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Kenya: Why e-Learning is the Way to go in Kenya |
| Source: |
African Education News |
| Source Date: |
Wednesday, March 06, 2013 |
| Focus: |
ICT for MDGs
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| Created: |
Mar 06, 2013 |
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According to her, universities have the challenge of equipping the many colleges they are opening, with the necessary infrastructure and human resource capacity. This challenge, Muchane says can be solved by developing an appropriate e-learning platform.
E-learning is only expensive at the initial stage when developing the online content and setting up of an appropriate management system but maintenance and management of the system is cheaper than organizing the traditional face to face trainings. Review of the content is only done periodically.
“By investing in e-learning, an institution can eliminate additional costs associated with training i.e. travel, accommodation, stationery and refreshments. These costs make face to face training more expensive than technology enabled training,” she says.
Muchane says the future of e-learning in Kenya is very bright noting that the country is headed to a level where both public and private organisations will not employ many people as has been the practice in the past in a bid to cut costs and maximize on profits.
The companies will then require the fewer employees who can multitask thus forcing them to continuously train in order to orient themselves with the demands of the roles they are expected to perform. The only convenient mode of training in this case is e-learning.
The government on the other hand requires its employees to train as they work due to its strained budgets contrary to a few years ago, where it was possible to send senior officers abroad for long periods of training.
Towards this end, the government established the Kenya School of Government, e-learning and Development Institute formerly know as the Kenya Development Learning Centre (KDLC) in 2003. The institute is mandated to enhance the capacity of public officers, individuals and institutions by imparting practical skills and knowledge through short training programmes through technology enabled delivery mechanism.
Muchane challenges local universities to improve their e-learning programmes noting that what many in Kenya perceive as e-learning is a pale shadow of what international universities are offering.
“Different institutions are at different levels of adopting ICT and technology assisted learning. There are those who use e-learning to communicate to their students by for instance posting course notes or sending them assignments. But a lot needs to be done in terms of fully utilizing ICT in training,” she says.
Judging from the many people who are registering for online programmes with the University of South Africa (Unisa), Muchane says time is ripe for local universities to invest in e-learning and capture the market that is accessing such services from South African Universities and other international universities.
Unisa is the largest open distance learning institution in Africa. It enrols nearly one-third of all South African students. In 2011, the SA Institute for Race Relations released a survey which showed that Unisa is South Africa’s most productive university, accounting for 12.8% of all degrees conferred by a total of 23 public universities and universities of technology.
Unisa’s study fees are generally lower than other higher education institutions. The cost depends on the qualification, as well as the number of modules you choose. The average student takes between 4 and 6 modules per year at a cost of between R1 000 (US$ 111) and R2 000(US$221) per module. However, this excludes the costs of your prescribed books.
The demand for e-learning in Kenya is being driven by the fact that both individuals and higher learning institutions have embraced e-learning. E-learning presents opportunities for capacity building by connecting practitioners to sources of knowledge and learning that is not only affordable but also convenient.
In addition, e-learning helps professionals grappling with striking a balance between their career goals and family needs to go back to school without sacrificing either.
The improved connectivity owing to the landing of fibre optic cables is also making e-learning viable in Kenya. This is in addition to more people having access to internet through 3G enabled phones.
Despite the potential and benefits of e-learning, several challenges have been ailing its growth, key among them being lack of government policy. Currently, e-learning is being handled by the Office of the President, Ministry of Education, Ministry of Labour and the Ministry of Planning under Vision 2030.
“Owing to lack of an e-learning policy, any course seems to be acceptable even when consumers don’t know how good the courses are. We need to have standards which should be adhered to by e-learning programmes,” asserts Muchane.
Infrastructure is another challenge. While the government has done a commendable job in terms of fibre connectivity, it is yet to get to all parts of the country. Stakeholders in the ICT industry still feel that the fibre-optic cable has not brought the price falls they were expecting. However, Muchane says the digital villages being rolled out by the government will solve this challenge.
Content development is also a handicap. Muchane says content development is a very specialized field and Kenya doesn’t have adequate expertise in the area of content design, development, online tutoring and digitization. Therefore, there is need to build human resource capacity needed to develop content.
“The content should be developed in such a way that it motivates the learner either through self instruction or through online tutor assistance,” says Muchane.
Lack of computer skills is another bottleneck. “There is need to first train people on ICT applications so that they can appreciate what ICT can do hence subsequently be interested in e-learning,” notes Muchane.
Quality of e-learning is also in question. Muchane says there is need to streamline e-learning to measure up with the traditional programmes.
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Kenya: Why e-Learning is the Way to go in Kenya Kenyan universities are opening satellite campuses across the country as they seek to meet the growing demand for education Currently there are over 29 constituent universities across the country and the number is rising However some experts feel there is a better and cheaper way to improve access to education This is by investing in e-learning Njambi Muchane the Director of Kenya School of Government e-learning and Development Institute eLDi says that instead of replicating the face-to-face learning in the main campus universities should set up small offices but train via e-learning “Opening several colleges increases the overheads of a university Local universities should understand that they can use the same professors and lecturers to train many participants in different locations,” she says
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