Food for thought concerning Online learning

 Here is some food for thought concerning Online and Distant Learning in Kenya especially for primary and high schoolers.

Here  are some of the uncleared questions about educational ICT interventions in  Kenyan context.

1.Should It be said that ICT is the solution,  then ,what is the problem?

To start with, it is worth noting that teachers  use (or fail to use) ICT  during  the teaching process for various reasons . The intentions they have for using ICT in their work,  is that ICT will bring benefits of some kind, especially to the learning process and the expected outcomes. Therefore, while the country pushes  for various educational ICT programs  and projects, the real question is: what educational problems is ICT integration expected to solve? In other words, the use of ICT in the educational process ought to target specific objectives and outcomes.

2.What is our discourse about “using ICT in education”?

Our discussions  about  use of  ICT in education process mostly tends to  create segments. This is by portraying those who do not use ICT  as ‘backward or analog’. However, these labels can put unnecessary pressure on those we expect to use ICT for educational purposes and they may be pushed further into technophobia eventually.This would yield undesirable outcomes as opposed to what the original intent is. A different view is that, as observed by the country’s Principal Secretary for  Basic Education, we should understand that “by using ICT in education, it does not mean that traditional classroom teaching methods are being replaced”. It may also interest one to note  that the country is not fully ready for ODL, mainly because of the challenges such as inadequate ICT infrastructure (especially in the rural  and marginlized areas), underdeveloped research and development capacity in ICT, and inadequate specialized ICT teachers and institutional capacity . However, what is at stake with such  an approach to educational development is that it overlooks what is possible within the same resource-constrained education context.

3. What does ‘ICT use in education’ mean in Kenya?

As one looks through the usage of the above clause,there appears to be a lack of common definition regarding ICT use in education. This is evident in  most media platforms that give varying definitions of the same. Specific research reports, policy documents and conversations with students and teachers also indicate disparities in definition.. As reported elsewhere by a literature  student “the term technology has come to mean everything and everything has come to mean technology and so the term technology threatens to become a cliché’ or to mean nothing. In Kenya, the ICT for development goal envisions various  ways of using ICT, including ‘e -teaching’, ‘e-learning’, ‘e-distance education’, among others. These terms might be obvious to those with a technical background in the field. However, the terms certainly pose a challenge for practitioners; for instance, one may ask ,what makes a teaching/learning resource technological?

4. Who actually benefits from the use  of ICT use in education?

In Kenya, educational ICT interventions are mostly donor-supported projects, involving many players, such as international development agencies, politicians and telecommunication companies. Many stakeholders also means varied interests, although the message from all these parties is that their main interest is  to improve the quality of education. But looking at a comment, on whether technology would make schools smarter, Chen et al ,in their study observe that the “alarmism about education technology often romanticizes teaching, is sometimes ill-informed, and usually unwarranted……..The  alleged revolution of technology is often nothing more than a mild reform advocated by  those who are indeed not necessarily education experts but often programmers, salespeople, or venture capitalists who wish to do good with their insights and their capital."

 These criticisms against ICT  use  in education are yet to be understood in most developing countries like Kenya.

The Online and Distant Learning  package following COVID-19 Pandemic

The Ministry of Education  has partnered with local and international agencies  in developing innovative solutions to keep children busy with lessons while at home. The solutions include radio, television, printed materials and online resources.  A local Telecom company (Safaricom PLC) has also offered to provide free access to online education content to students in the country.Others have come up with phone Apps loaded with educational content at a small fee. This platform has registered a huge influx of digitized content more so during this period of the pandemic. Certain television and radio channels are also fully dedicated to deliver the KICD programs in collaboration with the ministry.

As such ,the ministry has been making a special appeal to parents and guardians, to monitor and guide their children and dependents to navigate this digitized learning platform, as there will be no physical teacher to guide the students like it is in a classroom situation.

 Conclusion

In theory, the Online and Distance Learning package seems to be guided by principles of equitable access, partnership with different stakeholders, and achieving learning as the end goal. As everyone learns how to embrace new and emerging trends ,truth is, ODL is here to stay.It can only get better.The ”new normal” has also set in motion the public discussion concerning the possibility of such a large-scale out-of-school learning intervention. Conversations must continue to see how best we can achieve ODL in a resource-constrained country like Kenya.