Makerere University staff, members have requested for more training on how to cope up with online programs as various institutions put in practice e-learning.
The request was made during a meeting organized by Makerere University’s College of Agricultural and Environmental Sciences (CAES) and Michigan State University’s Borlaug Higher Education for Agriculture Research and Development (BHEARD) intended to launch CAES Innovation Scholars Program (CAES-ISP).
According to Professor Nelson Turyahabwe, the Head of Department of Extension and Innovation Studies, most of the instructors have not undergone tutorial skills in handling online platforms, though the existing materials is not updated and also not transformed to be online so that it can be accessed by our students while out of campus.
He observed that in most cases people handling such programs are not trained and students not oriented well to undertake the external programs.
“For a long period, we are supposed to keep in touch with our students through social media like WhatsApp, Facebook and sometimes through E-mail but due to challenges of COVID-19 and others associated with E-learning, much has not been done,’’ Prof Turyahabwe said.
Dr. Jackeline Bonabana, the CAES-ISP Program Manager described that the major objective of the program is to provide solutions to addressing development challenges and improve engagement and collaboration with diverse stakeholders and development partners in innovation ecosystems, using skills such as innovation mindset training, communication, and team building.
