Role of ICT in providing effective
distance education and e-learning at
University of Eldoret (UoE), Kenya
Lazare Etiégni
Department of Forestry & Wood Science
University of Eldoret, Kenya
Presentation Overview
1. 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 UoE
• What has been achieved with the e-learning/Internet facility at UoE and how
students are using it.
• Teachers perspective on using Moodle
5. Role of mobile phones in e-learning at UoE
6. 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
Basic Facts Cont…..
• 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…..
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
STUDENT ENROLMENT 2014/2015 ACADEMIC YEAR
In the SCHOOL OF NATURAL RESOURCE MANAGEMENT
POSTGRADUATE
UNDERGRADUATE
DIPLOMA
53
10
4TH
YEAR
0
315
251
278
226
1070
8
19
00
0
27
IST
YEAR
7
2ND YEAR 3RD YEAR
TOTAL
60
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.
Reasons for E-leaning cont…
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…
• FLEXIBILITY
It 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.
• ACCESSIBILITY
For 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 COST
Attending 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.
• ENGAGEMENT
We actually know our online students better than many of our faceto-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 SKILLS
Students 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 OPTIONS
Students who take online classes are more likely to take
classes to update their professional skills later in their
careers.
Personal Skills Acquired by students
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.
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)
The author identified the following challenges hindering the full development
of ODL in Kenya




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
There is a Ph.D thesis with the following title
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
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 selfpaced 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 wall
UPS
Computer
Room with
Desk Tops
Computer
Acquired
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.
List some of the Networks we have available at the
University of Eldoret
Networks WiFi
-KENNET (free) (28 Mbps)
-FAIBA_BILAWAYA_forestry
-WAVION-forest
-EnGeniust
- FAIBA_BILAWAYA_edu
-Safaricom
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 side
Some 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 course
In 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 done
Can 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
CONCLUSION/SUMMARY
E-learning should be embraced
Band width must and should be increased
ACCESS TO ICT EQUIPMENT/HARDWARE BY STUDENTS
SHOULD BE FACILITATED (i.e. Voucher to make laptops
or smart phone cheaper)
Thank you for listening
END