How E-Learning will transform the Zimbabwean Education System
Written by Albert Chinamano
After independence the Zimbabwean government developed a
mission to develop literate citizens. The first stage, in
which students need to be schooled, is alphabetic and numeric
literacy, followed by the development of a fluent understanding
of the history of ideas. With more than that, students must
strive to become fluent in the ideas of their own time. The
former Apple Computer fellow, now Walt Disney Company innovator
Alan Kay, suggested that learners should understand and be
able to manipulate the systems of representation that bring
those ideas to life. And to do that, learners must be social
creatures, because learning takes place only when there is
an exchange of ideas.
Today, when people talk about the global village, not only
in economic terms, but also in education, the conversation
frequently turns to a new type of education called "E-learning."
Like everything else associated with the Internet, the term
e-learning is subject to much mystification and hype. Nevertheless,
to talk about e-learning is really still a new development
to the majority of Zimbabweans. As long as we don’t utilize
this growth in telecommunications in Africa E-learning will
still be a reverie to the majority of Zimbabweans.
Some will ask; "what is e-learning?"
It is a means of becoming literate involving new vehicles
for communication: computer networks, multimedia like video
conferencing, content portals, electronic libraries, distance
learning, and Web-enabled classrooms. E-learning is characterized
by speed, technological transformation, and mediated human
interactions. This new mode of learning in Zimbabwe promises
to transform the experience of the classroom in a number of
fundamental ways: by augmenting traditional textbook materials
with online resources and other content portals; by enhancing
customary "chalk and talk" lectures through the
use of rich multimedia and interactive content; and by extending
student discussions beyond the walls of the classroom via
a wide range of new communications platforms supporting interclass
room collaboration.
Furthermore, e-learning will transform schooling outside
the classroom, by providing students with Web-based tutoring
on demand, in place of traditional help-sessions after class.
Of late, these have very discouraged because of cases of abuse
by lecturers over their students. E-Learning will also offer
parents a more efficient means of assessing their children's
progress via online access to real-time student-information
systems, rather than through traditional quarterly report
cards; and will also allow learners to access their coursework
from multiple locations, including the home, rather than solely
on school grounds.
One of the things that make e-learning unique in the history
of our national education objectives, is that it involves
much more intimate contact between schools and private, entrepreneurial
businesses -something that has been lacking in Zimbabwean
education system.
The success of e-learning programs to date has depended upon
the capacity of government policy makers, school administrators,
teachers, parents, and private sector to collaborate effectively.
Scaling the success of these programs will require these diverse
groups to work together ever more closely.
To the extent that these collaborations succeed, the ministry
responsible for education system in the country has the duty
to connect learners, educators, and the community on a global
scale. In doing so, the government will force us to rethink
the purpose and architecture of our educational infrastructures
in very fundamental ways. While e-learning will not replace
the classroom, it has the potential to change the purpose
and function of the classroom considerably, by offering us
new ways to think about designing and delivering education
not just between the ages of 5 and 18, but across a lifetime.
Infrastructure, Connectivity and Content. These are the buzzwords
of the new education era worldwide. Today, social, technological,
and economic drivers are transforming our systems of learning.
As human capital becomes the chief source of economic value,
education and training become lifelong endeavors for the majority
of people in the country. For a developing country like Zimbabwe,
e-learning offers potentially less expensive, more convenient,
and richer ways of becoming educated, and of coming into contact
with more diverse groups of fellow learners than ever before.
The capacity for e-learning to make a really significant
contribution to our education programs, however, remains to
be fulfilled. There are many challenges to be faced if e-learning
initiatives are to realize their full potential in Zimbabwe.
Research shows that in Africa there are some teachers and
lecturers who don’t even know how to use a computer and
e-learning is a dream to them and some of them are under prepared
to use technology in the classroom. Many schools in Zimbabwe,
especially in the rural areas are still without Internet connections,
and the benefits of e- learning, therefore, remain largely
inaccessible for large numbers of students.
At the same time, the much-talked-about pedagogical benefits
of rich multimedia educational materials will not be realized
until telecom infrastructure and bandwidth issues are adequately
addressed. Because wiring and cabling are expensive both to
install and maintain, some schools may choose to wait until
wireless systems become widely available. But this strategy
will defer the benefits of e-learning, and will result in
some students' being disadvantaged relative to their peers.
There are also significant costs associated with keeping
school computers and network infrastructures up to date—and
these products and services will have to become more affordable,
perhaps through options for leasing rather than purchasing,
if schools are going to keep up with and benefit from the
most recent technological innovations. Surrounding all these
issues is the much broader challenge of providing equitable
e-learning opportunities across communities—wealthy and
poor alike.
Certainly, these challenges will not be overcome without
much effort, but there are many reasons for working to overcome
them. E-learning represents a long-term opportunity for us
to rethink the value of education over a lifetime. Next week
we will discuss the how we can overcome these challenges.
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