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In 2019 the spread COVID-19 poses a threat to humanity, as this pandemic has forced many global activities to close, including educational activities. In Somalia this Pandemic Online learning was the best solution for continuing education during the pandemic, especially in higher education institution. University institutions have tried to manage the new situation, but the human infrastructure was not ready for such an event. East Africa University in Puntland is among the university, during this pandemic switched to online learning in the second semester of 2020 due to the COVID-19 pandemic. This sudden transformation Of Utilization of information technology in private and public university in Somalia became challenged both teachers and Students. This study aims to determine the challenges and opportunities of Utilization of information technology in Education in the period of COVID19 “Case study of East Africa University in Bossaso”. The contribution of this study is to evaluate the teachers and learners’ new experiences of using information technology in education and to assess the feasibility of the virtual methods of learning. The objectives of this research are as follows, identify the challenges and opportunity of utilization E-learning during the COVID-19 crisis in East Africa University encountered teachers and learners, To determine the availability of IT resources to learners and teachers with the currently used platforms and applications that can assist in enhancing and reinforcing education during pandemics. The study answers the following question: What are the Challenges and opportunities of utilization information technology in Education in the period of COVID19 in East Africa University in Bossaso Puntland? The study targets the society that includes students, teaching staff and non-teaching staff in the Information Technology (IT) department in East Africa University. This study was used quantitative survey-based questionnaire. Three types of questionnaires were designed and distributed, i.e., the student questionnaire and the instructor questionnaire and ICT department questionnaire, A descriptive statistical method was used to test the validation of the study. It is found that the main the main challenges of utilization information technology during COVID-19 are related to technical, academic, resources, and communication challenges. The study results show that most learners are not satisfied with continuing online learning, as they could not fulfill the expected progress in learning performance. Present teachers’ are not trained information technology and there is no skills, competencies and experience in using technology. The research highlighted the technological requirements were not enough for successful online teaching. The main challenges were virtual classroom etiquette, inadequate interactions, time limitations, and infrastructure defects. Conclusion: the university have made good respond for using information technology during Pandemic by used online classroom education, such that traditional classes have been replaced with e-learning. These rapid, extensive changes in teaching and learning approaches have both challenges and opportunities.
Keywords: COVID-19 Pandemic, Challenges, opportunities, Utilization, information technology, Education, University.
