode of operations demonstrated a strategic irregularity between ICT and higher education systems. In response, this study was intended to address the salient gap by identifying the key pedagogical challenges encountered and recommend appropriate strategic options based on the global best practice in ICT and higher education. Procedurally, the study adopted qualitative study approach, using scoping literature review techniques and content analysis methods of extracting evidence.
By way of reflective analysis and scrutiny, the study sought to establish how various universities coped with COVID-19 lockdown, while identifying the relevant information in the domain of ICT and higher education systems. Hence, data analysis followed a descriptive approach, linking the identified gaps with the global best practices. Subsequently, the general implication of the study finding is that there was a strategic mismatch between ICT and higher education systems. Thus, the key challenges identified include lack of pedagogical flexibility and inefficient social interaction among learners and instructors, lack of self-directed and independent learning, restricted mode of assessment, and lack of staff competence in ICT and pedagogical approaches. Hence, this study provides a strategic guidelines to higher education planners to formally integrate ICT functions and education systems.
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