Technology changing and shaping education

Higher education in Africa is facing a critical challenge to meet new demands for the 21st century, with its ever-increasing population growth.

This means that those seeking access to education at all levels — primary, secondary, and tertiary — will increase.

Computers are becoming increasingly essential as educational tools, while technologies are becoming more portable and cost-effective.

Africa needs an educational environment to make it more responsive to challenges confronting the continent.

E-learning, as this use of ICT in education is known, makes it possible for students anywhere who have internet and web connections to enroll in online courses.

This mode of providing education offers one way to increase the capacity of educational systems without incurring the cost of building facilities by allowing learners the flexibility to remain in their homes or in their duty post.

This mode of learning is seen as one of the solutions to training education and health services personnel who are working full-time and who are unable to attend and/or afford to register in full-time residential institutions.

EASE AND CONVENIENCE

The widespread use of computers and the internet have made distance learning easier and faster, and today virtual schools and virtual universities deliver full curricula online.

The capacity of the internet to support voice, video, text and immersion teaching methods made earlier distinct forms of telephone, video-conferencing, radio, television and text based education somewhat redundant. However, many of the techniques developed and lessons learned with earlier media are used in Internet delivery.

The ease and convenience it offers learners appeal to people just about everywhere, especially those who are trying to balance work, family, and other obligations with completing a degree or certification programme.

Devolving some activities off-site alleviates institutional capacity constraints arising from the traditional demand on institutional buildings and infrastructure.

Furthermore, there is the potential for increased access to more experts in the field and to other students from diverse geographical, social, cultural, economic, and experiential backgrounds.

According to a report released by IBM, companies who utilise e-learning tools and strategies have the potential to boost productivity by up to 50 per cent. For every $1 that a company spends, it’s estimated that they can receive $30 worth of productivity.

OFFER COURSES

Africa has become the most dynamic e-learning market in the world — with Senegal in first place followed by Zambia, Zimbabwe and Kenya.

Universities in Kenya that offer e-learning courses include Kenya Methodist, Egerton, Africa Nazerene, St Paul’s, University of Nairobi and Kenyatta University.

Others are Jomo Kenyatta University of Agriculture and Technology, Daystar and Moi universities.

The future can only be brighter. Mobile is thriving in Africa and local e-learning developers are increasingly focusing on apps as the most effective way to deliver learning content.

According to UNICEF, smartphone growth in Africa has increased by 43 per cent annually since 2000, and experts estimated 70 per cent of mobiles in Africa had internet access by end of 2014.

Social media offers an array of opportunities to learn and interact. If used correctly, it can enhance the efficiency and standard of work that is produced by learners.

The realisation of the advantage of having these social networking tools at their fingertips is spreading amongst learners whose success is very reliant on their ability to participate in study groups; those who engage in these groups learn significantly more than students who don’t.

Moving forward, courseware is likely to be more immersive and interactive as more companies begin to realise the importance thereof. The use of animation and games within learning environments keeps the tech-savvy generation engaged and entertained, leading to increased knowledge retention.

Sam Wambugu is a monitoring and evaluation specialist. Email: [email protected]