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Studying From Home Series

5 Lessons Learnt While Studying From Home During the Pandemic

focused asian girl carefully listening explanation from teacher during remote studies
Photo by Katerina Holmes on Pexels.com

During the COVID-19 pandemic, when students were not able to go to school, eLearning platforms bridged the gap and enabled students to continue learning while at home. Although this brought with it many challenges and added expenses such as Internet data costs, it also showed that learning could continue outside the classroom. In these series of articles, we’ll explore the lessons learnt while studying from home and how we can use these to transform learning into a more interactive process which is not restricted to the classroom. To begin with:

Lesson 1: Teachers Do A Lot

With the advent of the pandemic, we parents became teachers to our children. We had to deal with the children all day, prepare their lessons, assign tasks, mark the assignments and make corrections. All of this brought with it an appreciation of the work teachers do as they do this for a classroom full of students daily. Not to mention those teachers who have kids of their own.

Finding the right content – Navigating the unfamiliar path

Virtual Laboratory

In the first few weeks of the pandemic, we scoured the Internet and social media looking for study content for our kids. What we quickly found out was that not all content was good content. Then there was the added complication that a new curriculum had been introduced for O level, for which there was little to no content available. This is still the case today.

Fortunately for some parents with kids in O level, they were able to get Digital Science & Virtual Lab software which is not only aligned to the national syllabus but also has content for the new curriculum and to top it all off teaches abstract science concepts in a fun & exciting way!

Creating & Sticking to a Study Routine

For a few of us who managed to find the right content, our homes became the classrooms and we became the timekeepers as well, making sure our kids studied when it was time to and also got through all the content they were to study that day. This took a toll on many of us and led to an appreciation for timetables and the teachers who help keep them.

Assigning Homework & Marking

Most parents don’t get that involved in knowing what their kids are learning especially if they are illiterate. But with the classroom being at home, most of us parents had to study what our kids were learning so we could teach them, or at the least be of help, know which assignments to give as homework at what stage and also be able to mark those assignments.

The upside for some of us was that the schools our kids go to started online classes and some of these tasks were ably handled by the lesson management systems chosen by the schools. During that time, Cyber School developed a curriculum guide that helped students know which topics to study when, in all four science subjects. This guide was and still is of great help to parents and students alike.

Doing all the above activities day in and day out for several weeks took its toll on a good number of us parents who now have a deeper appreciation of teachers and the work they do.

A big thank you to all the teachers out there!

This is the first in a series of articles that will explore the lessons learnt while studying from home. Feel free to leave your email in the subscription box below to get notified when the next article is posted.

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What is E-Learning

What is e-Learning? ​

By Edward Lubega

Understanding e-Learning is simple. e-Learning is learning utilizing electronic technologies to access educational curriculum outside of a traditional classroom. In most cases, it refers to a course, program or degree delivered completely online.

There are many terms used to describe learning that is delivered online, via the internet, ranging from Distance Education, to computerized electronic learning, online learning, internet learning and many others. We define e-Learning as courses that are specifically delivered via the internet to somewhere other than the classroom where the professor is teaching. It is not a course delivered via a DVD or CD-ROM, video tape or over a television channel.

It is interactive in that you can also communicate with your teachers, professors or other students in your class. Sometimes it is delivered live, where you can electronically raise your hand and interact in real time and sometimes it is a lecture that has been prerecorded. There is always a teacher or professor interacting /communicating with you and grading your participation, your assignments and your tests.

e-Learning has been proven to be a successful method of training and education is becoming a way of life for many people around the world.

What are the benefits of e-Learning?

Simply put, e-learning is everywhere, and it certainly comes with some pretty awesome advantages such as:

  1. Scalability: Elearning enables us to quickly create and communicate new policies, training, ideas, and concepts. Be it for entertainment or formal education, elearning is nimble!
  2. Capacity and Consistency: Using e-learning allows educators to achieve a great degree of coverage for their target audience, and it ensures that the message is communicated in a consistent fashion. This results in all learners receiving the same training.
  3. High Learning Retention: Blended learning approaches result in a higher knowledge retention rate. It also helps that coursework can be refreshed and updated whenever needed.
  4. Time and Money Savings: This one is pretty well known, and a staple of any well-done e-learning program. E-learning reduces time away from the workplace, eliminates the need for travel, and removes the need for classroom-based training.
  5. Activity and ROI Measurements: If you are using a learning management system to deliver your e-learning, then tracking learner progress is a piece-of-cake, and reporting on this activity is just as simple.
  6. Reduction of the Carbon Footprint: By leveraging e-learning for online testing and quizzing, the need for printing out paper-based assessments is reduced, in fact it’s practically eliminated altogether!
  7. Flexibility: Using e-learning, you can give employees and students the freedom to learn at their own convenience, and at a pace that is right for them. Staff can be trained in remote locations and in a consistent fashion as anyone receiving on-site training.

Source: eLearningNC, LearnDash

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eLearning Africa Report: ICTs boosting growth but teachers reluctant to change

e-Learning Africa Report:
ICTs boosting growth but
teachers reluctant to change

By Samson Busiku

ICT is the key to improving education and thus boosting growth across Africa but there is still widespread reluctance among teachers, trainers and managers to abandon traditional methods in favour of new solutions.

That is one of the key findings in this year’s e-Learning Africa Report, which will be launched on 20th May 2015 at the e-Learning Africa conference in Addis Ababa by the Ethiopian Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Communication and Information Technology, Dr Debretsion Gebremichael. A sneak preview of the report will also be given to African education and information technology ministers at the 8th e-Learning Africa Ministerial Round Table today.

Worryingly, say the report’s editors, Harold Elletson and Annika Burgess, our survey of 1500 African education and ICT professionals shows that, despite the importance of ICT in education, there is insufficient awareness in many schools, colleges, institutions and government departments of the benefits it brings.

57 per cent of those surveyed by eLearning Africa said that educators in their own countries are still not sufficiently aware of the benefits of using ICT in education although 95 per cent agreed that ICTs are the key to improving education in their own country.

Reluctance, according to the report, was a major theme emerging from teachers and educators; many revealed that their attitude towards ICTs in education was not always shared throughout their institution.

The report identifies a number of obstacles, preventing the greater use of ICTs in education and training. These include the cost of services and equipment, poor infrastructure and a lack of awareness about how best to use ICT for teaching and learning. 74 per cent of teachers also said they were not provided with enough support to improve their digital literacy. Only a third (33 per cent) of primary school teachers said they had been properly taught digital skills.

Whilst the failure of teachers and educational institutions to take up the technological challenge is disappointing, says Elletson, there is little doubt that in many African countries, the contribution ICTs are making to improving training is having a significant impact on performance and growth in key sectors.

In the agricultural sector, for example, 91 per cent of survey respondents involved in farming say that ICTs have led to increased yields, 87 per cent say they have helped them to develop new business opportunities and 71 per cent say they have used them to adopt new farming techniques. They may be having a wider environmental benefit too 90 per cent say that ICTs contribute to better food security and sustainable development in their region.

It is clear that, with a greater focus on using ICTs effectively to improve education and training, African economies can benefit substantially, says Burgess.

The Report concludes that raising the awareness and skills of teachers and learners is crucial for ICT integration to be successful. A lack of awareness about the benefits, as well as the lack of digital skills, leads to reluctance to embrace them.

Source: PC Tech Magazine

8. Macs are PCs, just PCs running OS X rather than Windows, or Linux

The above being true, it’s impossible to say that they’re better than a Windows PC, so I’m not going to touch that one. As a Mac user myself, I think it’s probably best left to get the answer from our Windows Editor, Tina, as she tries out a Mac after being a longtime PC user.

What I can address, however, is whether they are overpriced junk, or even if they’re overpriced at all. While they certainly aren’t budget PCs, the so-called Apple tax has been effectively eliminated and the price for most Apple devices is actually quite comparable to their Windows counterparts. For example, if you compare the MacBook Air to higher-end, light-weight, ultra-slim Windows laptop like the Lenovo Yoga 3 Pro, you’ll see that the price is actually quite comparable. The Mac Mini is another great example, as prices between it and comparable units from Dell and others are pretty similar.

We even tried to see if it was worth building a homemade Mac Pro, or just buying one online, the results might surprise you.

9. To Protect Yourself From Vulnerabilities, Use Firefox/Safari/Chrome/IE

X Browser being safer than Y browser is a comparison that really doesn’t have much to do with the consumers who use it. Browsers are simply an execution environment for JavaScript, and as such they’re all equally at risk to exploits and attacks. It’s also important to note that most browser-based attacks are through browser add-ons and plug-ins, not the browser itself.

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Ugandan School Soaks up e-Learning

Ugandan School Soaks up e-Learning ​

By Samson Busiku

Gayaza High School, a girls’ institution with a long history of excellence, showcased their e-Learning centre that will integrate classroom study with technology. Ronald Ddungu, the Deputy Head Teacher said they have adopted an inclusive approach to e-Learning where teachers have actively integrated technology into teaching.

Students can now access class notes, homework and carry out research in a timely manner to further compliment the education curriculum in Uganda.

Ddungu said the e-Learning initiative has already enabled Gayaza High School to win $15,000 for having one of the most innovative worldwide ideas during this year’s Microsoft in Education Global Forum in Barcelona, Spain in March.

The use of technology in schools in Uganda will help improve the delivery of the curriculum. Gayaza High School will work closely with other schools and mentor their teachers in adopting the use of technology in their work, Ddungu said.

During a recent tour of the school, Mark East, General Manager of Global Sales and Operations at Microsoft, said: The government of Uganda needs to set a policy and infrastructure for schools to access internet and technology because Information Technology is a tool that each student needs to have a right to.

He said, Teachers, like those in Gayaza, need to learn how to effectively integrate ICT into their curriculum and classrooms. It helps create immersive learning experiences that improve students’ experiences and skills through technology.

He said Microsoft’s approach to e-Learning is a not a one-device-fits-all solution. With access to ICT in schools still unevenly distributed, schools across Uganda are at different levels of implementing e-Learning programs and therefore have different needs.

Gayaza High School has since 2007 been a centre of Excellece for the Cyber School Technology Solutions Digital Science and Virtual Lab software. The school’s administration has vowed to continually be supportive of e-Learning activities, which is highly commendable in a generation where ICTs are growing and changing the world as we know it.

Credit: East African Business Week

“For instance, there is a high teacher absenteeism rate in Uganda, as reported by the BBC, meaning that 40% of public school classrooms don’t have teachers teaching in them”, he said.

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