INTERNET WAVE HITS UNIVERSITIES WORLDWIDE
Jun 02, 2009
As a student, Joseph Kagu goes through a hard time carrying out research for his undergraduate thesis. “Finding the right information is difficult because books are not available,†he says.
By Stephen Ssenkaaba
As a student, Joseph Kagu goes through a hard time carrying out research for his undergraduate thesis. “Finding the right information is difficult because books are not available,†he says.
Kagu takes months to make significant progress on his work because he lacks the necessary facilities. It is expensive going to the Internet café every other day to do research and print.
Many students suffer Kagu’s dilemma. But this should end soon, following a new wave of Internet connectivity that has caught up in universities today.
Mbarara University of Science and Technology has one of the most advanced net-based learning facilities in Uganda. The Internet connection provided by uganda telecom serves as a learning centre linking the university to Lund University in Sweden.
Zakayo Ayieko, the systems administrator and net-based learning centre coordinator, says this facility is not only fast and convenient, but also cost effective. It costs about 10,000 euros to study abroad today. “But for just sh2m we are able to access these services online. One can pursue their masters and even PhD using this facility,†he says.
Makerere University Business School’s digital library facility is linked to 15 international universities and enables students to keep in touch with fellow students and lecturers from other universities to share information online.
Students can also register, check their admissions and obtain exam results as well as pay school fees online. The university also has a postgraduate diploma in information and communication technology and regulation where students study online and report to campus just to sit exams. This nine-month programme is jointly run by eight African universities.
Makerere University now has a 20MB optical fibre network. Before its installation, the university did not have the necessary infrastructure to share the internet. Today, they have a single campus network where all university academic and administrative departments are linked to one centralised Internet source.
Gulu University, Islamic University in Uganda, Uganda College of Commerce Kabale, Mountains of the Moon University, the School of Public Health in Mulago as well as Mutesa I Royal University have also been beneficiaries of improved Internet connectivity.
With Internet facilities, students can study online, take notes, receive coursework and submit them online by e-mail.
Despite the potential of such ICT services, much of them are private initiatives taken by individual service providers.
As a student, Joseph Kagu goes through a hard time carrying out research for his undergraduate thesis. “Finding the right information is difficult because books are not available,†he says.
Kagu takes months to make significant progress on his work because he lacks the necessary facilities. It is expensive going to the Internet café every other day to do research and print.
Many students suffer Kagu’s dilemma. But this should end soon, following a new wave of Internet connectivity that has caught up in universities today.
Mbarara University of Science and Technology has one of the most advanced net-based learning facilities in Uganda. The Internet connection provided by uganda telecom serves as a learning centre linking the university to Lund University in Sweden.
Zakayo Ayieko, the systems administrator and net-based learning centre coordinator, says this facility is not only fast and convenient, but also cost effective. It costs about 10,000 euros to study abroad today. “But for just sh2m we are able to access these services online. One can pursue their masters and even PhD using this facility,†he says.
Makerere University Business School’s digital library facility is linked to 15 international universities and enables students to keep in touch with fellow students and lecturers from other universities to share information online.
Students can also register, check their admissions and obtain exam results as well as pay school fees online. The university also has a postgraduate diploma in information and communication technology and regulation where students study online and report to campus just to sit exams. This nine-month programme is jointly run by eight African universities.
Makerere University now has a 20MB optical fibre network. Before its installation, the university did not have the necessary infrastructure to share the internet. Today, they have a single campus network where all university academic and administrative departments are linked to one centralised Internet source.
Gulu University, Islamic University in Uganda, Uganda College of Commerce Kabale, Mountains of the Moon University, the School of Public Health in Mulago as well as Mutesa I Royal University have also been beneficiaries of improved Internet connectivity.
With Internet facilities, students can study online, take notes, receive coursework and submit them online by e-mail.
Despite the potential of such ICT services, much of them are private initiatives taken by individual service providers.