E-learning

Abstract

In this chapter, we elucidate the state of E-learning and the way forward in higher education in Africa. We look at E-learning as an emerging discipline, the progress achieved in education through the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) and specifically the Internet, the multiple definitions that have emerged during the past few decades, and the advance in the uptake in African institutions of higher education to suggest a way forward. Since this chapter is an exploration of the state of the field, it is a critical review. The chapter familiarizes stakeholders in education with current knowledge and trends in E-learning in higher education in Africa. This offers an understanding of the progress, the steps taken to implement E-learning, and the way forward. The pertinent question that emerges is the following: Why evaluate E-learning in African higher education? The answer to this question is a simple one. Basically, since the education landscape worldwide has changed following the outbreak of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) which made E-learning a requirement, and is no longer a peculiar way providing education by specific institutions and departments, mainly those offering distance education, stakeholders in higher education in Africa have to take steps to fully integrate E-learning in teaching and learning. This chapter provides insights for the implementation of E-learning in higher institutions of education in Africa. But, in order to do this effectively, we deem it very important to show how E-learning has conceptualized the continent.