Can Moodle be used to educate the masses in Africa? Part 2

1. Research presentation MOODLE
MOOT Edinburgh 15 April 2014
Topic: Can Moodle be used to educate the masses in Africa?
Presentation plan
1. Introduction(bio and geo)
2. Some background information(ICT in Africa)
3. Teacher training project description and research
4. Data collection(participants’ experiences)
5. Analysis of the experiences
6. Users’ feedback
7. Conclusion
8. Recommendations
9. References
10. Qs & As

2. Biography, geography, and context
• Presenter: Janvier
Nkurunziza(Lecturer
City@ of College
Glasgow)
• Burundi(Where and why?)
• One of the smallest and
poorest countries
• Many decades of war
• Hundreds of thousands
people died &
infrastructure destroyed
• Others fled to
neighbouring countries
• Brain drain

3. Geography and context
Solutions to the problems
• Migration for Development
in Africa projects(Great
Lakes countries) funding
• Belgium
• Office for International
Migration/MIDA project
Partners
• University of Burundi
• Catholic University of
Bukavu (RC Congo)
• National University of
Rwanda
• Kigali Institute of Education

4. Background information
(ICT challenges in Africa)
• low computer ownership
(Boitshwarelo,2009)
• no/slow internet connectivity
• Unreliable electricity supply
(World Bank report: ‘Paying
the Price for Unreliable Power
Supplies 2009’)
• Low Internet usage (18%
population, US Census
Bureau,2014,see across)
• little staff training (Masanja,
2010)
US census bureau, Jan.2014

5. Background information
(ICT challenges in Burundi )
What challenges face Burundi?
• High levels of poverty(less than a
dollar a day)
• 90% of population rural
• lack of electricity
• Very low Internet access
• High costs
• Lack of/insufficient
infrastructure(telephone lines)
Source: o Africa,
http://www.oafrica.com/ict-
policy/internet-updates-from-burundi/

6. Background information
(ICT challenges in Burundi )
What challenges face Burundi?
• Skills shortage
• Lack of staff
• Dependence on foreign
expertise
• Computer literacy issues
• Ageing teaching/academic
staff
• 67 % of University of Burundi
teaching staff are more than
50 years old(OAG 2011)
Source:Observatoire de l'Action
Gouvernementale(OAG, 2011)
Areas are covered by the ITU-
McCaw Broadband Network(2011)

7. Background information
(ICT challenges in Burundi )
What challenges face Burundi?
• Lack of ICT strategy and policy
(education)
• Large classes(200-300 students
in a science lab class)
Source:(OAG, 2011)

8. Background information
(ICT opportunities in Burundi)
• ICT strategy(2004) & policy
(2007)
• ICT vision 2025 :Universal
access to ICT & Centre for
excellence and hub
With the Burundi Backbone
System
• Price expected to drop
• Faster Internet connection
• Greater awareness of ICT
importance( economy, educ.)
• Higher mobile cellular
subscription(per 100 people
25.6%, World Bank, 2012)

9. Background information
(ICT in universities)
• Much use of ICT at university but insufficient
• University of Burundi( 6 sites interconnected)
• 500 computers(360 for students with free Internet access)
• Connection to the internet through local ISPs
• E-library development at the University(sharing resources with
partners in the region)
• Poor research in general
Other universities: minimal ICT infrastructure
• Université Lumière
• Ecole Nationale Supérieure
• Université du Lac Tanganika
Source: Hare( 2007); OAG(2011)

10. Teacher training project
Introduction and use of Moodle in
Burundi (2010 & 2012)
Aim?
• Facilitate Moodle training
• Build staff capacity(train the
trainers)
• Design teacher training
materials
Targets?
• University academic staff
(Centre de recherche et de
formation pour la paix)
• University researchers
• Librarians
• Support staff(ICT)

11. Project: Introduction and use of
Moodle in Burundi (2010 & 2012)
Partnership: 5 local and regional universities (public and private) with
Migration for Development in Africa(MIDA projects)
• Université Nationale du Burundi(main institution and training
provider)
• Université Lumière
• Ecole Nationale Supérieure
• Université du Lac Tanganyika
• Université Catholique de Bukavu (DR Congo)
• 40 participants
• age range (20-60)
• 13 women
• 27 men
• Language of instruction:French

12. Participants 'experiences
(Before Moodle training 2012)
2
1
1
1
31
4
How many times have you
used Moodle in the past?
Survey
• interviews
• questionnaire
• self-evaluation
• one-to-one discussion
Results (see chart across)
• 31/40 ( no experience)
• 4/40 (other experience)
• 2/40(once a month)
• 1/40:once in 3-12 months
• User’s comment “Before the
training, I had no information
on the software”
• see more on slides 19-21

13. Data Collection and analysis
Needs analysis aims
• Identifying the
problem(s)
• demand and
readiness
• Staff training needs
• Challenges
What is your Moodle experience?

14. Users' experiences(general)
What challenges?
• Large numbers of students from secondary education
• Fewer resources at university
• 9,778 students ( University of Burundi, OAG,2011)
• Inadequate/poor instruction
• Lack of quality instruction
• Inadequacy between instruction and employment
• Insufficient/lack of staff

15. Users' challenges(general)
• Large numbers of students
• 30, 000- 40, 000 expected in 2015 in the whole country(OAG, 2011)
• Insufficient/lack of computers(1 computer for 300 students, OAG,
2011)
• Online safety concerns
• Heavy workload
• Lack of time (see feedback from participant 5 below)
• Lack of skills (computer, Moodle,etc. see feedback from participant 7)
• Moodle not connected to the University network (intranet)

16. Users' motivation
Intrinsic & extrinsic motivation
• Learning new technologies and new skills (see participant 3
feedback below)
• Improving knowledge(see participant 4, 5 & 7 feedback below)
• Professional development(see participant 4 feedback below)
• Certification

17. Moodle resources & activities
developed and objectives

18. Users’ specific Moodle
experiences(after the training)
0%
10%
20%
30%
40%
50%
60%
70%
80%
90%
100%
38 32 34 39 33 33 38 32 31 27 28 31

19. Users 'feedback
(my translation from French)
Participant 1
• “created a virtual course”
• “added a course”
• “prepared a questionnaire”
• “converted a file into a PDF format”
• “changed the appearance of Moodle”
Participant 2
• “Made contact with the Moodle software”
• “had some knowledge of making online courses”
• “practiced in a group with my colleagues”
Participant 3
“Before the training, I wondered how I could participate in an online course
and now I know that with Moodle, I will manage a million things”

20. Users 'feedback
(my translation from French)
Participant 4
“I have improved my knowledge in
• “managing platform Moodle”
• “linking (files, website, ....)”
• “converting documents into different formats”
Participant 5
• “I do not have the same needs as before the training”
• “I learned a lot about Moodle but time is insufficient”

21. Users 'feedback
(my translation from French)
Participant 6
• “For me, the training objectives were achieved except how to register
students …”
• “I expected that I know the concepts and Moodle can be accessed
easily…”
• “ I need to better develop my knowledge in the use of Moodle”
Participant 7
• “Before the training, I had no information on the software”
• “After having undergone Moodle training, I have improved my
knowledge”.

22. Can Moodle be used to educate
the masses in Africa?
Yes it can! A lot of experiences despite challenges
• Logging in to Moodle,
• Enrolling in a course and creating a course
• Distinguishing users' roles (teacher‘s, student's, etc.)
• Setting course format (thematic, weekly, and informal)
• Enrolling students/participants
• Activating or exiting edit mode in a course
• Navigating into blocks

23. Can Moodle be used to educate
the masses in Africa?
Yes it can! A lot of experiences despite challenges (cont.)
• Integrating and managing communication tools (forum, chat,etc.)
• Creating multimedia resources (text page, web page, etc.)
• Engaging students in collaborative activities (Glossary, Wiki, etc.)
• Assessing/evaluating students and giving feedback online
• Managing course files & offering participants a space for sharing
experiences
• Monitoring participants' activities
• Backing up and restoring a course content

24. Conclusion and further contacts
• Moodle is a reality in Africa
• It can be used in a face-to-face and blended mode
• Challenges hinder implementation
• More effort and resources are needed
• ‘Political’ will is a must for ICT/Moodle to have an impact
Contacts
• For further contact: janvier.nkurunziza@cityofglasgowcollege.ac.uk
• Do you have questions?
• Please email them to me through the email above or make
comments on the slideshare presentation.
Thank you for your attention and interest.

25. Recommendations
to policy makers
Why recommend Moodle?
• Open source
• Free course management system
• Free download, help and support
• 24/7 access, any time, any where(with Internet connection!)
• Can be used to teach masses of learners(subject to conditions)
• Supports fully online courses or blended courses
• Supplements face-to-face courses
• Great philosophy of learning(social constructionism)
• Supports group learning
Cole & Foster (2007)

26. Recommendations
to policy makers
What needs to be done?
• Review strategies and policies
• Improve access and infrastructure(labs, network, bandwidth, etc)
• Provide training (Developing, delivering, implementing, and
evaluation online courses,)
• Train the trainers and students (basic computer skills)
• Improve teaching methods from teacher-centered to learner-
centered (82% lectures, OAG, 2011)

27. Recommendations
to policy makers
What needs to be done?
• Improve assessment and evaluation techniques
• Review assessment objectives( formative not for failing students!)
• Develop quality assurance(teaching and learning)
• Focus on independent learning and research
• Introduce a learner-centered approach
• Teach students independent learning skills
• Train teachers and students for new roles
• Reassure them

28. Recommendations
to policy makers
• Bear costs of infrastructure(classrooms, computer labs, etc.)
• Develop mobile learning solutions across the country (subject to
mobiles & broadband)
• Share experiences & learn from others e.g.solar energy provision
• Ensure technological support(software and hardware)
• Provide administrative support
• Train teachers and students and encourage ICT uptake
• Build on acquired knowledge and skills(see participant 6 feedback)
• Start small and keep it short and simple(e.g.one Moodle course in
one department/faculty, learn from the experience and roll out)

29. Recommendations
to policy makers
• Improve partnership with other institutions
• Develop quality assurance (internally and externally)
• Develop & Implement ICT strategy in education
• Imbed ICT in key subjects
• Develop distance learning
• Encourage and support research
• Strike a balance between instruction/training and employment needs
• Teach basic computer courses(e.g. word processing and
spreadsheets at school, college and university)
• Use computers for teaching, research & learning-not just for
administration work( Hare, 2007)
• Save the trees!

30. References
Boitshwarelo, B. (2009). Exploring Blended Learning for Science Teacher
Professional Development in an African Context. International Review of
Research in Open & Distance Learning, 10(4).
Cole, J. & Foster, H. (2007). Using Moodle: teaching with the popular open
source course management system. O'Reilly.
Hare, H. (2007). Survey of ICT in Education in Burundi. Washington, DC:
infoDev/World Bank.
Masanja, V. G. (2010). Introducing eLearning in Industrial Mathematics in
Tanzania and Rwanda. In Progress in Industrial Mathematics at ECMI
2008 (pp. 681-687). Springer Berlin Heidelberg.
http://link.springer.com/chapter/10.1007/978-3-642-12110-4_110#page-1 [last
viewed 14 April 2014]
Observatoire de l’Action Gouvernementale (OAG, 2011). Analyse du
fonctionnement et du financement de l'enseignement supérieur public au
Burundi. http://www.oag.bi/spip.php?article1608[last viewed 16 April 2014]