Role of ICT in providing effective distance

education and e-learning at University of Eldoret (UoE),

Kenya

Lazare EtiégniDepartment of Forestry & Wood Science University of Eldoret, Kenya

Presentation Overview1. Introduction of the University of Eldoret

• Some facts on the University of Eldoret, • List of Internet service provider at UoE and their Band Width

2. Introduction of e-learning at the Universities in General

3. e-learning at UoE

4. Use of MOODLE at UoE1. What has been achieved with the e-learning/Internet facility at

UoE and how students are using it.2. Teachers perspective on using Moodle

• Role of mobile phones in e-learning at UoE

• The way forward

INTRODUCTION OF THE UNIVERSITY OF ELDORET

Traditional Dance Executed by the Choir Group of the University of Eldoret

Another view of Entrance to the Administration Block, Old Library and in back ground, some classrooms

Forestry Building

The Computer and Server Rooms

GENERAL INFORMATION ON THE UNIVERSITY OF

ELDORET

Some Basic Facts

•Flame of knowledge and innovation (Motto)•University of Eldoret was funded in 1946 by White Settlers as a

Large Scale Farmer Training Centre•In 1984 it was converted into a Teachers’ Training College and

renamed Moi Teachers’ Training College•The College was taken over by Moi University as a Campus in 1990,

renaming it Chepkoilel Campus. From 1990, the University made it a campus of natural, basic and applied science programmes

•In August 2010 the President, through Legal Notice No. 125 of 13 August 2010 upgraded the campus into a University College with the name Chepkoilel University College, a Constituent College of Moi University

•Upon the award of Charter by the President on March 2013, the University College was renamed University of Eldoret.

•Undergraduate: 25,000+ ; Post-graduate (MSc and Ph.D) = 8000

Basic Facts Cont…..

Basic Facts Cont…..Two Campuses: Chepkoilel Campus (9 km from Town Centre) with 24,000+ and Town Campus (1000 Students)

The university has the following schools; Agriculture and Biotechnology Business and Management Sciences Education Engineering Environmental Studies

Environmental Studies - Arts Environmental Studies - Science

Human Resource Development Natural Resource Management (Department of Forestry & Wood Science) Science

  IST YEAR

2ND YEAR 3RD YEAR 4TH YEAR TOTAL

POSTGRADUATE 7 53 10 0 60

UNDERGRADUATE 315 251 278 226 1070

DIPLOMA 8 19 00 0 27

 

STUDENT ENROLMENT 2014/2015 ACADEMIC YEARIn the SCHOOL OF NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT

E-LEARNING IN KENYA

Introduction

E-learning (or eLearning) is the use of electronic media, educational technology and information and communication technologies (ICT) in education.

E-learning, distance and open-learning are tools that are increasingly being used by Universities the World over to reach as many students as possible to far away locations. e-learning processes to diffuse the knowledge and learn without borders

Speaking when she opened the university’s town campus in Eldoret, Prof. Bahimuka said considering that the world was embracing digital migration fast, it was imperative for the university to do the same.

Reasons for E-leaning

Investment in online learning will allow universities to benefit from economies of scale and meet increasing demand for education closer to people

Online delivery is a response to one of the main problems facing Kenyan higher education system: the lack of quality academic staff almost everywhere.

As Kenya’s population grows, so are more students going to seek university admission but class room space will not grow at the same pace

On-line education is likely to increase the flexibility of the education system in Kenya which is compared to almost a straight jacket when you enrol in 1st year

Kenyatta University is offering a free tablet upon registration to one on-line course

The growth rate for cloud-based e-learning products in Africa is a breath taking 38.6%, and packaged content will generate the highest revenues in Africa throughout the forecast period.

This increase is the result of the recent arrival of fibre optic connectivity, which is a major learning technology catalyst in Africa

Another catalyst includes national, regional and international support for several new development-backed initiatives to integrate learning technology into education and training, said the report.

For example, in January 2012, the African Development Bank approved a US$15.6 million grant to help strengthen the capacity of the African Virtual University (AVU). As of 2012, the AVU had 31 active higher education partners across Africa, which it helps in building e-learning centres and training content developers. The new funding was used to build 12 new e-learning centres.

Kenya social fabric is still highly ethnicized and make some students uncomfortable to school far away from their ethnic cocoon.

Universities in Kenya that will manage to enter successfully the global digital market over the next few years will have an advantage over those that hesitate to take the leap. It has been shown from other Universities that:

Leaders in the online niches might be the first institutions to dodge the consequences of technological disruption in higher education and be the first truly global universities.

Kenya has one of the highest road fatalities in the World at 2176.5 per 100,000 motor vehicles in 2010. On line should enable good academic avoid taking the road to teach physically at various institutions.

Experience elsewhere has cited six good reasons for taking online courses

Reasons for E-leaning cont…

• FLEXIBILITYIt is said by some lecturers that online students can work on their courses and listen to lectures between jobs, appointments and other classes. They can access course materials 24 hours a day, seven days a week. Course work can be done around family schedules, and students can study on their phone, laptop or anywhere else they have an Internet connection.

• ACCESSIBILITYFor some disabled students, attending courses on campus can be challenging. In an online environment, the other students and the teacher may not know that the online student has a disability. That can make online classes more attractive to students with special needs. Disability policy has been passed at the University of Eldoret, but some disable students still face challenges. In the Chepkoilel Campus, there is no elevator to cater for the physically challenged students

Reasons for E-leaning cont…

• REDUCED COSTAttending online courses eliminates the expenses of petrol, bus fares, and parking fees. Some instructors use online, free, openly licensed text books, further reducing the cost of attendance. When instructors accept papers online, students and schools save printing costs.

• ENGAGEMENTWe actually know our online students better than many of our face-to-face students because of the social dimension of online learning. Students often find that online classes can provide more personalized attention.

Reasons for E-leaning cont…

• NETWORKING & TECHNOLOGY SKILLSStudents who take online classes become more proficient and comfortable with using computers. Skills like these are more and more in demand by employers.

• ONLINE LEARNING CREATES OPTIONSStudents who take online classes are more likely to take classes to update their professional skills later in their careers.

Reasons for E-leaning cont…

Certain drivers and skills are particularly important for online learners:•Motivation and self-discipline: There is often no set schedule to online classes. You must make a real commitment to your assignments and deadlines. •Time management: you can use Google Calendar.• The acquisition effective and appropriate communication: Your online classes are an academic environment, so you can communicate accordingly.•Collaborative working skills: In an online course, participation in online study groups and discussions can make all the difference.

Personal Skills Acquired by students

Technology skills (Anticipated gains from e-learning)

To take online courses, it’s important to know how to:•use a web browser to access websites and follow links on web pages.•use a word processor to create and save documents.•send and reply to e-mail messages.•attach files to e-mail messages.•type at least 25 w.p.m. (Well this is debatable)

Delays in production of study materials Inadequate funding Low teaching staff levels were identified Efforts of the ODL providers in Kenya were also

not guided by national policies posing a challenge on resource mobilization and programme quality issues

The author identified the following challenges hindering the full development of ODL in Kenya

THE STATUS AND CHALLENGES OF OPEN AND DISTANCE LEARNING IN KENYA’S PUBLIC UNIVERSITIES

By

Jackline K. Anyona

A THESIS SUBMITTED TO THE SCHOOL OF EDUCATION IN FULFILLMENT OF THE

REQUIREMENTS FOR THE DEGREE OF DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY IN PLANNING AND

AND ECONOMICS OF EDUCATION OF KENYATTA UNIVERSITY

October, 2009

There is a Ph.D thesis with the following title

The building on the left has no elevator and this the library of

the University of Eldoret

USE OF E-LEARNING AT UoE

What have we done at the University of Eldoret so far?

So there is no denying that self-paced elearning is growing in many African countries. At the University we are yet to post materials for self-paced elearning

However, thanks to a project between the University of Eastern Finland and the University of Eldoret, The Moodle platform was installed at the University of Eldoret, in the Department of Forestry & Wood Science for availing digital materials to students for taught courses

Course titles and course outlines have been uploaded.One course has been successfully run on line although there were several challenges which I will explained

Server

Server Fire wallUPS

Computer Room with Desk Tops ComputerAcquired through the Miti Mingi Maisha Bora Project funded by the Government of Finland

Students Browsing some with their laptops and other with their mobile phone

Students Browsing some with their laptops and other with their mobile phone

Students from the University of

Eldoret participating in

the Development of the first Game

called : Entventure

Server access problems/solutions:1) Problems with firewalls/switches blocking some traffic from accessing the server - solution: locating the problem and reconfigure to avoid the problem (most urgent problem solved)2) The forestry building is connected through Science and academic building and power failures in those building is resulting in lost Internet access - solution: to have a direct fibre optic link to the administration building where the main server and switch is located (to be implemented soon)’

Drawing showing the fiber optic connection and what is being proposed in doted lines

3) The Bandwidth for the whole University was only 15 Mbps which is not enough - solution: to increase the bandwidth for the University and to monitor the use to ensure E-Learning activities get priority (temporary increase has been granted and from 1st January 2014 UoE band width was increased to 30Mbps.)

4) The course design needs to consider the limitations in regard to bandwidth - solution: video lectures should be made available also on cd or DVD for the students, it is also suggested that complimentary material such as PowerPoint presentations are made available in parallel to the Video lectures.

Networks WiFi

-KENNET (free) (28 Mbps)

-FAIBA_BILAWAYA_forestry

-WAVION-forest

-EnGeniust

- FAIBA_BILAWAYA_edu-Safaricom

List some of the Networks we have available at the University of Eldoret

My Personal Experience with MOODLE

A lot can be covered in a short span and the students have more than they could have recorded if they were to write it down

You are certain to cover the syllabus (curriculum)

You are certain that the students will receive the material covered even if they do not attend classes physically

You have the common excuse of the students missing contact hours not being able to answer certain questions because they were not in class

I liked the fact that students had the materials for lectures ahead of time and seemed better prepared if the had gone through it

Students who have read the course before to class can have tough questions to ask. So it forces you to prepare better for your lessons

My Personal Experience with MOODLE cont…..Some students used the availability of MOODLE in the

Forestry and Wood Science Department to show of on the use of ICT by the Department. This is the only department at the University that uses this tool

The students with laptops are happy to have the course material in soft copies

Courses are easy to modify and drawings are easy to insert

On the flip sideSome lecturers have access to your materials and make money out of your sweat by mis-representing themselves (Copy right infringement) and pretending they can teach)

Too many quacks can go round using your material and affecting the quality of teaching

Some students may not bother to attend classes at all because they have access to the course on line

After an hour some students seem visibly bored. They do not pay attention any more. They can’t wait to see the top of the hour come for a break to be given, or for the class session to end. Some lecturers may choose not to go to classes

Some students complain of not having access to the internet or having computers. This can be a challenge. But they cannot used it as an excuse for failing their exams.

If a lecturer has a commitment and cannot teach, he does not have to worry too much. The students have access to the material anyway

There have been several challenges to run the online courseIn his report, Marcus Duveskog from School of Computing, University of Eastern Finland reported the following:‘The first attempt early in 2012 to give the joint Forest Energy course online (to students in Eldoret and students in Finland) was not very successful as students where facing technical challenges while accessing the online teaching materials. Before giving it another try the first step was to pin-point the bottlenecks preventing 24/7 access to the E-Learning materials.

Based on partial implementation of these suggestions, the course was successfuly run

We are yet to put a fiber optic that will link directly the server in the Forestry Building and the fiber optic from Town

12 Students successfuly completed the course and their certificates have already been signed. They will be awarded soon.

However more needs to be doneCan mobile phone be used when the internet has failed to play the trick?

When one looks at mobile phone ownership as a percentage of the total population, the mobile phone penetration is fairly high.

We rarely have mobile phone network failure. If there is any, the mobile phone network operator moves very fast to re-establish the connection.

There are many redundant systems to keep the coverage fully functional

These numbers from 2012 show that the penetration of mobile is quite good.

At the University of Eldoret, almost every student has a mobile phone. How many have a smart phone is another question?

It is estimated that 30% of students at UoE have laptops

E-learning should be embraced

ACCESS TO ICT EQUIPMENT/HARDWARE BY STUDENTS SHOULD BE FACILITATED (i.e. Voucher to make laptops or smart phone cheaper)

CONCLUSION/SUMMARY

Band width must and should be increased

ENENDD

Thank you for listening