How internet is boosting education

In the Uganda Internet Governance Forum (UIGF) 2024 held under the theme Building a Multi-stakeholder Digital Future for Uganda on August 2 at Protea Hotel in Kampala, Mr Moses Owiny, a digital rights expert at Enabel Uganda, revealed that ICT plays a big role in promoting good educational materials.

He said the internet has enhanced teaching methods with the help of digital tools, equipping teachers in learning institutions with the necessary skills to pass to the learners.

Owiny shared that in partnership with vocational training institutions in the Albertine region, they empower instructors to use virtual reality to teach different courses.

“We have set up digital innovation hubs in places such as Kabale National Teachers College, St Joseph’s Vocational Fort Portal, St Simon Vocational Training Institute in Hoima. All these are equipped with computers and the internet to build capacity of delivering lessons,” he says.

Joshua Mpairwe, the president of the Internet Society Uganda Chapter, said the cost of providing internet in Uganda is still high as it comes down to accessibility, cost of devices, and maintenance. This makes schools shy away from accessing the internet which creates a divide in education.

“Zero rating of educational websites can be a good idea if educational tools are free. It would give more room for educational institutions to take up the Internet. These schools usually get donations of computers but cannot subscribe to the internet,” he shared.

Mpairwe says they are using collaborations with different stakeholders to bridge the gap between those who need it and those providing it.

“We are also skilling the youth in ICT skills to bridge the internet access gap. We support institutions that have ideas with grants such as ‘Connecting the unconnected’ through which they can bridge access to the internet and ICT skills.”

Phillip Ayazika, the director of programmes at Pollicy, said digital skilling through giving instructors or teachers the necessary skills to fit the curriculum in schools today is the way to go.

Ayazika argued that Uganda is not doing badly in digital development as they have put in place great policies and laws that have seen some sectors of the economy digitised.

He says the curriculum today has been adjusted mainly at O-Level to accommodate skilling, but there are new career paths such as cyber security that people need to pay attention to.

“We should look at how we prepare the young people to use the internet in their future careers and how to build the teachers’ capacity to fit in the digital era.”

Ayazika argued that all commercial elements associated with education should be removed.

“The Ministry of Education and Sports, Uganda Communications Commission (UCC), and the National Curriculum Development Centre (NCDC) should put in more resources in putting educational materials online.”

Loopholes

Owiny argued that the digital skills gap is quite big and so is the gender divide. He says the infrastructure and cost of making Internet accessible are not cheap.

“We have a digital rights project that empowers men and women with the necessary digital skills and how to safeguard themselves online. We have seen a high rise of students taking on the internet for education and we are now motivating more to do the same,” Owiny said.

Mpairwe, on the other hand, said much as the internet is mostly in the urban schools, Uganda still lacks enough technology for PWDs to access the internet.

He said circulating the available educational content in schools is hard since most of it is not indigenous and schools would struggle to translate it in the local languages in the rural areas.

Call to action

Owiny said the government should invest to increase internet penetration across Uganda and also reduce taxes on internet infrastructure. Zero-rating education websites, he believes, is ideal but the government should ensure that there is free internet connection in all education institutions countrywide.

“Learners should learn from the internet free of charge. It should be a deliberate move to match up with the digital world we are in today. Schools should be equipped with digital infrastructures and government be deliberate in ensuring that the budget for internet in schools is enhanced,” Owiny said.

He adds that the government should also roll out programmes on digital skills, training  across the country to bridge the knowledge gap, and train teachers to have the required competence to deliver programmes that can educate learners in the 21st century.

Mpairwe says much as the government has made progress on policies that do not just encourage innovation, but also infrastructural development, it should lower the cost of acquiring devices and accessing the internet.

“We should have national ICT infrastructure and innovation hubs across the country. They should also put up educational competitions on ICT in schools just like we have debates,” Ayazika said.

He adds that since the internet has several challenges for learners online when misused, parents should be digitally apt to control the material children consume online to ensure it is educational content.

AI in education

Daniel Mutembesa, a research scientist at the Artificial Intelligence Research lab at Makerere University, said the institution’s AI research work focuses on democratising educational material in local languages and studying student patterns.

Mutembesa said AI facilitates personalised learning, as demonstrated by the Duolingo app, which provides tailored guidance and feedback.

“Locally developed AI tools that understand regional contexts are essential. Privacy and security in educational institutions require attention and open dialogue between educators and students to enhance digital consumption,” he said.

Recommendations for regulators

Mutembesa said  there should be AI collaboration between administrators and students to develop feasible frameworks.

“Engage communities of practice from academia, private sector developers, and others to discuss AI-related issues. The Ministry of Education should implement AI literacy programmes to assist learners,” he entreated.

About

Every year, the IGF annual meeting brings together stakeholders from around the world to facilitate the exchange of information and the sharing of good policies and practices related to the evolution, use, and governance of the Internet and build solutions for them.

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