Doing the right thing, and doing the thing right

The COVID-19 pandemic is still posing a global challenge for the way forward for educational institutions. As part of the coping mechanisms, higher education institutions are working relentlessly to redefine themselves and re-engineer policies and practices.

Many have resorted to using various technological means, devices, and types to mediate pedagogy and learning. Amid these struggles and quandaries are lingering factors and trade-offs. Trade-offs between sound decision and desired performance; doing the right thing and doing the thing right.

Adopted technologies and current practices

Prominent among the various representations of technology-mediated pedagogy and learning in current use in Ghana are social networks such as Facebook, WhatsApp and Zoom. Knowingly or unknowingly, and for various reasons, some institutions are disregarding the traditional and purposefully designed course and learning management systems (CMS/LMS) among which are Blackboard, Moodle and Canvas.

Between the social networks and the LMSs are quasi systems – not fully fledged models – and collaboration platforms such as Google Classroom, Adobe Connect and ConexED which are designed for social learning and user-generated content. The eLearning Industry, for example, offers a comparable analysis of the foremost LMSs yearly.

The adopted educational practices in Ghana as transmitted through social networks are under fixed terms still since they are created within prescribed limits of rigid credit hours, semesters, and examination schedules. Integrating social media for pedagogy and learning is initiated by institutions to follow rigidly organised processes with minimal flexibility and, therefore, can be classified as campus- or place-bound. Grades are computed on strictly controlled assessments and examinations to exemplify perceived learning and efficiency.

The practice of efficiency-based model assessment depicts a role-bound process that mirrors engagements in repeated arrangements by academics with the purpose of turning students into productive learners. In fact, the structural and organisational limits of time-, place-, efficiency-, and role-bound praxes in schools have been discussed extensively by Terry O’Banion, and can be inferred in the current practices in several higher education institutions in Ghana.

With the key objective of learning comprising achievement of learning outcomes such as knowledge construction and development, and behavioural change, can we assume that our institutions are doing the right thing, or doing the thing right by adopting social networks in lieu of course or learning management systems?

Can we say with confidence that, amid COVID-19, adoption of social networks is presenting the tools to position higher education with an inimitable opportunity to teach and produce graduates with critical mindsets, cognition and intellectual independence? Is the practice transitory or permanent?

Social networks

Doing the right thing is viewed as part of the pedagogical makeover that will lead to potential changes in higher education. Adoption of social networks is premised on social constructivism, with the view that they can foster active and self-directed learning, and that students can create, share, and disseminate knowledge effectively.

Social networks are allowing institutions to explore the contributions of various social media tools and channels for mutual classroom activities. When integrated properly, they can promote collaborative learning and creation of course contents to influence learning outcomes.

Using social media is simple, user-friendly and universal, yet the challenges associated with teaching and learning can be defined by limited course content management and storage systems, vulnerability, lack of robustness, and inadequate conceptual underpinnings.

Other issues of concern include difficulty in managing students’ accounts and performance records, and lack of integrated assessments and feedback options. Many are neither scalable to hold larger student populations nor customisable to meet learning and institutional needs.

While the focus of teaching and learning is shifted slightly towards personalised models, it is still under teacher-led conventional duties and practices. Students continue to remain passive and dependent since the practices are guided by existing policies and piecemeal reforms that can be short-lived and die after COVID-19.

Similar to the situation in many other developing countries, the practices may be viewed as a way of filling the breaches created by relatively slow approval and application of technology to mediate teaching and learning in Ghana.

Learning management systems

Doing the thing right demands a general overhaul of the conventional pedagogy and learning architecture since LMSs are designed for learner-centred learning, individualised instruction and social interactions.

In this case, quality and germane instruction and facilitation become key features for engagement and reflection of the change in focus. Typically, these technological solutions are designed to define the roles of users according to academic and learner needs.

Informed also by constructivism, traditional LMSs offer more options for flexible and adaptive learning. They provide catalogued features for course administration and can simulate physical classrooms on virtual platforms.

Irrespective of where they are stored, the features allow academics to plan, create, document, and retrieve learning and course materials on demand. LMSs have embedded data-driven results, customisation options, dynamic feedback, and visual reporting mechanisms. Institutions and faculty can track activities and performance of all users.

The exogenous challenges to adopting traditional LMSs include lack of leadership in educational technology, decisions to make the right choices, difficulty in developing digital literacy of users, limited continuous professional development, and coping with the shifting roles of faculty from lecturing to facilitating. There are issues with design and development of digital instruction and assessment, high-speed internet, cost of data and change management, among others.

Learning as a core mandate

The learning revolution in the 1990s placed learning first among the core functions of higher education, and technology-mediated learning is inevitable in the present state. What can be done to expand potentials for student learning in developing countries? Can we design our learning and pedagogical purposes and practices on the premises of doing the right thing or doing the thing right? What is the trade-off?

Learning is viewed as the “transcendent value that undergirds almost all educational activity” (see O’Banion). Gaining prominence among the key utilities of higher education, learning demands innovative teaching strategies to influence its outcomes. Some authors of higher education systems believe pedagogical innovations have not been prioritised in the universities adequately, likewise the necessities of contemporary learning and instructional reforms.

Present day technology-mediated educational trends show that very few universities and tertiary education systems in Africa, especially in Ghana, have appraised and adopted innovative practices until COVID-19.

The temporary shift to engaging students through social networks speaks volumes to the call for transformation in pedagogy and learning practices. However, to ensure a safe flight and landing, should the aviators of our educational systems do the right thing, or do the thing right?

Let us be mindful of the comments of educator George Couros: “Technology will not replace great teachers, but technology in the hands of great teachers can be transformational.”

Josephine Larbi-Apau, PhD, is president of the Association of Educational and Instructional Technologists, Ghana, a consultant, and executive director at AAL-Global Consultants, Ltd. With specialities in e-learning management and instructional technology, she has researched, published, presented and facilitated many projects in these areas. She can be reached at jlarbiapau@gmail.com.