E-Learning and Open Distance Education (ODL) in IPRC Kigali during COVID-19 Pandemic Spread: Opportunities and Challenges Available

Abstract

This study entitled “E-Learning and Open Distance education (ODL) in IPRC Kigali during COVID-19 Pandemic spread: Opportunities and Challenges available” was conducted to examine the opportunities available for IPRC Kigali students who were learning via Rwanda Polytechnic E-Learning platform, established to maintain the learning process and contain COVID-19 pandemic spread. It also examined the challenges they encountered during this period. More than 60% of the student-respondents supported the statement saying that their E-learning platform is able to provide opportunities for relations between learners by the use of the discussion forum. The respondents agreed that E-learning offers opportunities for learning for a maximum number of trainees with no need for many building. Therefore more than 67% of them found this as an opportunity. More than 63% also agreed that a small number of teaching staff may deliver courses to a big number of students at the same time. The majority of them did not accept that the students’ mindsets prevent them from accessing the E-learning platform (48.1%). They didn’t also agree on the statement that lecturers/instructors have a little experience in delivering courses through Distance Learning mode (65.4%). This shows that they are proud of their teaching staff. It was recommended that to address the issue of impossibility to control malpractice; the use of appropriate software used in other universities would be adopted; the government should speed up the distribution of laptops to students who have not received them yet; there should be sensitization to change the students’ mindsets and join E-Learning platform; trainers should design appropriate online learning resources and provide timely feedback to students, and emerging technologies like zoom, Microsoft teams, WebEx, Google meet … videoconferencing, social media, and other virtual classrooms should be considered.

Keywords: E-Learning, ODL, opportunities, challenges, ICT

DOI: 10.7176/JEP/11-27-04

Publication date:September 30^th 2020