The Commonwealth of Learning (COL) recently facilitated a three-day workshop on Instructional Design and Course Material Development/Enhancement through the use of open educational resources (OER) for the University of The Gambia (UTG).

The primary objective was to enhance participants’ skills in creating effective instructional materials for open and distance learning courses, utilising instructional design principles and leveraging OER to promote accessibility and affordability.

Mr Lamin B. Manneh, Acting CEO of the National Accreditation and Quality Assurance Authority, commended UTG for the initiative and affirmed the Authority’s commitment to ODL. He challenged UTG to embrace the project and inspire other tertiary and higher education institutions to follow suit.

Professor Herbert Robinson, Vice Chancellor of UTG, welcomed the participants and thanked COL for commencing this insightful journey with the university and registering significant milestones. He acknowledged the financial and technical support provided by COL to implement this impactful project, which comprises sensitisation and stakeholder engagement, ODL policy development and validation, as well as instructional design and course development with OER.

Post-workshop evaluations revealed that participants gained a deeper understanding of instructional design methodologies. Ten courses are currently being developed and will be part of the UTG learning management system.