E-Learning is here to stay, embrace it

Author, Emmanuel Angoda. PHOTO/FILE

What you need to know:

  • Mr Emmanuel Angoda says: Although the progress has been slow, especially in secondary and primary schools, e-learning is here to stay, and it is better to embrace it now than later. 


Globally,  since the Covid-19 pandemic struck in 2020, there has been significant increase in use of internet. This was because the Covid-19 lockdowns   interrupted many social services and sectors of the global economy. 

In Uganda, despite OTT, there was still an increase in use of internet, mostly for social media, and other online platforms. Therefore,  in 2020, many secondary schools and universities ventured into e-learning, and for many, it was the first time. The Ministry of Education and Sports, together with the National Curriculum Development Centre (NCDC) moved in to regulate and standardise e-learning, through introduction of Open, Distance, and E-learning. (ODEL) framework. 

The e-learning platform of choice became Moodle, a popular opensource learning management system (LMS). For me, universities did not have to wait for the pandemic in order to introduce e-learning. After all, these universities had been teaching Computer Science,  Information Technology, and other related tech programmes even before the pandemic. 

In secondary schools, the adoption of e-learning (and ODEL) has been slow and disappointing.  After schools were closed last year,  many resorted to use of social media, especially WhatsApp to share learning resources, instead of launching standard e-learning platforms. For secondary schools, I believe that both offline platforms are most suited (CyberSchool), as it relieves the financial pressure on both teachers and parents to maintain access to internet.

Additionally, there’s little possibility of having students diverting to social media and football streaming. 
E-learning in schools can be implemented using two approaches. But first, I must state here that e-learning should be part of learning. This therefore means that it should be embedded into the normal learning routine in schools, especially secondary schools, and universities.

In the first approach, e-learning is done within the framework (environment) of the school,  managed and supervised by teachers/lecturers. Most times, both teachers and students use school/university resources e.g., computers, electricity, internet, lab attendants etc. 

This is a method that is most agreeable and widely used world over. It means teachers or lecturers continue normal teaching in class, but supplement it using e-learning, e.g. giving online assignments, viewing simulations, etc.

The other way is purely online learning, which is now becoming popular in Uganda and elsewhere, with students and teachers far apart. In this case, teachers/lecturers upload learning material into the e-learning platform and students receive and complete activities. In this situation, I strongly believe that special consideration has to be made to make it fit for science and largely practical subjects or courses. 

These challenges with elearning in Uganda are anchored in three main areas namely; access to devices (computers, laptops and tablets), access to internet, and access to electricity. Currently, Uganda’s electricity access stands at nearly 60 per cent in urban areas, while in rural areas it is 16 per cent. These figures make it impossible to successfully implement e-learning, and digital transformation in general in rural areas.
Meanwhile, data from UCC indicates that only 28 per cent of Ugandan between 18 to 28 years have a smartphone. Yet, it is this age group that populates universities.

The other issues are inadequate digital skills and lack of interest in upgrading learning facilities. I will give my personal experience here. I studied an IT degree without using an e-learning system, much as the lecturers were teaching it theoretically. There are a lot of inconsistencies in our education system, but the pandemic has shown that people can change, and digital change is happening. 

Although the progress has been slow, especially in secondary and primary schools, e-learning is here to stay, and it is better to embrace it now than later.

Mr  Emmanuel Angoda is a teacher at Lira Town College. 
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