From Quiet Pilot to Campus Backbone: A Critical Reflection on a Decade of the Sakai Learning Management System Journey at the University of Ghana

Abstract

In the 2014/2015 academic year, the University of Ghana replaced the Knowledge Environment 
for Web-based Learning (KEWL) with the Sakai Learning Management System (LMS), an open
source platform sustained under the Apereo Foundation. Over a decade, what began as a modest 
pilot within the distance education programme of the School of Continuing and Distance 
Education (SCDE) evolved into the digital backbone of teaching, learning, assessment, and 
academic continuity across the entire University. This lead article, written by the co-chairs of the 
Sakai@10 Anniversary Conference held at the University of Ghana on 19–20 August 2025, frames 
this special edition of the Multidisciplinary Journal of Distance Education Studies (MJDES) but it 
does so with critical scrutiny rather than celebration.  
The article examines the decade (2014/2015-2025) through three analytical lenses: adoption versus 
institutionalization, the equity paradox of digital transformation, and governance's persistent lag 
behind technology. It traces the shift from KEWL to Sakai, assesses the platform's effects on 
curriculum, pedagogy, and assessment, and weighs these developments against evidence of limited 
tool use, declining post-pandemic engagement, and infrastructural constraints. It also revisits the 
COVID-19 "lifeline" narrative by distinguishing emergency remote teaching from designed online 
learning. The article then confronts the defining development of the platform’s second decade: the 
generative Artificial Intelligence (GenAI) turn.  Drawing on a recent PRISMA-guided systematic 
review of 246 studies on the ethical integration of GenAI in higher education (Yarboi, et al; 2026), 
the article argues that Ghanaian higher education risks repeating the KEWL-to-Sakai pattern, 
whereby adoption outpaces governance, training, and equity. It therefore calls for the early 
development of ethical integration strategies, context-sensitive governance mechanisms, and 
African-centred frameworks. The article concludes by briefly assessing the University’s Policy on 
the Use of Artificial Intelligence (April 2026) in relation to these priorities. 
Keywords: Sakai LMS; digital learning; distance education; open-source platforms; higher 
education; emergency remote teaching; generative artificial intelligence; ethical integration; AI 
policy; governance; Ghana 
Date of submission: 13 April 2026, Date of acceptance: 13 July 2026,  
Date of publication: 29th July 2026 
url: https://mjdesjournal.com/index.php/mjdes/issue/view/4 
*Corresponding author:  
Citation: Oheneba-Sakyi Y. & Ussher Y. A. A., (2026). From Quiet Pilot to Campus Backbone: A 
Critical Reflection on a Decade of the Sakai Learning Management System Journey at the University of 
Ghana. Multidisciplinary Journal of Distance Education Studies, 2026, 4(1), 1-26.