**5. Embracing the 'New Normal' in Africa**

The pandemic has disrupted all walks of life and the most affected sector is education. It has been reported that millions of school and college going children are out of school. Thousands of parents and teachers have succumbed to the pandemic. This has left education, the already overburdened sector with fewer teachers as well as other support personnel. HEls closed in 175 countries leaving over 220 million post-secondary students whose studies were disrupted due to COVID-19 [16]. It is also important to note that even long before the pandemic, many countries in Africa were not ready to fully embrace the "New Normal" [17]. As such, the pandemic has worsened the situation for majority of African countries and stopped them from getting ready to embrace the New Normal by disrupting the basic progress already made in terms of their technological innovation and knowledge production. Consequently, it has also compromised Africa's ongoing economic and social development.

Indeed, if these countries do not adapt modern knowledge systems and tools; they stand a danger of becoming laggards or passive bystanders in the future" ([3], p. 293). Given that the continent's "natural resources are rapidly depleting, and Africa's economic survival and prosperity will increasingly depend on its knowledge capacity and human capital investment [12]. Indeed, there is need of glooming innovative individuals in Africa who are better able to generate both new and local knowledge and ideas or make new use of existing knowledge ([12], p. 301). The failure to do so will accordingly undermine Africa's competitiveness in terms of

technological innovation and knowledge production. However, it is important to explore the current realities surrounding information and communications technology (ICT) potential for HEIs in Africa. The following section presents the current realities surrounding ICTs and their impact in the globalized knowledge economy.

The current advancements in ICTs and mobile technologies have stimulated information sharing and knowledge-based economy which have been driven by even those fast moving sharing ICTs [4]. "ICT is both a driving force and enabler of the processes toward a knowledge-driven global economy. It allows HE providers to accommodate the specific needs of students in terms of mode, pace, place and time of study and to cater for different and new target groups and (niche) markets both locally and globally" ([18], p. 36). However, "the integration of ICTs into teaching is still in its infancy in Africa" [18].

In recent years, there has been an increase in blending of ICTs and emerging technologies as drivers of numerous economic and social activities including education. For instance, mobile technologies have been used to transform the teaching and learning processes in higher education [19]. Increasingly, institutions are looking for ways of reducing costs through the use of emerging mobile technologies. Mobile technologies have become part and parcel of our daily life, hence, the 'New Normal'. Many people also have come to appreciate that more can be achieved with less through the use of emerging mobile technologies.

"This emerging blend will also affect curricula and policy questions, such as what? and what for?" ([20], p. 3). The challenge is to translate the New Normal applications as drivers of interactive learning and innovative ideas. Yet, evidence show that online ICT and emerging mobile technologies could also take education and training to another level in terms of enhancing innovative interactive teaching, learning and skill development post pandemic [21]. The four new roles of technology in helping teachers improve their work include; improved record keeping for student learning, planning for student learning, instructions for student learning, and assessment for and of student learning ([22], p. 370). This allows the teacher to gain control over the facilitation and management of students' learning experiences.

"Technology and integration have led to increased demand for higher-order general cognitive skills—such as complex problem-solving, critical thinking, and advanced communication—that are transferable across jobs but cannot be acquired through schooling ([23], p. 78) transferable social behavioral skills i.e. teamwork, resilience, self-confidence, negotiation, and self-expression ([23], p. 80). Indeed it is recommended that for online learning there is need to move away from "the recall focus… and concentrate more on how to recapture the powerful improvisational and impromptu conversations and interactions that lead to group innovation" ([24], p. 232). "As we move into online and blended environments, there is also need not to focus on what is easier to teach online (information) instead of what is more difficult but also important (collaboration, creativity, and critical thinking)" ([24], p. 234). The idea is to create activities or tasks that are meaningful and worth of the time that students invest.

However, in an effort for HEIs in Africa to embrace the New Normal it may need to avoid the four most common mistakes in introducing technology into teaching namely: (i) installing learning technology without reviewing student needs and content availability; (ii) imposing technological systems from the top down without involving faculty and students; (iii) using inappropriate content from other regions of the world without customizing it appropriately; and (iv) producing low quality content that has poor instructional design and is not adapted to the technology in use ([18], p. 37). In an effort to move forward HEIs need to avoid the above mentioned common mistakes of integrating technology in teaching. This could enhance

*Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) in Africa Embracing the "New Normal" for Knowledge… DOI: http://dx.doi.org/10.5772/intechopen.101063*

their optimum utilization of meager resources as well as avoid unnecessary investments. As earlier indicated that advancing ICTs and emerging mobile technologies such as cloud computing solutions has the potential to actually reduce the cost of education [22, 25]. For instance, digitization of curricula content and instructions could make information storage, sharing and retrieval much easier and cheaper. Subsequently, millions of students and teachers can be able to use and benefit from the same materials without necessarily adding an extra cost for material production. It is also important to note that "knowledge products are inexhaustible and their use is not limited by spatial boundaries or geographical distance" [26]. One of the promises of online technologies is that they can increase access to nontraditional and underserved students by bringing a host of educational resources and experiences to those who may have limited access to on-campus only higher education [20]. However, numerous barriers exist that have tended to undermine the potential of embracing the New Normal in HEIs in Africa. Yet, the New Normal has come to stay which necessitates students to become more tuned to the flexibility and conveniences of programs associated with online/virtual learning compared to faceto-face learning. This almost leaves no chance for those HEIs that shall opt for the traditional option as they are most likely to be outcompeted and will fail to survive.
