Over 90% of students of the University of Ghana partook in the institution’s online learning programme despite the protests that it was greeted with when it was introduced in March.
This is according to the University’s Pro Vice Chancellor in charge of Academic and Students Affairs, Prof. Nana Aba Appiah Amfo
Students, after University management disclosed plans to migrate academic activities online because of the directive to close down schools over the outbreak of the coronavirus in the country, opposed it and said that they were not ready to continue with academic activities.
For most of these students, they were citing internet connectivity challenges as grounds for which university authorities must consider.
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Subsequently, the university made provision for students who would not be able to partake in its online academic activities.
Speaking on Campus Exclusive show on Tuesday, she says that the data showing the level of student participation in the program was gathered from the University of Ghana Computing System.
She explained that their 90% figure is only of those who participated in online learning using the University’s Sakai learning management system.
“We have gathered some data from the back room and then my understanding is that the participation is more than 90% of the average. There are instances where the lecturers did not largely conduct lectures on Sakai. Some used zoom and others used Google classroom. But for those who conducted the lessons on Sakai and did the assignments, we have all of these for the average is more than 90%,” she disclosed.
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To resolve the challenge of a jammed system as a result of heavy load, Prof. Appiah Amfo says that arrangements have been made to procure 120 terabyte of storage for the Sakai platform.
“Going into the examination period, one challenge that students faced was the difficulty during their test and quizzes, the system jamming and unable to submit their tests or quizzes. The quizzes been submitted when they are not even ready and I think that was a genuine and major concern for the students and so we had actually made arrangements to procure 120 terabytes of storage,” she stated.
In order to manage the problem during examination which is already ongoing, the Pro Vice-Chancellor says that 20 terabytes of storage has been installed.
She mentioned other intentions that have been put in place to rectify the challenge.
“In the meantime, in preparation for the exams we have acquired 20 terabytes of storage which was installed over the weekend and so that should be able to sustain the system. We also had an additional server for load balancing and then we also have installed a software with this feature which allows the persistent feature and that allows for when you doing your test or your quiz. If you had a problem and you were logged out, when you return, you are not going to lose your material and it is going to continue from where you left off,”
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