World Wide Science Lectures
Strategies for Deploying eLearning in Developing Countries
CAVIN MUGARURA
More than 60% of students who qualify for University or tertiary education in the developing countries are not able to join due to limited physical infrastructure. With the introduction of elearning, these students can be admitted in extra mural programs. The concept of brick universities has to be replaced with click technology.
The World Wide Web and advances in Open Source Software have led to an eLearning Revolution, where students can access a plethora of learning materials, easily and conveniently. This has been propelled by the Hardware Industry where the processing power of computers is doubling every 18 months (Moore’s Law) and yet the prices either reduce or remain the same.
The Western model of eLearning can not apply to developing countries
All these advantages have not trickled to the majority of the population in developing countries. Many developing countries don’t have high speed internet access, due to a myriad of factors including but not limited to intermittent electricity, use of expensive low bandwidth satellite technology, and inadequately trained personnel. Internet access is less than 10% in Africa alone.
Fortunately many countries have started deploying nationwide backbone ICT infrastructure, built on high speed fiber cables. Several countries in East and Southern Africa have also invested in undersea cables to tap the global Internet super highway. In order for developing countries to accrue the benefits associated with e learning, they need to think of innovative ways to deliver online content on the national backbone, instead of relying on the unreliable and expensive Internet. Private institutions such as banks are already using the backbone to inter connect different branches country wide for their transaction processing needs.
Higher institutions of learning like universities and technical colleges need to embrace this model, to deliver elearning to their students located within the main campus and satellite campuses. The deployment can be based on a push model where the main server is connected to the national backbone, and through online updates from a high speed Internet connection, the content is posted through the Extranets (National Backbone).
eLearning requires training for staff and students
Another challenge for implementing eLearning is training of academic staff in the use of ICTs to deliver online training. With academic staff over burdened by large student numbers, the introduction of eLearning is prone to face stiff resistance. Several academic staff members are not conversant with the use of computers, even for basic tasks like word processing. To expect staff members to deliver online training using technology they are not familiar with is no mean feat.
This technology has to be rolled out through use of blended learning and an incentive structure is paramount. Universities and Institutions of higher learning need dedicated eLearning Support Centers that can convert learning materials into digital formats. Such a facility can provide training to academic staff and students who don’t have the skills in elearning.
Students also need to be trained in Foundation ICT courses before starting their main course programs. The majority of students who join tertiary institutions also have inadequate skills to engage in e learning. ICT foundation courses should be mandatory for students, who don’t have the basic computing skills that include Word Processing, Email & Internet.
Written by Cavin Mugarura on March 16, 2010 in eLearning Promise.
The World Wide Web and advances in Open Source Software have led to an eLearning Revolution, where students can access a plethora of learning materials, easily and conveniently. This has been propelled by the Hardware Industry where the processing power of computers is doubling every 18 months (Moore’s Law) and yet the prices either reduce or remain the same.
The Western model of eLearning can not apply to developing countries
All these advantages have not trickled to the majority of the population in developing countries. Many developing countries don’t have high speed internet access, due to a myriad of factors including but not limited to intermittent electricity, use of expensive low bandwidth satellite technology, and inadequately trained personnel. Internet access is less than 10% in Africa alone.
Fortunately many countries have started deploying nationwide backbone ICT infrastructure, built on high speed fiber cables. Several countries in East and Southern Africa have also invested in undersea cables to tap the global Internet super highway. In order for developing countries to accrue the benefits associated with e learning, they need to think of innovative ways to deliver online content on the national backbone, instead of relying on the unreliable and expensive Internet. Private institutions such as banks are already using the backbone to inter connect different branches country wide for their transaction processing needs.
Higher institutions of learning like universities and technical colleges need to embrace this model, to deliver elearning to their students located within the main campus and satellite campuses. The deployment can be based on a push model where the main server is connected to the national backbone, and through online updates from a high speed Internet connection, the content is posted through the Extranets (National Backbone).
eLearning requires training for staff and students
Another challenge for implementing eLearning is training of academic staff in the use of ICTs to deliver online training. With academic staff over burdened by large student numbers, the introduction of eLearning is prone to face stiff resistance. Several academic staff members are not conversant with the use of computers, even for basic tasks like word processing. To expect staff members to deliver online training using technology they are not familiar with is no mean feat.
This technology has to be rolled out through use of blended learning and an incentive structure is paramount. Universities and Institutions of higher learning need dedicated eLearning Support Centers that can convert learning materials into digital formats. Such a facility can provide training to academic staff and students who don’t have the skills in elearning.
Students also need to be trained in Foundation ICT courses before starting their main course programs. The majority of students who join tertiary institutions also have inadequate skills to engage in e learning. ICT foundation courses should be mandatory for students, who don’t have the basic computing skills that include Word Processing, Email & Internet.
Written by Cavin Mugarura on March 16, 2010 in eLearning Promise.
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Digital divide into digital opportunities: E-learning in the developing countries
The modern world is undergoing a fundamental transformation as the industrial society of the twentieth century rapidly gives way to the information society of the twenty-first century. This dynamic process promises a fundamental change in all aspects of our lives, including knowledge dissemination, social interaction business practices political engagement, media, education, health, leisure and entertainment.
The speed of global technological and economic transformation demands urgent action to turn the present digital divide into digital opportunities for all. A discussion about the allocation of resources is imminent if we look at the connectivity of the Internet in developing countries. One way to measure the digital divide is to monitor the penetration of telephone subscribers and Internet users, as well as literacy rates in developing countries, Poor access to the Internet in Africa is widely acknowledge
Since the bursting of the "dot.com" bubble in 2000, e-commerce has been growing by about 35 per cent a year, whereas traditional growth is only 4 to 5 per cent. Despite the economic slowdown, the number of Internet users worldwide has almost tripled, from just over 200 million at the start of 2000 to more than 600 million in 2002. This number is projected to reach 2 billion at the end of 2005. By then, many are expected to be using devices other than personal computers such as cellphones for access to the Internet.' In China, for example, there are 5 million new cellphone users each month. The highest growth of internet users is in the Republic of Korea, while that of cellphone users is in Africa.
In the Millennium Declaration, UN Member States agreed upon a number of key development goals. In addition to a commitment to reduce poverty, improve health, ensure environmental sustainability and promote education, one Millennium Development Goal (MDG) requires making available "the benefits of new technologies--especially information and communication technologies".
The rapid expansion of mobile telephony and the emergence of wireless and satellite-based solutions for low-cost Internet access have increased significantly the potential for information and communication technology (ICT). Therefore, the United Nations in 2001 created the UN Information and communication Technologies Task Force, with the aim of bridging the global digital divide, fostering digital opportunity and putting ICT at the service of development for all. (2)
Important support for the MDGs can be achieved with the use of ICTs. Internet technologies offer extensive development opportunities, particularly for people in rural areas and living in poverty. Wireless Internet technologies could allow developing countries to leapfrog generations of telecommunications. Connecting local communities in developing regions to the Internet will have a positive impact on education and their health system The Internet complements locally available information, improves and accelerates knowledge flows, and can be used to deliver innovative education models to remote areas.
There is a broader debate that comes to mind when thinking of the introduction of e-learning in the developing world: what comes first--information technology (including e-learning) or addressing citizens' basic needs? Development organizations must continue to focus on addressing the most basic needs, such as building more classrooms and providing clean water. However, ICTs can be part of the solution. If education and capacity-building are critical steps for entering into the new global economy, e-learning should be considered a critical facet of basic development, an alternative medium of capacity-building and a means to people's empowerment.
Computer-literacy is an imperative precondition for learners to benefit from technology-based learning. E-learning can only build on a set of basic computer literacy skills. Learners should go through an introductory session for each programme that focuses on professional development in the use of technology in the classroom These programmes do not use e-learning as a medium of instruction until participating teachers have gone through two phases of face-to-face training.
Started in 1997 within the World Bank, and now an independent international non-governmental organization, World Links is one such programme. It has trained thousands of teachers and students from 25 African, Asian, Latin American and Middle Eastern nations in the use of technology. They are taught the fundamentals of e-learning before they are left on their own to navigate. E-learning can then motivate individuals to pursue computer education, while serving as a vehicle for deepening literacy skills.
However, given the target audience, issues related to multicultural communications and the placement of content on the Internet in native languages other than English also need to be addressed. The lack of content in native languages is a serious impediment to Internet use in many countries. Even in the developed world, the preponderance of English online poses a serious obstacle to universal access. The most effective way to make e-learning a successful experience is to keep it as simple as possible. This is particularly true from a technological perspective, as well as valid from a pedagogical perspective. One has to know how to target the audience, consisting of working adults who have limited free time and experience learning online, which, as with any distance learning, requires a lot of self-discipline and time-management skills.
The speed of global technological and economic transformation demands urgent action to turn the present digital divide into digital opportunities for all. A discussion about the allocation of resources is imminent if we look at the connectivity of the Internet in developing countries. One way to measure the digital divide is to monitor the penetration of telephone subscribers and Internet users, as well as literacy rates in developing countries, Poor access to the Internet in Africa is widely acknowledge
Since the bursting of the "dot.com" bubble in 2000, e-commerce has been growing by about 35 per cent a year, whereas traditional growth is only 4 to 5 per cent. Despite the economic slowdown, the number of Internet users worldwide has almost tripled, from just over 200 million at the start of 2000 to more than 600 million in 2002. This number is projected to reach 2 billion at the end of 2005. By then, many are expected to be using devices other than personal computers such as cellphones for access to the Internet.' In China, for example, there are 5 million new cellphone users each month. The highest growth of internet users is in the Republic of Korea, while that of cellphone users is in Africa.
In the Millennium Declaration, UN Member States agreed upon a number of key development goals. In addition to a commitment to reduce poverty, improve health, ensure environmental sustainability and promote education, one Millennium Development Goal (MDG) requires making available "the benefits of new technologies--especially information and communication technologies".
The rapid expansion of mobile telephony and the emergence of wireless and satellite-based solutions for low-cost Internet access have increased significantly the potential for information and communication technology (ICT). Therefore, the United Nations in 2001 created the UN Information and communication Technologies Task Force, with the aim of bridging the global digital divide, fostering digital opportunity and putting ICT at the service of development for all. (2)
Important support for the MDGs can be achieved with the use of ICTs. Internet technologies offer extensive development opportunities, particularly for people in rural areas and living in poverty. Wireless Internet technologies could allow developing countries to leapfrog generations of telecommunications. Connecting local communities in developing regions to the Internet will have a positive impact on education and their health system The Internet complements locally available information, improves and accelerates knowledge flows, and can be used to deliver innovative education models to remote areas.
There is a broader debate that comes to mind when thinking of the introduction of e-learning in the developing world: what comes first--information technology (including e-learning) or addressing citizens' basic needs? Development organizations must continue to focus on addressing the most basic needs, such as building more classrooms and providing clean water. However, ICTs can be part of the solution. If education and capacity-building are critical steps for entering into the new global economy, e-learning should be considered a critical facet of basic development, an alternative medium of capacity-building and a means to people's empowerment.
Computer-literacy is an imperative precondition for learners to benefit from technology-based learning. E-learning can only build on a set of basic computer literacy skills. Learners should go through an introductory session for each programme that focuses on professional development in the use of technology in the classroom These programmes do not use e-learning as a medium of instruction until participating teachers have gone through two phases of face-to-face training.
Started in 1997 within the World Bank, and now an independent international non-governmental organization, World Links is one such programme. It has trained thousands of teachers and students from 25 African, Asian, Latin American and Middle Eastern nations in the use of technology. They are taught the fundamentals of e-learning before they are left on their own to navigate. E-learning can then motivate individuals to pursue computer education, while serving as a vehicle for deepening literacy skills.
However, given the target audience, issues related to multicultural communications and the placement of content on the Internet in native languages other than English also need to be addressed. The lack of content in native languages is a serious impediment to Internet use in many countries. Even in the developed world, the preponderance of English online poses a serious obstacle to universal access. The most effective way to make e-learning a successful experience is to keep it as simple as possible. This is particularly true from a technological perspective, as well as valid from a pedagogical perspective. One has to know how to target the audience, consisting of working adults who have limited free time and experience learning online, which, as with any distance learning, requires a lot of self-discipline and time-management skills.
