Envisioning the ideal elearning system for UoE Myriam Munezero 1.10.2014

Layout Introduction Discussion points Assignment Features of elearning tools Making eLearing a two way learning street Features and the use of Moodle at UoE Protecting lecture content on Moodle Use of mobile phones as eLearning tools at UoE What about the old tehnologies Assignment

Introduction

Introduction Increased demand and need for distance education and elearning tools. Why? Higher number of enrollment of students Availailabity of qualified teachers Distance challenges, e.g socio-economic, career, family, etc Due to above challenges, providing and allowing for DE and having efficient elearning tools will increase UoE competitiveness. As Prof. Lazare already pointed out, many African countries, including Kenya, have seen an increased demand and need for distance education and for elearning solutions that promote distance education. This is mostly because the number of students enrolled in institutions of higher education has increased significantly in recent years, resulting in overcrowding, insufficient facilities and human resources to facilitate traditional-style education. In addition to the increased number of students, UOE, is the only institutions providing higher Forestry level education. This means that since Eldoret is far away, there are students that will not be able to physically attend, teachers are only Eldoret. Additionally, there are many reasons as to why students cannot make the face-to-face, either socio-economic reasons, career, family or other circumstances. Because of the above challenges, providing and allowing for DE and blendend learning is an excellent option that will increase the competitiveness of UOE.

Elearning and its benefits Elearning – ”The use of the electronic technology to deliver education and training applications, monitor learner’s performance and report learner’s progress” – Sale (2002). Elearning provides many benefits for a university. However, they also require considerable investments in technology and time As Prof. Lazare also pointed out, - elearning provides the following cost benefits: - educes classroom and facilities cost - training cost - travel cost - printed materials cost, - labor cost, and - information overload - provides an opportunity especially when good teachers are in shortage too reduce the short of learning material However they also require considerable investments in technology and time - hardware costs, - software licenses, - learning material development, - equipment maintenance, and - training

Discussion topic: Features of elearning tools Looking at the top 100 list of elearning tools -> http://c4lpt.co.uk/top100tools/ What features from the top 10 tools, attract you to use them. Y

Learning with elearning tools is a one way street With eLearning tools, learning is usually a one way street One of the problems with Moodle and other elearning tools, is that fact that learning is a one way street. The learner even now with Moodle is a consumer of the material. There are capabilitites for the so called user-generated content, through blogs, wikis,and forums, but also with this, there is no connection between the source content and this user generated content. "At the end of the course all this content vaporizes and disappears into thin air. If we succeed in capturing this user generated content and make it stick we can start to create a two way street. E-Learning content then will come to live."

Discussion topic: Making eLearning a two way street How can we make e-learning a two-way street? how can we make the content come live. Role of social learning and interacction in this case? Discussion topic: How can we make e-learning a two-way street? how can we make the content come live. - role of social learning in this? - encourage learning, facilitate communication and enable sharing. When you compare the percentage gained from formal learning to the percentage gained through collaboration with others,” - support and facilitate interaction, address isolation and collaboration, socialization - study groups online? some online some face-to-face There is a high drop out rate from fuly online classes. The main reason for this is interaction, social factor? Is there a way to really provide that socialness of a classroom to a distance learning? Image : http://greendean.com.au/green/wp-content/uploads/2012/05/one-way-another-way-sign-300x266.jpg

Learning management systems and Moodle

Moodle as a Learning Management System (LMS) LMSs are viewed as the most basic and reliable e-learning tool in blended learning environments, and fully Web-based learning program. Moodle – open source LMS Ranked 12 in top learning tools, and 1st in the LMS category, usually ranked 1st in open source LMS. Curerntly used at UoE Although there are various elearning tools, the Learning management system (LMSs is viewed as the most basic and reliable e-learning tool in blended learning environments, and fully Web-based learning program. Learning management systems are domain independent, have better administration capabilities, integrated authoring tools, and support the design and publication of reusable learning resources. UOE uses Moodle which is opensource. The open source LMSs has received significant attention, especially from institutions in developing countries because, to them, the ability to acquire educational software without paying license fees is an important advantage. Moodle has various features for the students and teachers, provides collaborative learning. It offers learners facilities like a forum, blogs and wiki’s to share knowledge and to experience the learning process together.

Discussion topic: Features and use of Moodle How many of you have interacted with Moodle? What was your experience? The likes and dislikes Discussion topic 3: How many of you have interacted with Moodle? What do you like about it and what do you not like about it? We are going to look at why is that many of them do not fulfill their potential and how they can? Image: http://rohinaggarwal.com/wp-content/uploads/2012/12/usability-eval-1-299x300.jpg http://www.thinkui.co.uk/wp-content/images/venn_usability.png

Discussion topic: Protecting content on Moodle There is a big challenge among lectures in how to guarantee that their material will not be stolen or used for negative purposes.

Possibility of other solutions

Use of mobile phones for learning The penetration of smartphones in Kenya is rising and may even be higher than that of computers, - allafrica.com What can UoE do to deliver and bring about learning with mobile phones? What modules, activities are possible? - Another challenge he mentioned was access to internet through wifi, but mobile 3g networks were working - what can be done with mobiles here? - Data indicates that across Africa, more than 80 per cent of Internet users access the online world through their handsets. - there is a drop in prices - There is still a problem of broadband and how much data can be downloaded or uploaded -if only 30% of students at UOE have laptops? any idea how many have computers at home? - mLearning can still take place without the Internet and smartphones. sms based learning AllAfrica.com reported that the number of internet users - The number of internet users in Kenya increased to 16.2 million in the period between October 1 and December 31 last year, representing a growth of 11.6 %. - Meanwhile, the total number of mobile subscribers in Kenya rose to 30.7 million Image - http://www.howardkeep.com/mhoward/images/mLearning.png http://www.howardkeep.com/mhoward/about.php?rec_num=3

Discussion point: Use of old technologies Is there a place for learning through TV and radio at UoE? If internet is a problem...How bout the delivery of the classrooms on TV. schools can invest in a good camera. TV stations Radio In these challenges, can old technologies be useful? Cost wise

End of Discussion Thank you for your participation

Assignment Based on the factors that we have discussed and knowing the situation at UoE, present a proposal for an elearning system that UoE could adopt. It can either be improving the current Moodle system or introducing a new one. Outline a strategy for the adoption of your proposal. Take into account the issue of cost, training time of both lectures and students, installation, and the challenge of protecting lecture material etc. Deadline: 9th October 2014, 11:59pm Finnish time. To: mmunez@cs.joensuu.fi Remember that ”an e-learning system is meaningful to learners when it is easily accessible, well designed, learners-centre, affordable, efficient, and flexible and has facilitated learning environment.” - Khan (2003).