Many public universities have been struggling to implement online learning, since they adopted it during the Covid-19 lockdown.
However, Kibabii University Vice Chancellor Prof Ipara Odeo says the Bungoma-based university has probably cracked it.
Addressing the press on Thursday to celebrate the National distance learning week (NDLW), the vice chancellor said that e-learning has been embraced by many universities in the world because of the need to increase access to learning.
Odeo noted that importantly, the recorded lecture can be accessed later by learners.
“Here at Kibabii University our students have embraced the e-learning as most of them can access the lecture online, provided the learner has a laptop or a smartphone,” Odeo said.
He said one lecturer can attend to 800 students in one class, saying that it has also solved the challenges of inadequate classrooms in the school.
He said, currently, Kibabii has a big population where one class has at least 800 students.
“The adoption of online learning has really saved this university because some students attend to their lessons while they are at their homes and places of work,” he said.
Odeo’s sentiments were echoed by Bungoma County Kenya Union of Post Primary Education Teachers (Kuppet) chairman David Barasa, who said that online learning gives timid learners the courage to ask their teachers questions that they couldn't ask during the one-on-one lesson.
Barasa said that some secondary schools in Bungoma have also adopted online learning but face the challenge of poor internet connectivity.
“Bungoma has some schools where online learning is running smoothly but some are still struggling to catch up as some schools lack facilities to help run the work,” Barasa said.
At Kibabii, VC Odeo said the varsity offers lessons to students in the other East African Community countries.
Odeo said online learning should be embraced by all universities.
He said online learning at Kibabii University began in 2017 after he called for a meeting of the Senate to brainstorm how to implement it.
He said that after approvals from the council, they started procurement, laying cables and purchasing computers.
He added that the Kenya Education Network Trust (Kenet) was able to train the lecturers and students on the same.
