Teaching and learning in most of sub-Saharan Africa occur under the most stringent conditions. I should know, as I have fond memories of my elementary school. There were two buildings, one on either side of a large football (soccer) field. We had great teachers and they taught us with dedication and passion; but they had to improvise in most things because of the limited access we had to instructional technology. Teachers employed repetition as a way of inducing us to memorize concepts too difficult to grasp, and impossible to demonstrate, without the necessary equipment.

For us, believing was not necessarily seeing. Things were only slightly better in the urban centers where most of the middle and high schools were sited. In my grammar (high) school, for instance, we learned the geography of North America without ever understanding what prairies, tornadoes, or snows were. It was not a problem. After all, in elementary school we knew “A is for Apple,” but we had never seen an apple. It was no wonder that much of learning was memorization. So, how can we ensure that Africans in the next generation learn under better conditions? How can we ensure a higher success rate of knowledge acquisition, retention, and application in developing countries?

For many years I have asked these and similar questions. Thus, in 2000-2002 when our project to provide instructional technology training to Ghanaian teachers won an ALO award, I took the task seriously. It was intended to be a pilot project, but I also wanted it to be a smart start. The project “Instructional Technology Training for Basic Education in Ghana” developed as the result of two events.

The first instance in the evolution of the project was the linkage agreement between Kennesaw State University (KSU) and the University of Cape Coast (UCC), Ghana, in 1998. After his tour of classrooms and centers at KSU, the then UCC Vice Chancellor, Professor Sam Adjepong, informed the KSU partners that he would like to see the transfer of instructional technology skills to UCC. He further stated that he was keenly interested in the possibility of having several of his academic staff (Ghanaian term for faculty) trained in the use of educational technology. This project is the outcome of that dream. Its goals were to build human capacity in the use and maintenance of educational technology, thereby to increase the effectiveness of primary education. Another major goal was to establish an instructional technology training center in UCC that would carry on the training after the project ends.

The second incident was a telephone conference call arranged by Dr. Richard C. Sutton, Director of International Programs and Senior Advisor for Academic Affairs, Board of Regents of the University System of Georgia (USG). This was in March 2000. At different ends of the telephone were key faculty and directors with interests in international education and the continent of Africa. The invitation for me to be present for these conversations came from Dr. Dan Paracka, KSU assistant director of the international center. I was glad I attended. Dr. Sutton told the group that he had heard of ALO’s RFA and wanted this group on Africa to take advantage of it. Two years prior to this, his Office of International Education had, through its international

partnerships grants, funded a number of initiatives in West Africa. There was a clear agreement to partner with UCC in Ghana. However, further discussions centered on determining if the project would fit the strategic objectives of both ALO and USAID, and the strengths and interests of partner institutions. I was charged with the task of consulting with the Vice Chancellor of UCC, and ultimately with developing the proposal. Seven institutions were “present” at the telephone conference call, and all seven became partners in the project.

The seven-member USG partnership institutions were KSU, Fort Valley State University (FVSU), Georgia State University (GSU), Georgia College and State University (GC&SU), Savanna State University (SSU), University of Georgia, Athens (UGA), Valdosta State University (VSU). Collectively, these institutions worked with the University of Cape Coast (UCC) and University College of Education, Winneba (UCEW) in Ghana. In the course of the two years, 13 lecturers from UCC, two lecturers from UCEW, and one teacher from the University Junior Secondary School received trainer training provided by consortium institutions.

The partnership addresses USAID's strategic objective of improving the effectiveness of the primary education system in Ghana. The partnership pursues this objective by delivering, at participating University System of Georgia institutions, a series of trainers’ training to a cohort of University of Cape Coast education faculty members, with a view to having these “supertrainers” return to Ghana to undertake the training of elementary (basic) school teachers in the design and use of instructional technology. Results have included the upgrading of the pedagogical skills of Ghanaian teachers, transfer of appropriate instructional technology for primary education, human capacity development, and improvement in learning outcomes. All four phases of the project have been completed, and altogether over three hundred have received training.

In Ghana, very few teachers realized that this was a pilot project. Expectations were high. Although the project was implemented on a small scale, it has piqued the interest of teachers and attracted the attention of administrators. Everyone we have talked to in Ghana agrees that the training is sustainable and that the goal is achievable. Altogether, the project has been a huge success. In 2000, one of the participants reported that “The entire program was very successful. I found the training on all the software/programs very informative and relevant to my teaching and research. Excel and the possibilities it offers, as well as the effectiveness of PowerPoint, has been so strongly impressed upon me that it is my aim to impart the knowledge to my colleagues.” Another said “New horizons have been opened and the [supertrainers] go back home with a new determination and purpose.”

Two problems external to the partnership are likely to affect anticipated results. The first is the discrepancy between rural and urban schools. Many schools in urban centers have at least one functional computer. In rural areas, there is no computer and there may be no electricity to operate a video, television, overhead projector, etc. A teacher assigned to a rural school would easily lose his/her skills owing to a lack of practice. Rural-urban migration is also bound to affect the sustainability of the partnership.

Second, a technological gap can be observed in Ghana between teachers and students. From elementary to tertiary levels,

young students are frequent visitors to Internet cafes in Ghana’s major cities. They surf the Internet and send and receive electronic mail. On the other hand, many of their teachers—even those in the universities—do not have an Internet email account. For such teachers, the potentials and advantages of this information technology age is only a vague ideal. UCC’s decision to focus on current students is a practical choice in light of limited funding. However, the training is sorely needed by serving teachers who must teach and supervise students that are familiar with the Internet and have unsupervised access to various sites.

What lessons were learned, and how can these serve as guide to future or similar projects in design and implementation? The first is that local or in-country information is essential in designing a project of this nature. The partnership is fortunate to have outstanding co-directors and participants that are fully committed to the ideals of instructional technology transfer, who are aware of opportunities on the ground and are willing to work around resource limitations and bureaucratic bottlenecks.

A second lesson is to develop the project’s action plans from the understanding that participants, either individually or collectively, have varying agendas. Personal interviews of participants by the project director revealed that the only common goal was the training itself. Different participants wanted different things from the training. One participant in the fall of 2000 wanted to browse educational software in his field. One wanted training in SPSS (which was outside the scope of the project), and another wanted “to make the trip to the U.S. count.” Several in both groups wanted a personal computer or laptop.

Two important developments must be mentioned here. The first is that the project was nominated for the KSU Year of Engagement Award. It received an award in the category of “International Collaboration and Engagement.” The second is that one of the supertrainers, Edmund Mensah, established an Instructional Technology Training Center as soon as he got back to Ghana. The Center, located at St. Monicas JSS, Cape Coast, and is named after me, which I regard as an honor. A formal opening ceremony was held in March 2002.

During two years of involvement in the partnership, I have been cast in several roles: collaborating with several people at KSU and in several Georgia and Ghanaian institutions to plan the various phases of the partnership, coordinating the training, making travel arrangements for the visiting Ghanaians, and providing orientation, historical, and cultural information for all people involved in the partnership. Through all these, the partnership has strengthened the connection between KSU and sister USG institutions, and the international linkage between KSU and UCC. It has increased the level of contact, collaboration, and connection among several colleges at KSU. Above all, the partnership has been of immense personal benefit. I have made personal friends, met my desire for the transfer of technological skills to a part of Africa, and brought me closer to fulfilling my dream of improving the teaching and learning environment one classroom at a time. It is only a beginning, but it has definitely been a smart one.

Dr. Akanmu G. Adebayo is Professor of History and Assistant Dean of the College of Humanities and Social Sciences, Kennesaw State University.

For more information about the University System of Georgia/University of Cape Coast partnership, contact ALO Senior Program Associate Charlie Koo.

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