Maseno University introduces online common course to all students

By MAUREEN ODIWUOR

Maseno University has introduced an online common course for it’s over 10,000 students.

The course, HIV/Aids Determinant Prevention and Management, is intended to instil life’s skill to the students who interact freely online rather than in class based lectures.

In a speech read by the institution's Deputy Vice-Chancellor Academic Affairs, Prof Charles Nyabundi on behalf of the Vice Chancellor Prof Dominic Makawiti, the course has kicked off with 232 students.

“The first batch of students exposed to the programme has proved more fruitful if studied online than face-to-face, hence the entire university will do the course,” Nyabundi said.

He said more courses done by face-to-face based lectures will be converted into online classes as a way of using technology to transform learning experiences.

Maseno University has so far enrolled 468 students for the e-learning programme which is internet based. The e-learning campus began with 124 students, two years ago.

“The inception of Maseno University e-Campus in September 2011 saw a new dawn in home grown online education in Kenya. We are proud to have been the pioneer institution in Kenya to establish an e-campus,” he explained.

Nyabundi said the e-campus currently offers five undergraduate, nine post graduate programmes and a certificate course.

“We plan to launch three more post-graduate programmes in September this year, namely Masters of Education in Curriculum Development and in Education Technology and also MA in Social Policy,” he said.

The institution began the e-learning programmes by offering three undergraduate and two postgraduate programmes.

The pioneer programmes were Bachelor of Business Administration with IT, BSc Mathematical Sciences and BSc Mathematics and Business Studies, MSc Research Methods and Post Graduate Diploma in Education.

The Vice Chancellor said the institution registered 10 international students by May this year from the initial one in 2011.

They are from Nigeria, Rwanda, Uganda, Somalia, South Sudan, UK, and Qatar, among others.

The e-campus has also subscribed to the EZ proxy to facilitate access to e-Library resources from any point and anytime around the world.

Nyabundi was speaking during an interactive meeting with e-learning students at the facility.

Maseno University’s e-learning student representative Ochieng Ogutu said the programme currently has 70.7 million students in different institutions worldwide, with 7.5 million courses offered by 1.2 million lecturers.

He said the programme is convenient to those who have tight work schedules but can always squeeze time to learn.

“It’s also advantageous to those with health problems or physical challenges such as those on wheelchairs,” he said.