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E-LEARNING
FOR ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT OF ETHIOPIA
Nega Worku Debela
Debela1@marshall.edu
ABSTRACT
The intent of this
paper is to discuss the benefits and challenges of
E-learning1. This paper will further
explore how web-based E-courses2, will
impact the economic development of Ethiopia. The
E-courses could be designed by Ethiopian
professionals who reside in USA, Europe etc. The
E-courses could also be outsourced from overseas
educational service providers, or be
custom-designed by local higher learning
institutions, such as, Addis Ababa University and
regional universities. With 24-hour available
access, online course3 participants
would be able to increase their productivity by
taking job related E-courses. In many web-based
learning researches, convenience has been
identified as the main advantage of online
courses; while lack of interaction, is branded as
the main disadvantage of online courses. The
advent of internet has provided us with the
opportunity to reach remote and inaccessible
locations in Ethiopia with out being physically
present in those isolated places. Given
Ethiopia�s terrain it is crucial to adapt this
new technology which will enable us to create the
E-learning format that would augment Ethiopia�s
economic development.
Benefits and
Challenges of E-learning
E-learning is generally defined as any learning
using electronic media.
E-learning requires networks such as local
area network, wide area network, internet or
intranet. Web based and computer based learning
are part and parcel of E-learning.
In
the long established educational institutions,
including the traditional religious schools in
Ethiopia, the sphere of the classroom was
predominantly confined to the four walls of the
classroom. Historically, teaching and learning
took place in traditional classrooms and
laboratories with a variety of instructional
strategies that are selected and implemented by
the instructor, who is almost always physically
present in the classroom or laboratory during the
whole teaching and learning session. This
institutional practice, for most part, still
continues all over the world, including Ethiopia.
Unlike
the traditional teaching practices, web-based
online mode of teaching and learning is typified
by the delivery of course contents digitally or
electronically through computers by means of
communication tools, such as discussion forums,
chat rooms and emails from faculty to students,
students to students and students to faculty. In
this new educational scenario, there is no need of
the physical presence of all the students and the
instructor to be at a particular time in a
particular place. In the virtual classroom4,
there are two kinds of communication: asynchronous
and synchronous. In asynchronous communication
instructors and students engaged in the
communication do not have to be present and
available at the same time. For instance, in
e-mail exchanges or discussion postings the
receiver does not have to be logged on when the
sender sends the e-mail message or the discussion
posting. On
the contrary, during synchronous communication,
both parties, the sender and the receiver, need to
be physically present at the same or different
places at the same time. For instance, to send
messages in chat rooms, all parties have to be
physically available, at the same time, in order
to exchange or convey messages. E-courses or
online courses are designed to provide a superb
method of course delivery, relatively, unbound by
time or location. E-courses allow for
accessibility to teaching and learning, at all
times from any place. Both teachers and students
would have the liberty to participate in the
teaching and learning process at any time of the
day from any where in the world, as long as they
have computers and access to internet.
In
the technologically advanced world, the
effectiveness of internet and web based distance
learning has increased in concert with its
increased popularity. It has been argued that,
Internet based courses best serve
��independent and self confident students who
do not feel that they are in serious need of
intense interaction with tutors or lecturers when
they go about their learning.� 5
Nevertheless, online courses are getting popular
among other sections of the society too, such as
homemakers, full time employees and busy parents
who can not afford to attend live classes.
The
internet can offer the online learning process a
variety of benefits, including �easy access to
educational content, interaction, a cooperative
learning process and the reuse of content.� 6
It is safe to say that, �distance learning, is
an educational approach that integrates
technology, connectivity, curricular content, and
human resources.� 7 From students�
perspective, there are, however, other noteworthy
benefits such as, convenience and the ability to
manage their learning time according to their own
schedule. Moreover, students do not have to drive
or take taxis ride buses to and from home to
attend classes; hence, students curtail their
costs. Web based distance learning helps to
achieve cost efficiencies while upholding quality
programs.
It
could be argued that �No longer are classes
restricted to the traditional lecture style
presentation where the professor spews words of
wisdom, and the students busily compose notes.
Computers have become universal on most college
campuses with e-mail and web-based courses
becoming the standard medium employed by
professors to provide information to students.�8
This
trend is fast changing the educational landscape.
The
educational landscape in most developed countries
has transformed noticeably over the past three
decades. Enrollment
has nearly doubled from 8 to 14 million between
1970 and 1995, mainly in the adult learner
category; the �traditional� student population
now comprises only 25% of campus population.�
9
This
change significantly affects the traditional mode
of teaching and learning process. The increase in
the number of non traditional students demands a
change in the presentation of the lessons and the
schedule of the lessons. Web based courses provide
the alternative to the traditional classroom
teaching. Hence, non traditional students prefer
the web based courses over the traditional
learning settings.
E-courses
have become so popular that at one Wisconsin
college, enrollment in online classes increased
about 11 percent last fall. 10
In addition to online courses, some
programs such as the University of Phoenix, are
offering entire degree online, which allows the
student to finish his/her degree at times and
places which fit their schedules. 11
For
obvious reasons, governments and big corporations
are pushing web courses to train their employees.
If we look at the trends in web training for
employees, �In 2000 web training for employees
went from 8.8 % to 10.5 % in 2001.�12
Big corporations and governments are not the only
ones taking advantage of online teaching and
learning resources. There are many big and small
colleges who offer degrees where all the work is
done digitally over the computer.
It
is off beam, however, to assume that distance
learning can do everything or that it is flawless
and problem free. This new technology also brings
some previously unknown set of problems to the
learning table. Distance education has its own
problems. �Students of both sexes identified the
lack of face to face interaction as a drawback to
the online environment. Perhaps predictably, says
one of the researchers, this was the single most
common negative criticism I received in this set
of data.� 13
In this author�s personal
communication with his students, he has noted that
the most frequent disadvantage mentioned by
students was the lack of opportunity for live
classroom interaction/discussion with fellow
classmates. Students
believe that such interaction was important.
To
summarize, in our fast changing world, web based
distance learning or E-learning is becoming
progressively more popular with institutes of
higher education. Online distance education is one
of the technology enhanced ways to teach and train
people who choose not to breach their
professional, familial and personal
responsibilities through attendance of
traditional, face-to-face classes.
The Impact of
E-courses on the Development of Ethiopia
Ethiopia
is a �third world� country known, among other
things, for its untapped potential for investment
in different economic sectors (agriculture,
industry, tourism, education, etc.).
Ethiopia
is located at the Eastern part of Africa,
otherwise known as the Horn of Africa. Ethiopia
has �Massive highland complex of mountains and
dissected plateaus divided by Great Rift Valley
running generally southwest to northeast and
surrounded by lowlands, steppes, or semidesert.�14
There is a wide variation in climate, soils,
natural vegetation due to the variation in
topology. Physically, Ethiopia�s terrain is
mostly described as rolling plateaus to
mountainous.
While some mid size towns are scattered
throughout the country, small villages and rural
communities comprise the main populations.
Ethiopia�s terrain causes problems for
building viable economic infrastructure including
but not limited to roads, hospitals, industries
and schools for the majority of Ethiopians who
reside in the rural areas. Given the mountainous
geographic situation of Ethiopia, online distance
education could be an attraction for many non
traditional students.
Ethiopia
is listed number 170 out of 177 countries in the
world based on �The 2004 Human Development
Report of UNDP Human Development Index� ranking.
This ranking clearly indicates the quantum of work
that we Ethiopians need to do in order to catch up
with the rest of the world in terms of developing
our human resources. One of the ways that we can
accelerate the speed of the manpower development
is through the use of high-tech web-based distance
education. Web-based courses play a significant
role in this endeavor provided that there are
educated professionals, proper networks and
infrastructure to run the program.
In such difficult economic situation,
�turning Ethiopia, one of the world's poorest
nations, from an agriculture-based economy to one
influenced heavily by information and knowledge is
no small challenge. But it is one the Ethiopian
government is intent on rising to - with help from
Cisco Systems��.15 Deign
states that undaunted by the fact that the country
only had four telephones per 1000 people at the
time, the government (Ethiopian) proposed three
projects to form the bedrock of its future ICT
infrastructure.16 The
three projects are �Woredanet�,
�Schoolnet� and �Agrinet�.
According to Deign, the first, �Woredanet�,
was intended to link almost 600 local ("woreda")
and 11 regional government offices around the
country with each other and with the Federal
government headquarters in the capital, Addis
Ababa, to provide a foundation for e-government.
The second, �Schoolnet�, would allow more than
450 education institutions to receive educational
TV broadcasts for e-learning. And the third, �Agrinet�,
would connect more than 30 research and
operational agricultural centers to stimulate
growth in the agrarian economy. 17
If
these three projects ( �Woredanet�,
�Schoolnet� and �Agrinet�) successfully
operate, the online users, such as teachers,
doctors, veterinarians, agricultural experts,
engineers, government employees etc would get a
number of advantages. WebCT,
VISTA, Blackboard are some of the well known
web-based distance education software that will
enable students and/or professionals from various
geographic locations to simultaneously access the
same course without traveling hours to attend
class on campus.
Instructors and students have right of
entry to the course materials at any time they
wish. Students can take tests and turn in
assignments without ever seeing each other face to
face. Students obtain notes, links, discussion
questions and assignments all on the internet.
Students can communicate through email and
carry out chats online with instructors or fellow
classmates. It
is vivid that, �as more types of educational
course are made available online the convenience
of taking online education attracts those who have
family obligation or must work full time while
earning degrees.�18 Completing
courses on-line provides distance education
learners with more convenience than traditional
classes. James concurs that �users can proceed
through a training program at their own pace and
at their own place. They can also access the
training at any time, receiving only as much as
they need.�19
If
these three networks are fully implemented to
accommodate web based distance education, this
author believes that there would be enough
Ethiopian professionals to design and implement
professional development courses to teach/train
professionals such teachers, doctors,
veterinarians, agricultural experts, engineers,
government bureaucrats etc who serve their country
and people in cities, small towns and rural areas.
The E-course designers can design the courses from
any where (USA, Europe, Australia, Ethiopia etc)
as long as they have access to the internet. The
E-courses could also be outsourced from overseas
educational service providers, or could be
custom-designed by local higher learning
institutions, such as, Addis Ababa University
and/or regional universities.
In a country like Ethiopia, where
there is minimal or negligible transportation
infrastructure, absence of long travel
time would be one of the major positive aspects of
online courses.
By taking web based classes, the learners
can feel that they saved money on travel, wear and
tear on their vehicle and transport expenses for
those who use public transport. Therefore, taking
online classes would be of less of an expense,
especially for those online users who live far
away from university campuses.
Conclusion
Online
learning is indisputably here to stay.
Most online web based researches indicate
that the advantages of Web based courses include,
but not limited to, convenience, accessibility and
flexibility. The
convenience, flexibility and economic advantages
that online learning furnishes make it a
well-liked learning mode in this information era.
In reality, web-based programs are
sometimes the sole way that online learners living
in remote areas and people with heavy work or
family responsibilities can virtually continue
their higher education or enhance their
professional development.
The
use of distance education software, as a teaching
tool, in Ethiopia holds great promise for
accommodating the needs of Ethiopian students,
professionals and government bureaucrats and
employees who live in cities, small towns and
remote areas. The advent of internet will provided
us the opportunity to reach remote and
inaccessible locations in Ethiopia. Given
Ethiopia�s difficult topography it is crucial to
adapt this new technology which enables us to
conduct E-learning and reach the unreachable and
the most inaccessible corners of the country.
Students and professionals in various government
and non-governmental organizations who live and
work in cities, towns and remote areas, would get
the opportunity to improve their skills and
knowledge by taking E-courses. The
more educated and skilled professionals we
produce, the faster we can develop our economy.
NOTES:
[1]
E-learning is generally defined as any learning that uses a network such as (LAN,
WAN or Internet) for course delivery, student-
teacher interaction, or course facilitation.
E-learning includes the delivery of content via
Internet, intranet/extranet, audio and videotape,
satellite broadcast, interactive TV, and CD-ROM.
[2] E-courses are web-enhanced courses whose
contents will be delivered via electronic media.
In most cases there would no face to face
interaction between the students and the
instructors.
[3] Online course uses the
World Wide Web (WWW) as the primary delivery
method of information. There may or may not be a
face to face interaction between the instructor
and the students.
[4] The virtual classroom is the area where students and
instructors interact online.
[5]
Y.J. Katz. �Attitudes Affecting College
Students� Preferences for Distance Learning,� Journal
of computer Assisted Learning, (2002). 18:
2-9.
[6]
H. Fuks. �The Development and application of
Distance Learning Courses on the Internet,� Open
Learning, 17(2002): 23-38.
[7]
J. Wilson. �The power of distance learning guest
editorial,� Education
122, no.4 (2002): 638.
[8]
T. Anderson and D. Sanderson. �Implementing
Technology in Higher Education,� Yearbook
of the Southern Regional Council of School
Administrators, Volume 1, Number 1, 1998
http://www.hehd.clemson.edu/SRCEA/YrBkv1n1/Anderson.htm
[9]
S. P. Wernet et al. �Post course evaluations of
WebCT (Web Course Tools) classes by social work
students,� Research
on social work practice.
10(4) (2000): 487-505.
[10]
Wisconsin College. �Distance-Learning Enrollment
Up at Wisconsin College,� Community
College Week, Vol. 16 (2004) Issue 11, p18.
[11]
University of Phoenix. �The
Nation�s Leading Online University,� March 21,
2004, http://online.phoenix.edu/index.asp
[12]
L. Isaacs. �Online Lessons,� American
City & Council,
March Vol. 118(2003): Issue 3.
[13]
P. Sullivan.
�Gender Differences and the Online Classroom:
Male and Female College Students Evaluate their
experiences,� Community
College Journal of Research and Practice,
25(2001): 805-818.
[14]
Library of Congress: http://lcweb2.loc.gov/cgibin/query/r?frd/cstdy:@field(DOCID+et0004)
[15]
Jason
Deign. �Ethiopia
Telecom's Next Generation Network Supports a
Nation's Economic Transformation�,
News@Cisco,
January 18, 2005.
[16]
ibid
[17]
ibid
[18]
J. Kerkman,
and L. Leah.
�Convenience of online education attracts mid
career students,�
Chronicle
of Philanthropy, 16(6) 2004.
[19]
G. James. �Advantages & disadvantages of
online learning� 2004, http://www.comminit.com/st2003/sld-7411.html
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