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iINFORMATION AND TECHNOLOGY IN AFRICA
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- Written by perpetua abang ojara
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Information and technology in Africa is growing at a very high rate. In the 21st century, Africa has come up to cope up with the rest of the world as far as information technology is concerned.Ii give a special thanks to itct-Africa for the great effort they have put in equipping Africa with this great technology.Africans can now walk with their heads high up in the air.Although we are not yet there but we are soon reaching.Schools colleges and universities in Africa today are finding it abit easy to communicate with their students and the students have also been relieved from the traditional way of learning.thanks once again.
From Perpetua Ojara.
NAKASEKE REPRESENTATIVES
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- Written by Kabahweza
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The following are the the group from the Institution:
Kabahweza Lilian
Ndagire Evelyn Kiwanuka
Mugeere Edward
newsletter in switzerland and germany
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- Written by mutenyo Aidah
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Talk about ict or digital alot will appear in some bodies mind for example internet,web,E/learning, collaboration googling and so many things as computers are concerned. Africa more so Uganda having transformed from digital immigrants to probably digital native its time people wake up to excel and enefit in ict.
There is alot tht Tehnology has contributed to education today. Innovation has taken its path and it has come to stay as fer as ict is concerned.Learning has ecome lifelong and so flexible indeed.Isay so ecause at the moment even if am in my home i can communicate or conduct businesss with someone in Germany which not used to be the case.
Most institutions have decided to go digital apart from classroom teaching . It has been realised that all people in different sectors i.e teachers,learners,business sector find it easy to learn and communicate et their convinient time.
We are living in the competitive global world,therefore if one hides or distances himself or herself from ict in general is like hiding away from the contempolary world today.
With ict learningis life lond because every minute you visit the web you find many new things such as in academics,business, leisure socialisind in all aspects you will get informed.Indeed its the bakery of all infromation.
Written by Mutenyo Aidah fromShimoni Core Primary Teachers College.
My first day at the ict training in Kamokya,Uganda
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- Written by mutenyo Aidah
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It was so amazing . I thought it is our normal soft ware we are traditionally used to the MICROSOFT mhh onlytt o realise it was a nwe invention . Waooh how lucky i felt am among the first beneficiaries if linux . It was so wonderful a m now so proud i have met so many facilitators those whom i may not have met them in entire life e.g madam Charllot,Mary Naikumi, Dr. Murage,Madan justine magambo not forgetting Roger. Indeed we have learnt alot indeed ict has done alot of innovatioons .
I have realised that with ict therei lifelong learning. There is social networking among teachers in the wholew Africa, we can also access free books to gather and get material from e/book leaning not forgetting collaboration.
Ict in conjunction with itct Africa you cant be uqueted to any sector which wants an African teacher to develop. Long live itct Africa.
by Mutenyo Aidah
CHALLENGES FACING THE TEACHING OF INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY IN PRIMARY SCHOOLS IN UGANDA
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- Written by Jackson Wavamunno
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Primary schools in Uganda are faced with an ever-increasing demand to implement a curriculum based, largely on the traditional academic subjects – English, Social Studies, Mathematics and Science. The pressures put on the teachers to 'produce results' in these traditional subjects are overwhelming. These pressures originate from the parents and the school owners, run down to the Head teachers who transfer them to the teachers. At every step down the ladder, the pressure is more than doubled, so that by the time it reaches the teacher, it is almost unbearable.
With the introduction and induction of IT in Primary schools, teachers have become torn between toeing the traditional line or going with the contemporary IT wave. Here, below are some of the challenges faced by the induction of IT education into the Primary School curriculum in Uganda:
- Results Pressure
The goodness of a Primary School in Uganda is gauged by how well its candidates perform at the National Examination called P.L.E done after seven years of Primary education. In a bid to impress, Head teachers of Primary schools force teachers to fore-go all co-curricular activities like gardening, home economics, crafts, physical education etc and force them to put all emphasis on drumming examinable material into pupils' heads. The pupils will not be given any time to engage in non-examinable disciplines. The Ministry of Education policy emphasizes co-curricular engagement but the pressure on the teachers from the parents, the community and the school owners overrides all professional and policy reason.
- Non-examinable
Computer education is not examinable at Primary school level and so teachers and school owners look at this a s a waste of time, teaching a subject that is not examinable. The teachers forget one very important thing and this is BY THE TIME THESE CHILDREN GROW UP, COMPUTER WILL BE A WAY OF LIFE.
- Absence of trained teachers
Most teacher training institutions in Uganda don’t integrate computer literacy into their curriculum. This means that when teachers qualify, they are computer-illiterate. How can a computer-illiterate teacher be expected to teach pupils any IT? Such a teacher will not be able to appreciate the importance of IT in a child's life.
In this direction, ITCT-Africa has come up with a programme of training a team of multiplier teachers who can reach out and train their fellow teachers and pupils about the use and importance of computers
- Absence of Equipment
Poverty,the inability to manufacture computers in the country and high transport costs are some of the few factors that come into play to make computer hardware unavailable in most Uganda schools. Most schools in Uganda cannot afford to buy, let alone maintain even one computer set. The few that own them, do not have enough for their pupils. In most schools the ratios stand at 1 computer to 10 pupils. The pupils will crowd around the machine, each eager to lay a little finger on the keyboard. The struggle degenerates into quarrel and later into a a fight as the muscular ones subdue the weak ones. The teacher will be forced to spend more time arbitrating than imparting knowledge.
- Power
Power distribution is still very poor especially to the rural areas in Uganda. Schools that would consider buying computers are forced to abandon the idea because of lack of power. Also, Uganda's power is rather unstable or low in areas. This means that damage to computer hardware will be considerable. In areas, low power means that the machines will not be able to perform.
Power charges are another power setback in Uganda. Computers are heavy power guzzlers and power tariffs in Uganda are rather high. Rural schools look at a computer power bill as a wastage of valuable financial.resources.
Finally, the development of computer education in Primary schools in Uganda requires a bilateral cooperation between the Government and the key players in the education sector.
One thing is certain: Computer is about the most fascinating gadget to the contemporary child. Remember these children were born into the computer age. It is part of them. Let us do every thing possible to accord them the opportunity to learn how to use the computer
Jackson Wavamunno
The writer is the Computer Instructor and IT Technician for all Sir Apollo Kaggwa Schools in Uganda. Sir Apollo Kaggwa Schools is a chain of seven high-profile schools in Uganda.