How African Higher Education Institutions Can Weather a Pandemic [Munyao, Martin, ed. Online Learning, Instruction, and Research in Post-Pandemic Higher Education in Africa]

Abstract

If one were given the option of just a single book on what African higher education institutions (HEI) can do to thrive in the midst of a pandemic like COVID 19, this would be it. This multi-author volume comprising of thirteen essays is edited by Martin Munyao, Deputy Director of Open, Distance and eLearning (ODeL) and lecturer in the Peace and International Studies Department at Daystar University, Kenya. The book has a foreword by George John Law, founder of Internet Theological Education by Extension Global (iTEE Global), and has twenty-six other authors mostly from Kenyan universities or affiliated to them who collaborate in the chapters. The book comes in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic and its impact on higher learning institutions (HEI) in Africa in terms of their response in the areas of Open Distance and e-Learning (ODeL) and proffers that a mixture of pedagogical skills, educational technology, and institutional collaboration will result in optimum learning outcomes through ODeL than merely transferring the physical classroom experience online as did most HEIs during the pandemic. For ease of assessment, I have categorized the essays into the four broad categories of HEI strategy, the digital divide, online student experiences, and online instructor experiences which are porous as the issues bleed into each other and argue that although the book has some editorial challenges, it is very valuable tool to understanding how African HEIs coped in the pandemic and what areas need to be addressed for them to be better prepared for similar emergencies.