Ground-Up Innovation in Blended Learning: Faculty Experiences Toward Digital Transformation at Makerere University

Abstract

This article examines the experiences of Makerere University faculty members in Uganda, specifically their involvement in the co-design of blended courses and how these experiences influenced their adoption of technology-enhanced learning. Through a phenomenological approach and in-depth interviews with 12 faculty members across diverse disciplines, this article explains how faculty members brokered collaborative course design processes, navigated institutional pressures, and facilitated pedagogical transformation in a resource-constrained setting. The study reveals that peer mentorship, interdisciplinarity, and observable student interaction were among the key drivers of faculty commitment, whereas limited time, a lack of recognition, and entrenched hierarchies can deter long-term commitment. Faculty resilience and adaptive strategies were found to be key drivers of innovation, despite these challenges. The study recommends an institutional policy that is sensitive to academic agency, recognises blended learning as a component of formal workload allocation, and encourages the relational aspects of digital pedagogy. These are concerned with the creation of sustainable, locally enacted blended learning environments within the architecture of higher education within the Global South.