IUCEA SPECIALISED COMMITTEE ICT EDUCATION

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IUCEASPECIALISED COMMITTEEICT EDUCATION

• Conference held at JKUAT
• 27 28 November 2006
• Jon D. Masso

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DAYSTAR UNIVERSITY

• Christian, liberal arts, private university
  chartered in 1994
• Two campuses Athi River Nairobi
• A student records system, custom built, has
  existed for five years that manages registration,
  grades, transcripts and audit.
• Library is automated with OPAC stations linking
  both campuses

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ICT Infrastructure

• 2,600 students (1,600 at Athi River)
• Most office connected to the Internet
• Internet access via wireless between campuses and
  to ISP with approximately 28 Mbps link
• Bandwidth 256 kbps up and 1,056 kbps down
• Structured cabling installed through most of
  campus (excluding student hostels)

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Student Computer Labs

• Computer laboratories for student use
• Two labs in Nairobi
• Eight labs at Athi River
• Six are well equipped for teaching
• Screens, whiteboards, LCD projectors
• Limited to 32 students per class
• Approximately 250 computers for students use or
  about 10 students per computer
• One lab designated for electronic publishing

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Student Computer Labs
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Student Computer Labs
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Current Activities

• All students required to take a general course in
  computer applications
• Some lecturers put their notes on the server for
  student access
• LCD projectors used regularly in computer science
  classes
• A few lecturers use presentation software some of
  the time

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Current Activities

• University has established a Centre for
  Excellence in Teaching and Learning (CETL) for
  assisting teachers to be better teachers
• Recently established a committee to look into
  smart classrooms. This encompasses more than
  ICT. It was recognized that before designing a
  smart classroom it is necessary to define the
  philosophy of education and teaching

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Potential Applications of ICT

• Use of presentation software
• Educational software for drill and self-learning
• Demonstrations
• Mathematics or physics spreadsheets
• Graphics, art, photographs
• Graphical data, charts, graphs, curve fitting

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Potential Applications 2

• Teach use of computer applications
• Word processing, spreadsheets, database
• Database systems, operating systems
• Accounting packages
• Place course syllabi, notes, reference material
  on the server for student access
• Place relevant reference material on the server
  for student access on the intranet
• Develop educational material with moving graphics
  to demonstrate complex phenomena

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Potential Applications 3

• Access electronic journals and books
• Language learning
• Mock exams with real-time feedback
• Online tests and quizzes

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Potential Applications 4

• Establish complete, interactive courses whereby
  students take the course online, respond to the
  lecturer and interact with fellow classmates
• Video down-streaming

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Issues

• Does the use of ICT in education provide better
  education?Information transfer should take
  place outside the classroom leaving time with the
  lecturer and student to process the information
  in the classroom
• Is it cost effective?

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Quality of Education

• There is a range of philosophies of education and
  styles of teaching and learning from
• Information transfer (dumping) lecturing is the
  primary mode of instruction
• Interactive group discussion, problems solving
  sessions,

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Cost Effectiveness of ICT

• At Daystar a lecturer typically teaches 120
  students each semester, in up to four courses at
  an average cost of Ksh 5,000 per hour of
  instruction.
• E-learning still requires rooms, computers,
  power, ventilation, technical support, and one
  instructor may only be able to interactively
  teach 10 to 20 students.

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Challenges

• Many lecturers dont type let alone use the basic
  application packages such as word processing and
  spreadsheets
• Training is required to use even the simplest
  presentation software well
• Getting the students (and staff) to use the
  limited Internet resources for education and not
  only yahoo and hotmail
• Acquiring sufficient computers
• Cost of bandwidth