As part of the joint EPFL-UM6P initiative, “Excellence in Africa”, the Centre for excellence EXAF-EPFL announced Kabale University as a successful candidate that will host future Centres of Competence in Digital Education(C-CODE)
Kabale University is among the six African universities that won funding to host a new Centre of Competence in Digital Education (C- CoDE). Through competitive bidding, Kabale University submitted a proposal in 2020 and was among the 44 institutes that applied to EXAF and out of this process the university was evaluated and selected (the only one in Uganda).
Kabale University is among the universities that were selected on a basis of the quality and relevance of the projects. It was after the selection that the university started implementing the project and Part of the components of the project was training staff in pedagogy and instructional design and eLearning content development. This is the same project that will purchase and provide the eLearning studio equipment
According to Prof. Benon Basheka (the Project Leader), the project has scaled the infrastructure capabilities of the University towards e-learning. The project has also increased human resource capacity. A number of university teaching and academic staff have been trained through the project. “Three eLearning officers have so far been recruited in order to increase the capacity of the university and to manage the new state of the art e-learning studio.” – Prof. Benon Basheka
Robert Tumusiime -the Senior eLearning officer at Kabale University is hopeful that the Multimedia studio will come a long way to elevate Kabale university in its quest to offer ODeL to the wider East African Community given its unique location sandwiched between the Francophone and Anglophone countries. “We are grateful to the EPFL and partners for this funding and training which has seen staff in teaching and administration gain skills in instructional design, content development and assessment methods among others” – Robert
It is within the framework of the project that the University hired the eLearning Officer (Studio production &Multimedia, eLearning Officer (Pedagogy& instructional design), and eLearning Officer (Digital Learning &Communication) to strengthen the eLearning at KAB.
Collins Nuwagaba, the eLearning Officer: Studio production and Multi-media, says he cannot wait for the completion of the eLearning center. He believes that the new state-of-the-art equipment shall put Kabale University at the forefront of online education within the region. “With this studio in place, we shall be to author digital learning content like never before.”, added Collins. He says that the eLearning center is a blessing to the university as well as the community – which shall definitely benefit as well.
This project is governed by a Memorandum of Understanding and under this contract, it provides that in 2021 and 2022, the project will develop “hardware” and “software”. A studio with multimedia equipment and IT infrastructure necessary to produce online courses will be constructed. Staff and Technicians from each university would be then be trained to operate the production studios. Training in digital education will also be provided to resident experts in instructional design as well as a few dozen professors. So far, on the part of Capacity building, 33 members of staff have been trained in both Uganda and Nairobi in fields of Pedagogy and Instructional design and eLearning content development. The project is set to last for two years (June 2021 – June 2023) and is funded by the Mohammed VI Polytechnic University (UM6P) and the EPFL.
Mohammed VI Polytechnic University is a non-profit private university in Morocco. It has built a national and international network of partnerships with higher education institutions, research centers, organizations, and companies
EPFL (École polytechnique fédérale de Lausanne is a public research university located in Lausanne, Switzerland. It specializes in natural sciences and engineering and one of its missions is innovation. The university’s campus lies on the shores of Lake Geneva
