Students need training before rollout of e-learning solutions

Kampala, Uganda |  THE INDEPENDENT |  Vice-Chancellors from Gulu and Soroti universities are predicting doom if e-learning systems are rolled out before training students on how to navigate and use them.

Several Universities have adopted the technology-driven solutions to sustain learning after the closure of educational institutions in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Similarly, the Ministry of Education has advised universities to explore possibilities of continuing instruction through e-learning, as the government maintains the closure of schools.

But even though the National Council for Higher Education released guidelines for e-learning, they did not require for student training. Instead, universities were advised to survey students willingness or inability to participate in the proposed arrangement.

However, Gulu University Vice-Chancellor Professor George Ladaah Openjuru shares that a sudden, forced adoption of technology-delivered instruction will affect the well-being of students. He observes a  need to equip students with knowledge and skills on the new teaching/learning approach.   

Openjuru shares that at Gulu university the e-learning will not be rolled out before students are trained.   

Professor Robert Ikoja-Odongo,  the Vice-Chancellor of Soroti University also highlights a similar concern saying that most people take a false perception that students at the university may be able to adapt to the new learning system by self-initiating with limited guidance.

However,  in the wake of the ban on public gatherings, Professor Ikoja-Odongo says that they are consulting to see how best the training the students can be conducted without flouting the guidelines.   

During a recent interview, Dr Ahmed Ssengendo, the rector of Islamic University in Uganda who is an expert in education instruction technology highlighted that both the instructor/teacher and learner need to be trained for the proposed e-learning to be successful.   

A study by the Africa Policy Centre, a non-government organization based at the Uganda Christian University in Mukono found out that over 73 per cent of students in higher institutions of learning have found the new learning methods employed during the lockdown harder than conventional studying methods.

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URN