Kenya - ICT Integration in Education

• Context
• Target of the programme
• Activities
• Some results achieved
• Links
• Downloads

Context

The integration and application of ICT within the learning process in the education sector in Kenya is still in its infancy. New initiatives are still dominated by technical aspects. In order to appropriately integrate ICT for an improved education quality, technology and pedagogy must go hand in hand. Gradually pedagogical considerations will become the guiding and driving force. VVOB pursues an integrated approach, collaborating with several institutions that have national mandates for capacity development with teachers and education managers on different levels. The programme also considerably contributes to the Kenya Education Sector Support Programme (KESSP).

Target of the programme

Through the programme 'ICT integration into the learning process', VVOB wants to reinforce the capacity of the Ministry of Education for organising two investment programmes of the national education curriculum KESSP, namely: ICT in Education and Capacity Development. Apart from that, the programme also contributes to the application of the National ICT Strategy for Education and Training.

The programme is primarily intended for the ICT for Education Unit and the ICT Integration Team and all managers within the Ministry of Education. The programme also supports the ICT Unit with technical issues. Another target audience is teachers, who, through the programme, are stimulated using ICT to improve their teaching and learning.

Partners

To achieve these goals we collaborate with our strategic partner, the Ministry of Education. On the operational level, we are partnered by the ICT work groups within the Ministry of Education (ICT Integration Team, ICT4E Unit, ICT Unit), KESI (Kenya Education Staff Institute) and CEMASTEA (Centre for Mathematics, Science and Technology Education in Africa).

Activities

All target groups are aware of the importance of ICT integration within the Ministry of Education and the education institutions, where the activities take place.

The programme promotes the use of ICT within the Ministry. All staff members use e-mail to communicate, curricula are created digitally and spread on DVD, and an Education Management System supports them with statistical information.

As part of the collaboration between VVOB and the Ministry of Education, new agencies were created to collaborate with the ICT Unit – which focuses rather on the technical side of ICT. The ICT Integration Team is perceived as a guiding force responsible for the coordination and harmonisation of all ICT initiatives within KESSP. The newly founded ICT for Education Unit (ICT4E) concentrates on the pedagogical aspects of ICT integration in the learning and teaching process. The National ICT Innovation and Integration Centre (NI3C) focuses on research and monitoring of technology integration in education.

Some results achieved

• An update of the ‘e-readiness 2007’ database is available in an improved format and can also be consulted online.
• Within the Ministry of Education, the ICT Integration Team is being recognised ever more as an agency that coordinates and harmonises ICT initiatives within the Ministry and gives advice to management on ICT related topics – on a pedagogical as well as a technical level.
• The ICT Unit has been reorganised and the staff has acquired new knowledge and skills enabling a more effective service to all Ministry departments. The ICT Unit has developed over 20 policy documents on the use of ICT in management.
• The technical infrastructure (hardware and software) at the head office of the Ministry of Education has been extended and better organised for an appropriate service to all (800) personnel.
• An ICT training room and a workshop are established and in use at the head office of the Ministry of Education.
• Six manuals on individual ICT coaching for Senior Managers have been finished. During a year and a half, a programme ran for over 43 Senior Executives. The programme was such a success that in 2010 it was also directed at 75 personal assistants and management secretaries.
• Advice has been given on the online training modules developed by KESI. The KESI courses on ICT integration for school heads were revised.
• More than 70 academic and administrative staff members of CEMASTEA followed the International Computer Driving License course (a basic course on IT).
• A National ICT Innovation and Integration Centre is now operational, with the mandate to collect, test and share ICT Innovations and harness emerging technologies for integration in all aspects of education (teaching, learning and management).

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