Academic Scholars Perception of Online Education Initiatives in Somalia

ABSTRACT

This paper examines the Perception of the academic community in Somalia on implementation of online teaching and learning methods during the covid-19 pandemic. The pandemic created a significant challenge for the universities in Somalia. The paper implements a modified version of the open, online, flexible and technology enhanced (OOFAT) methodology with three main categories content delivery, flexibility impact and platform adaptation. The data has been collected through online questionnaires and interviews involving 70 university educators in Somalia. The study found that instructors who had low degree of content delivery online with flexibility applications weakened the process of teaching and learning. In addition, the study suggested that the instructors lacked adequate knowledge on basic ICT literacy and showed a higher level of barrier of adaptation on online learning and teaching tools. The author argues that the higher education intuitions responsibility to build the capacity of academic staff regarding ICT literacy and provide a scholarly communication platform to enhance their knowledge and technology awareness and exposure. Copyright © 2021 by SCITEPRESS – Science and Technology Publications, Lda. All rights reserved.