Alice Njuguna

One the mitigating measures adopted against the spread of COVID-19 was closure of business, suspension of face to face learning in institution of learning in Kenya and cancellation of international flights worldwide. There was also enforced locked down within highly infected areas. To survive educational institutions adopted mainly online/digital learning. In this paper we provide findings on a survey conducted in selected eleven universities in Kenya on the status of the soft wares and tools that facilitate online/ digital learning. The finding indicate that even though the universities had adopted blended learning the soft wares and tools are still a challenge. The Paper recommends the need of the institutions to enhance the acquisitions of tools and soft wares for an enhanced digital learning and inclusion.

The growth of the global economy and the information based society has pressured education systems around the world, to use technology, to teach students the knowledge and skills they need. This study investigated factors influencing integration of ICT in Public Primary Teacher Education. The objectives of the study were to investigate the extent to which Public Primary Teacher Training Colleges(PPTTC) in the central region of Kenya have integrated ICT in teaching and learning process, the challenges facing the integration of ICT in Primary Teacher Education and to establish the factors influencing integration of ICT in primary teacher education. The study was carried out in four (4) PPTTCs located in the central region of Kenya with a target population of 261 academic staff from which 176 respondents were picked using proportionate sampling. Data was collected using questionnaires and interview schedules. It was analyzed using descriptive statistics: Statistical Package for Social ...

The unprecedented onset of COVID-19 and the emergency closure of institutions of Higher learning heralded a new way of completing the curriculum and taking the students through the academic calendar. Previous definitions of emergency education had tried to allude to war, civil strife, floods, drought and even some instances of HIV AIDS or children living on the streets. The COVID -19 gave a new definition to emergencies, as it led to forced containment and requirement for social distancing on a global level. Prior to the pandemic, Learning Management Systems (LMS) had been around in what would be termed as E-Learning, computer-based education and other computer related terms, Most of the LMS would support both synchronous and asynchronous education. However, face to face learning was still the preferred mode of teaching, and the online component was considered complementary and supplementary. COVID-19 led to Emergency Remote Teaching, and this brought about a change in approach and ...

University curriculum all over the world contain a set of learning outcomes to be achieved through different learning and teaching modes. The achievement of the Learning Outcomes is measured using some form of assessment, usually in the form of University examinations. The traditional teaching has been face-to- face, and therefore many examinations have also been conducted in a face to face manner. One of the challenges of any examination setting is cheating amongst University students, which implies that the examinations must be properly invigilated or proctored. Since the introduction of ICT in Education, there have been attempts to introduce Online examinations, although these are yet to gain full traction. In Kenya, the ODEL standards lean more towards blended learning, where each course has to have a face to face element. Many Universities have therefore been conducting their examinations in a traditional setting. The onset of COVID-19 created a different situation as the socia...

University curriculum all over the world contain a set of learning outcomes to be achieved through different learning and teaching modes. The achievement of the Learning Outcomes is measured using some form of assessment, usually in the form of University examinations. The traditional teaching has been face-to-face, and therefore many examinations have also been conducted in a face to face manner. One of the challenges of any examination setting is cheating amongst University students, which implies that the examinations must be properly invigilated or proctored. Since the introduction of ICT in Education, there have been attempts to introduce Online examinations, although these are yet to gain full traction. In Kenya, the ODEL standards lean more towards blended learning, where each course has to have a face to face element. Many Universities have therefore been conducting their examinations in a traditional setting. The onset of COVID-19 created a different situation as the social distancing and the restricted movement meant that learners could not attend a physical class. The movement to Remote Emergency Teaching created a challenge on how examinations could be conducted and proctored. Several Universities decided to do the teaching but wait for resumption of face to face studies to conduct their exams, and this had a negative impact on the University Almanac. This paper looks at the case of one Private University that decided to complete a whole semester online but also went on to conduct examinations via the Learning Management System. Using a triangulation of Interviews, Observation and Document Reviews, staff and students who had participated in conducting and taking online examinations were interviewed. The online examinations processed was observed and documents and software used in online examinations and proctoring were reviewed. Reorganization of the examination processes, organizational and cultural change management, ICT technical issues, extensive training, software selection and communication were identified as the key requirements for successful online examinations and proctoring to take place. The use of Proctoring Systems that are integrated with the LMS give a shorter learning curve and are easier to learn and use.

The unprecedented onset of COVID-19 and the emergency closure of institutions of Higher learning heralded a new way of completing the curriculum and taking the students through the academic calendar. Previous definitions of emergency education had tried to allude to war, civil strife, floods, drought and even some instances of HIV AIDS or children living on the streets. The COVID-19 gave a new definition to emergencies, as it led to forced containment and requirement for social distancing on a global level. Prior to the pandemic, Learning Management Systems (LMS) had been around in what would be termed as E-Learning, computer-based education and other computer related terms, Most of the LMS would support both synchronous and asynchronous education. However, face to face learning was still the preferred mode of teaching, and the online component was considered complementary and supplementary. COVID-19 led to Emergency Remote Teaching, and this brought about a change in approach and rethinking of the technologies available for remote teaching. Many Universities had to find a way of providing a supplementary way of providing live and synchronous classes. Previous applications such a ZOOM, Google Meet and Microsoft Teams found their use in the educational setup, with many Universities subscribing to these tools as well as those that are embedded in LMS, such as the BigBlueButton as used to together with MOODLE as a plugin. The aim of this study was to establish how Videoconferencing tools are used to provide synchronous and asynchronous education. The objectives were to establish how Videoconferencing tools are used to aid in teaching and learning, how these tools are used to mirror a face to face class, as well as the challenges faced in integrating these tools in the classroom. This study used a quantitative and qualitative approach where a web-based questionnaire with both open and closed questions were posted to an E-learning special interest groups consisting of faculty in both private and public institutions in Kenya and some students taught by these faculty, and followed by in-depth interviews via Videoconferencing The study established that many institutions turned to stand alone and open source videoconferencing tools to teach both synchronously and asynchronously in a blended mode. The biggest challenge was in the IT element due to non-availability of stable internet connectivity and the fact that neither the students nor the faculty had clear training on the tools available within the videoconferencing applications, and there was no formal method of integrating the same to teaching. The study recommends a policy framework on the integration of such tools in the teaching.

Over the past decade there has been a rapid increase of new technological advances and specifically use of internet to access information. Economic growth all over the world has continued to be dependent on information and communication technologies (ICT’s) and the abilities for countries to collect, process and use the digital information in teaching, learning, research and development. The e-learning revolution in developed countries has proven the use of technology can enhance growth and boost economic development. The purpose of the study was to compare challenges affecting adoption of e-learning for capacity building in public service sectors of Kenya and South Africa. Cluster sampling methodology was used and data analysed using SPSS. The study population represented participants who underwent through a capacity building course African leadership in ICT (ALICT) course offered by GESCI. This is a capacity building e-learning course targeted at mid senior level managers from the...

Ubiquitous Information communication technologies (ICT) and dynamics in today’s society (both disruptive and progressive changes) are increasingly driving adoption of e-learning models at all levels of education. Previous research has shown that the synergy between learner and assessment centered dimensions are antecedent to knowledge centeredness which is a key goal in higher education. This paper offers insights on how to address the key challenges facing Universities in implementation of competence-based learning through effective use of formative e-assessment in e-learning as a tool for fostering learner and assessment centeredness. The ultimate goal is to enhance understanding on effective integration of formative e-assessment in e-learning courses as a strategy for promoting competence-based education, while providing information that serve formative and summative purposes. It is also important to emphasize that use of formative e-assessment as a tool for assessment for learni...

Steganography is the data hiding technique which allows hiding secret message or image within a larger image or message such that the hidden message or an image is undetectable. It is a very useful method for secret information transmission. This research proposed security of information through an image hiding steganographic method, of hiding an image within a cover image. This steganographic method aims to minimize the visually obvious and numerical differences between the cover image and a stego image with increase in the size of the payload. The proposed improved algorithm uses the binary codes which is the binary representation of pixels inside the image. This algorithm  make use of improved  least significant bit (LSB) technique, which is a popular technique in steganography ,in which  least significant bits of cover are altered by secret data bits. The proposed method integrates randomization algorithm which improve the security of LSB scheme.  The bits of the secret image ar...