Ghana's University of Science and Technology takes learning online

The facility would also serve as a platform for distance learning and enhance research between the university and other academic institutions in Europe and North America through advanced technologies such as the Voice Over Internet Protocol (VOIP) aided communications.

The KNUST authorities clinched the deal after signing a Memorandum of Understanding with the Universal Telephone Exchange, a subsidiary of the service provider, Engineering Systems and Services (ESS).

The service would offer university lecturers and researchers a platform to collaborate with their global counterparts while the students would have access to material in foreign libraries and lecturers.

Dr Ben Adu, the Chief Executive Officer of ESS, said the network would create a new educational environment and learning experience in Ghana.

By the close of 2007 the University of Cape Coast and the University for Development Studies would be hooked to the network.

The network, which is based on the Internet technology, would allow students to take online courses with minimal supervision.

It uses broadband technology to meet voice, Internet and data needs of students and lecturers and offer access to the best electronic education resources both human and material within and outside Ghana.

Broadband connection in Ghana is used mainly for Internet access but the e-campus facilitators say the network would exploit the advantages of broadband infrastructure to provide value-added online services to enhance the quality of university education.

Dr Adu noted that the government is yet to lend support to the program, which he described "as a revolutionary change in teaching and learning environment in our educational institutions."

Under the first phase of the e-campus network, beneficiaries would enjoy the premium-rated services to educational institutions at subsidised rates.

The facilities include: broadband wireless Internet access to all members of the university community, students as well as faculty members; in-room, video conferencing; and on-campus voice telephony in tertiary institutions and their immediate environs.

The next phase of the project would ensure that students and lecturers are provided with access to the latest digital telephony services and resources, which will include a voice mail accessible from anywhere.

University teaching or learning is becoming increasingly challenging in the face of limited resources and increasing demand for enrollment. Physical facilities and lecturers are in short supply while access to quality learning and education resources is limited.

The gap between the quality of education in the developed economies and that in developing countries will widen if steps are not taken to address the problem.

Developing countries will spend more of their scarce foreign exchange to acquire foreign expertise if their educational institutions cannot produce them.

Distance education and e-learning can help to ameliorate the situation, without equal access to quality communications infrastructure.

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