1.Omogah, F.O. Online Education in the Midst of a World's Pandemic, a Potential Academic Integrity Cyber Risk (AICR) - The Unrehearsed Boom in Education Automation amid COVID-19 Flouts. Exceller Books | A Global Press: ISBN: 978-93-93734-53-2, Exceller Books | A Global Press Mar 3, 2023Exceller Books | A Global Press · Mar 3, 2023

Abstract

Covid-19, a Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome SARS-CoV-2, is an aggressive and infectious disease responsible for massive health havoc and resulting in high mortality rates globally. As a result, on 11th March 2020, the WHO declared Covid-19 a world pandemic due to its grievous impact on human health and livelihood. Learning and teaching in institutions have been disrupted following lockdowns and subsequent closures of all learning institutions across the globe. This pandemic has been quite surging. Many renowned professors and doctors in Kenyan and African academia have perished. Kenya and Africa are left with no choice in education but to use online platforms. The unrehearsed boom in education automation by universities may be a potential academic integrity cyber risk because this rush is more than anticipated. Even though the pandemic could be a wake-up call, industry players and stakeholders should re-design the education sector to be compatible with the emerging digital economies and globalized villages we currently live in. As a challenge during the 21st Century, Covid-19 has forced many organizations to shift their day-to-day activities to rely more on technology, and our universities have not been left behind. One may ask, "Under what circumstances is the shift to and reliance on technology taking place?" Covid-19 could be a silver lining for education which is a great idea; however, education automation should NOT only be focused on the pandemic and how well technology can be used as a new "normal" but also how bad things can get in the event of technology failures and potential criminal conducts. Technology alone can never be a solution to automation. Better approaches MUST include People, Process then technology (PPT) so that a formal way for aligning technology with education strategies can be achieved to nurture best practices and controls for successful education automation implementation.