Part A:

Discuss the economic and non economic benefits of introducing electronic learning (E-Learning)/Digital curriculum in secondary schools.

Introduction

With the current globalization trends, learning institutions across the globe are increasingly being compelled to adopt the inherent technological advances. Regardless of the relative challenges, Kenya needs to follow suit in order to enhance its global competitiveness with respect to education. Lack of sufficient resources and political will have been cited as some of the constraints that undermine the efforts. Seemingly, this requires a change in attitudes especially with regards to policy formulation, implementation and enforcement. It’s against this background that this paper reviews the benefits of e-learning in secondary education. This is in a bit to inform the relevant stakeholders about the long term and sustainable benefits that it would derive form this.

To begin with, the Internet can offer the logical solution for education and training objectives. Students will have an opportunity to access information at any given time and from anywhere. Learners at different levels would have a chance to share information and become more informed. Approximately 40%of secondary schools already have access to computers and employ these in study. Technical obstacles, such as access, standards, infrastructure, and bandwidth, will not be an issue in a few years. The growth of the World Wide Web, high-capacity corporate networks, and high-speed desktop computers will make learning available to people 24 hours a day, seven days a week around the globe.

Students and parents can also save time and resources spend in traveling expenses. When delivered through technology based solutions, education is less expensive per end user due to scaleable distribution and the elimination of salaries for teachers. The biggest benefit of eLearning, however, is that it eliminates the expense and inconvenience of getting the instructor and students in the same place. According to Mason and Kaye (1989), the government would save between 50-70% when replacing instructor-led training with electronic content delivery. Opting for eLearning also means that courses can be pared into shorter sessions and spread out over several days or weeks so that the instituions would not lose an employee for entire days at a time. Workers can also improve productivity and use their own time more efficiently, as they no longer need to travel or fight rush-hour traffic to get to a class.

Students would also have a chance to access vital information in a timely manner (Hiltz, 1990). Web-based products allow instructors to update lessons and materials across the entire network instantly. This keeps content fresh and consistent and gives students immediate access to the most current data. Information can be retrieved just before it is required, rather than being learned once in a classroom and subsequently forgotten. Training Magazine reported that technology-based training has proven to have a 50-60% better consistency of learning than traditional classroom learning (c-learning).

Further, students can retain a higher content of the syllabus through personalized learning. Technology-based solutions allow more room for individual differences in learning styles (Kerkman, 2004). They also provide a high level of simulation that can be tailored to the learner’s level of proficiency. With 24 x 7 access, students can learn at their own pace and review course material as often as needed. Since they can customize the learning material to their own needs, students have more control over their learning process and can better understand the material, leading to a 60% faster learning curve, compared to instructor-led training. The delivery of content in smaller units, called “chunks,” contributes further to a more lasting learning effect. Whereas the average content retention rate for an instructor-led class is only 58%, the more intensive eLearning experience enhances the retention rate by 25 – 60%.

Finally, there would be improved collaboration and interactivity amongst students (Bates, 2005). In times when small instructor-led classes tend to be the exception, electronic learning solutions can offer more collaboration and interaction with experts and peers as well as a higher success rate than the live alternative. Teaching and communication techniques which create an interactive online environment include case studies, story-telling, demonstrations, role-playing, simulations, streamed videos, online references, personalized coaching and mentoring, discussion groups, project teams, chat rooms, e-mail, bulletin boards, tips, tutorials, FAQs, and wizards.

Generally, distance education can be more stimulating and encourage more critical reasoning than a traditional large instructor-led class because it allows the kind of interaction that takes place most fully in small group settings. Studies have shown that students who take online courses are typically drawn into the subject matter of the class more deeply than in a traditional course because of the discussions they get involved in (Hiltz (1990). This engagement is further facilitated by the fact that instructors do not monopolize attention in an online environment. Another study found that online students had more peer contact with others in the class, enjoyed it more, spent more time on class work, understood the material better, and performed, on average, 20% better than students who were taught in the traditional classroom.

References

Bates, A. (2005).Technology, e-Learning and Distance Education London: Routledge

Hiltz, S. (1990). Evaluating the Virtual Classroom. New York: Praeger.

Kerkman, L. (2004). Convenience of Online Education Attracts Mid Career Students. Chronicle of Philanthropy, 16(6), 11–12.

Mason. R. & Kaye, A. (1989). Mindweave: Communication, Computers and Distance Education. UK: Pergamon Press.

Part B:

Kenya like any other third world country requires prudence in planning for higher education, explain challenges faced by educational planners in Kenya and show ways in which the challenges can be addressed.

First, lack of sufficient financial and human resources undermine effective planning (Moore & Farris, 1991). The same factors inducing higher education reform also limit the availability of resources for higher education institutions. The financial adjustments required by a highly competitive and unpredictable global economy, and the growing demand for social services by impoverished populations, increase the cost of basic education and public health, and limit what is left over for higher education expansion and reform.

The, current institutional arrangements and traditions also compromise effective planning. Almost everywhere, higher education institutions are organized as part of the public service, often with strong collegial decision-making mechanisms. But, the rules, regulations and operational practices of civil service and collegial management are not the most suitable for adapting rapidly to change. Also, in emergent surveys, studies indicate that there are serious deficits in the quality of staff, governance, academic standards, student preparation, research facilities, libraries, and laboratories. This makes it difficult for planners to incorporate quality in planning. The higher education system is simply not at par with international standards. The result is a higher education system not particularly relevance to societal needs.

Also, the challenge of re-establishing its universities as independent institutions, dedicated to education, and free of political, religious, and ethnic influence has undermined effective planning (Adeeb, 1996). There has been no independent quality control agency to monitor and ensure minimum standards in teaching and research across higher education institutions. And there have been no government or private research-funding bodies to consistently encourage, nurture, and reward excellence in research. Likewise, there has been little possibility of international collaboration for a generation of academics that has never had the opportunity to engage internationally. Nor have there been many opportunities for international publication given the country’s isolation and the higher education system’s declining academic rigor.

Also, political stalemate keeps higher education reform in a frozen condition. Planners find it difficult to implement and enforce policies because of lack of political will. Inconsistency and contradiction between a rapidly changing environment and growing demand, on the one hand, and old, obsolete laws on the other, hold back development. Further, despite the constraints of resources, the quantitative expansion has been highly spectacular in the post independence period. The institutions have not only been multiplied, the student enrollments at colleges and universities have registered exceptionally high rate of growth.

The numbers of new entrants is now more than the total number of students in higher education prior to independence. The demand of higher education has thus increased by leaps and bonds. In spite of quality control as well as consolidation, it will continue to grow constantly for a long time to come. The quantitative expansion is evident due to increasing aspiration of the people and social, economical, and political forces influencing the development of higher education. In the post independence period, the role of higher education has been very well recognized in the development of science and technology, as well as various arenas of human advancement (Gibbons, 1998).

Interventions

To begin with, financial resources need to be mobilized to support effective and timely planning. The process of mobilization should be transparent and relevant stakeholders should be committed to ensuring that these are used in an effective manner. Most importantly, these should be sufficient in order to ensure that the process is completed accordingly. Notably, most projects in this regard tend to be abandoned along the way due to lack of sufficient financial resources.

Stress should be laid on the need for improving the quality of education at every stage so that a proper foundation can be laid for advanced study in science, engineering, agriculture, and those other areas which are most closely allied to the nationaleconomic development and reconstruction of the nation as a whole (Mohanthy, 2000). This would ensure that the quality of education is guaranteed as well as the competitiveness of the students. To begin from the top without reforming the lower stages is against the law of nature; it is against the law of evolutionary progress. Before any restrictions are imposed on the higher education, the earlier stages should be improved so as to produce better students for the higher stage.

A critical point to be considered by educational planner is the adaptation of a multi-dimensional, flexible, and dynamic education system, which serves people according to their ability and aptitude and is responsive to their economic, social political and cultural needs. This can only be attained through promotion of political will. Political leaders need to be obligated and to provide an ambient environment that supports growth and development. Finally, the new system of higher education should be flexible enough to offer a variety of courses, formal and non formal, full time and part time, correspondence and media based to fit every individual as well as the economic needs of the country.

References

Adeeb, M. A. (1996). Comparative study of developed & developing countries. Multan: Beacon Books.

Gibbons, M. (1998). Higher education relevance in the 21st century. Washington, DC, USA: The World Bank.

Mohanthy, J. (2000). Current trends in higher education. New Delhi, India: Deep & Deep.

Moore, M. K., & Farris, P. (1991, Fall). Combining a school university partnership with a

Career incentive program. Catalyst for Change, 21(1).