Africa and elearning.
After looking at the above link and taking the time to look at many different areas of the website, not just the page the link above goes to, I can see how much of an important role elearning can have, for countries such as Africa.
When looking at the problems Zambia has with cholera and flooding and the on set of affects it has to the education system, elearning seem like the best possible was to help children continue with their studies. The fact many schools in towns and villages are forced to shut due to out breaks of cholera for long periods of times means many children are not being educated at all when others in the region are continuing their studies and therefore ahead of those who are not, this is especially seen with those taking exams, all children sit the same exam at the end of the year, but those in cholera affected will not be as ready. It is not only outbreaks of disease but floods and extreme weather conditions can also course schools to close, if they had the option for elearning students would not have to miss out on school and that pupils would be able to access their teachers from either an internet cafe, home or any convenient place that can be arranged. Allowing those students who may not have access to the internet the chance to keep up with their work to.
Not only the fact elearning would be able to keep students up to date with work, it would also help to boost awareness of diseases like cholera and help both parents and children find out way of preventing it.
There is a radio programme available to lower level students named Taonga market, which is broadcast ever day for around two hours, this is obviously a good step forward but needs to be made bigger and on a much wider scale.
Another area that is effect in africa is that of farming, farming is a major part of Africa's economy and plays a big part in many lives. Due to the lack of knowledge farmers in kenya are really struggling to keep their crops and live stock to the best standard and therefore not making a very good living.
The BioVision Foundation, along with international and local scientists, have 'developed an information portal, infonet-biovision.org, to aid in the dissemination of quality information that is relevant to farmers’ needs and their respective agro-ecologies'. Infonet was launched in Kenya in 2007 to help farmers identify threats to farm yards, such as pests, diseases and declining soil fertility. With this kind of information available to as many farmers as possible Africa's economy will benefit a huge amount.
Elearning and the internet in general have a huge effect on Africa and the capabilities of the county, with out this information and sources they would not be so aware of spreading diseases, threats to farming, as well as the help it gives to the education system when other problems arise.
RINCY
ReplyDeleteWhat this site doesn't make explicit is how much it would cost to put on such a programme for the children in the Cholera areas. I would bet that a young teacher is much cheaper. the money woudl have to be found from somewhere. Soem would say that it woudl be better spent on cleaning up the water supplies or finding a solution where the population do not get sick? Try to be really critical and think about the context of the subjects.
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