Abstract
Most of Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in Ethiopia and Uganda are adopting e-learning to increased demand for, and to widen access to higher education. However, e-learning has not yet been fully embraced. Adoption of e-learning technologies in many universities in Ethiopia and Uganda is still ad hoc; and efforts towards full utilization of e-learning in HEIs are still undermined by many factors. This study has been conducted to explore institutional policy challenges, strategies, and reforms required to embrace all-inclusive online academic programmes. Guided by explanatory-sequential mixed design, data were collected from 765 participants using key informant interviews(KII), survey questionnaire, and documentary review methods. The study findings revealed that glitches from policy agents, mandate, purpose, publics, effectiveness, fairness, desirability, and affordability of the eLearning policies; as well as responsiveness and policy sustainability were the most critical institutional challenges to implementation of online academic programmes at Gondar and Makerere University. The study also revealed that provision of appropriate student support services, setting realistic assignments, emphasizing staff self-direction, having effective attendance policy, sharing of learning/information materials, professional development, technological, and maintenance of effective communication with students, and maintaining social presence were the key eLearning policy strategies used in implementation of online academic programmes at Makerere University. The study results further revealed that widening access to online programmes, mobilisation of adequate financial resources, engaging in national wide policy reforms, organisational restructuring, employment of adequate qualified staff, curriculum reform and entrenching online courses in the university system are key policy reforms required to embrace implementation of all-inclusive online academic programmes. Hence, it was recommended that something had to be done to: overcome institutional policy challenges; improve eLearning policy strategies used; and to effect inevitable policy reforms required to embrace implementation of all-inclusive online academic programmes at Gondar and Makerere University.
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