Education sector has been adversely affected Covid-19 pandemic. However, in the words of Marci Ridlon, “The same wind that blows down your house shakes berries from the bushes.”
Since President Uhuru Kenyatta suspended learning in all academic institutions to curb the spread of the virus in March 2020, the mode of learning changed to online.
I look at the few fruits of online learning based on experience while working for TheUniversity of the South Pacific, which mainly serves students scattered across the south Pacific island countries.
Online teaching is offered for specific courses that don’t require laboratory experiments and field trips. The university has invested heavily in virtualisation and learning aids that automatically capture lectures in clases.
The recording is synchronized with the approved timetable that the recordings are automatically uploaded on the course page. In the event of no lecture, the system uploads a blank video.
The students register and sit for exams in satellite campuses in their localities. In the midst of the pandemic, students are mainly tested on comprehension using timed quizzes and critical thinking skills through context-based questions.
Although it’s capital intensive at start, online learning is cheap.
In Kenyan context, there was resistance from students to online learning for lacking laptops and data bundles. This is true but can be addressed since Kenya is among the top African countries in information technology usage.
In Fiji, the university negotiated with the network providers for special rates for students buy data.
In online learning, students use less university resources, reducing utility bills. This should translate in the tuition fees. The universities can at the same time enroll more students than lecture rooms can hold. Further, the courses can be facilitated by several lecturers remotely at minimal cost. This opens doors for collaborations. However, systems must be developed not to compromise the quality of education.
In online learning, universities invest in a Modular Object-Oriented Dynamic Learning Environment, which has provision for documents such as course outlines, course assessments, and discussion forums/windows.
In an organised system, a course outline is prepared by the lecturer in conformity with the approved course structure, it’s verified by the head of department then shared with students. It is thus, easy to monitor the course’s teaching and assessment progress for quality outcome.
Monitoring course assessments on Moodle by the students, and the monitoring and evaluation team throughout the semester eliminates cases of missing and or incorrect marks, which have denied many students opportunities to graduate on time, killing others’ dreams.
Online teaching has pushed lecturers to update, digitise and provide lecture notes on Moodle.
Has the pandemic stimulated universities’ commercial potential?
Universities’ branded hand sanitisers and facemasks in Kenya are common in the public today. Some products end up in the market or are donated as part of corporate social responsibility.
This proves that universities can commercialise their goods and services in their specialties. Other than revenue, the ventures create platforms for students to learn, and secure employment.
I must give credit to Prof. Paul N. Kioni of Dedan Kimathi University of Technology and his leadership team for initiating more innovative projects beyond facemasks, detergents and hand sanitiser. DeKUT went ahead to develop a ventilator prototype and Hazmat PPE.
Comrades are also powerless. The frequency of protests has gone down during the pandemic, when most students are studying from home.
The pandemic is a game changer. The higher education sector has adopted digital pedagogy to sustain learning. Meaningful lessons and practices can be drawn from this, warranting continuation of some practices post the pandemic.
In unfortunate cases where students failed their courses as result of transitioning to online learning, they can be allowed to retake the course(s) at a subsidized or no cost.
Moving forward, academic institutions at all levels must be prepared for such challenges by having an emergency learning and contingency plan in place. This calls for investment in both human resource and facilities.
I am proud to see Mohammed VI Polytechnic University take a lead by launching a data centre and the most powerful super computer in Africa.
Universities must be equipped with the necessary technology to support teaching and guarantee learning. Thus, universities have no excuses of hiring/engaging distant lectures, since we are operating in a global village. All this can be achieved under great leadership.
Victor Ongoma, PhD, is assistant professor of Climate Change Adaptation at Mohammed VI Polytechnic University.
