Author: Seohee Choy
*Issue article does NOT represent corresponding political view of the writers.
Teachers say that the only challenge currently being faced is the lack of accessibility of enough electronic gadgets to students. However students who do not have computers can always use their smartphones to access the platform.
"Not all students have computers at home, but the managers of the platform have managed to collaborate with MTN Rwanda and they can use smartphones.", says Patrick Muneza, vice principle of Glory Academy.
Getting a book, student books, mostly in soft copy, its very hard for a student in high school, so with smart class, it came with the accessibility of getting those student books that can help us in reading and preparing, for example me, I am preparing for the national exam."
Over 12,000 secondary school students here in Rwanda have already enrolled themselves in the Smart class Rwanda platform.
only few learners and teachers were using the contents. Following the school closure as an immediate response to the first case of the pandemic, technology-led solutions were identified to respond to the COVID-19 pandemic to ensure learning continuity and capacity development amongst teachers, and prepare school reopening.
Currently, 760 secondary schools, representing 54% of secondary schools, have smart classrooms. To have smart classrooms a school is required to have one or two rooms available and access to electricity. However, these components are not enough if appropriate utilisation of the computers is not ensured. That is why, teacher capacity development was not left out. Various initiatives were implemented including training on integration of ICT in teaching and learning through the Capacity Development for ICT in Education (CADIE) project, training on Microsoft Certification for Educators (MCE), training on Microsoft Office 365, ICT Essentials for Teachers, among others.
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Further obstacles include limited access and expensive internet, lack of assistive devices and IT skills, unattractive and ineffective content, and management blended teaching methods (Umurerwa, 2016). Therefore, given the current need to move from traditional education to online and distance education, it has been found necessary to explore students' readiness and perceptions of this approach, after the government's endorsement.
[List of all external resources utilized, APA-cited and enumerate alphabetically
National Creating access to ICT infrastructure is at the heart of Vision 2020, and the government is being widely recognised and applauded for the achievements since the promulgation of its ICT policy and plans.15 However, there remain plenty of challenges: the extent and quality of ICT infrastructure and access to the Internet varies widely, computer hardware is in short supply, the skilled resource pool is small, and financial resources are scarce.
Findings from a recent feasibility study16 on community information centres (CICs) are indicative of the task ahead. Although the idea of setting up CICs appeals to Rwandans, the study findings reveal that only 7% of the population have ever used the Internet, and 71% have never even heard of it – not surprising given that the vast majority of Rwandans live in rural areas.
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