Online Learning and Human Capital Development in Africa: Harnessing the Digital and Demographic Dividends

The convergence of a digital transformation and a growing youth population in Africa represents an opportunity to harness digital and demographic dividends to boost human capital development. Higher education institutions play a central role in this process as the demographic dividend is accrued from the rise in the proportion of educated individuals rather than simply from an increase in population. Moreover, digital transformation has significant implications for education and the workplace, presenting higher education institutions with the challenge of increasing enrollment and integrating digital training while contending with infrastructure and personnel constraints. Leveraging online learning offers a mechanism for overcoming physical limitations and staffing shortages to meet the challenge of providing educational opportunities to a growing pool of eligible applicants. However, whether online learning can deliver higher or equivalent learning outcomes than face-to-face instruction is a factor in determining its practicality as a supplement to campus-based instruction. Therefore, evaluating the suitability of online learning requires an empirical assessment of its efficacy and a study of the factors that influence its deployment in established higher education institutions. The sequential mixed-method study examined the efficacy of online learning at the University of Ghana (UG) and Addis Ababa University (AAU). The quantitative method examined whether online instruction had a causal effect on learning outcomes as measured by Cumulative Grade Point Average (CGPA). A propensity score matching analysis shows online learning had outperformed face-to-face instruction in UG by 9.28% (p=0.045) and AAU by 20.7% (p=0.001). The qualitative case study of AAU and UG documented the evolution, location, and implementation of online learning and the institutional and individual challenges in its deployment. UG and AAU have developed complementary strengths in the deployment of online learning. AAU's strength lies in providing sophisticated technical infrastructure and support for effective technical deployment, whereas UG has developed a process and mechanism to monitor the quality of online courses. The study found UG and AAU demonstrate an asset-based strategy for deploying online learning by leveraging strengths and developing solutions unique to their context, illustrating the importance of adaptation and indigenization in the deployment of online learning. [The dissertation citations contained here are published with the permission of ProQuest LLC. Further reproduction is prohibited without permission. Copies of dissertations may be obtained by Telephone (800) 1-800-521-0600. Web page: http://www.proquest.com/en-US/products/dissertations/individuals.shtml.]