NEWS:

11 Feb, 2016


Luanar Staff During Moodle Training at Bingu Conference Center.
The Lilongwe University of Agriculture and Natural Resources is adopting Moodle, an online learning management system that is used to deliver course content and host online learning activities. This adoption comes as part of its initiative towards achieving world class status. Facilitating the training was Alf Martine Johnson a pedagogue and E-learning expert who was part of the visiting team from the Norwegian University of Life Sciences.

Alf described Moodle as an open source learning platform and a course management system where lecturers have the opportunity to create their own course, and organize it in a pedagogical way. “Moodle is a learning platform designed to provide educators, administrators and learners with a single robust, a secure and integrated system to create personalized learning environments. Lecturers can add users and perform studies using Moodle. The system is lightweight and can support mobile platforms which is of particular advantage to African counties with slow internet” said Alf. Alf however was concerned with the short timeframe he was given in training the staff which he said normally lasts for a year

During an interview , Alf encourage the University to improve on its internet connection and to purchase more computers in order to make it available for everyone.
Participants in the two day training included Bunda and NRC library staff, lecturers from various departments and ICT staff.

LUANAR university librarian Jeffrey Salanje said the software will revolutionize the use of information resources such as e-journals and books which will strategically be uploaded onto the system and made easy to access and utilize by both students and lecturers. “Moodle is web-based and so can be accessed from anywhere in the world. With a default mobile-compatible (soon to be responsive) interface and cross-browser compatibility, content on the Moodle platform is easily accessible and consistent across different web browsers and devices.” Jeffrey emphasized.

Adding on the same, Trevor Namondwe ,the Assistant Librarian, said it was important for the library to participate in this training because they are responsible for sourcing Information Resources used by all lecturers and students as the University library will also offer Information Literacy Courses through the same platform. He added that the system offers a variety of learning tools aside from the usual class room sessions which he said would be very attractive to the modern day students.

Loveness Mgalamadzi, lecturer in Extension and Rural Development described the training as being intense but very effective . She further acknowledged the technology as being time and resource saving but required a lot of commitment from lecturers if they are to advance the mode of course delivery, on the downside of the software. Loveness further said that its complete dependence on the internet may derail the interaction between lecturers and students at a time when the internet is too slow.

With the growing number of students in the university, it is expected that the software will reduce the amount of paper work for lecturers who will simply upload notes and assignments other than printing papers and photocopying handout.

Numeri Gelosomu, lecturer in Human Nutrition, called on students and his fellow lecturers to quickly learn how to use and adopt the software. He urged LUANAR to take advantage of the relationship with the Norwegian University of Life Sciences and come up with more innovative programs that the university can support.

Speaking on the relevance of the software, Henry Kamkwamba lecturer in the department of Agriculture and Applied Economic said the software is an important tool especially now that LUANAR is migrating towards providing Open Distance Learning. The software will enable students from all walks of life to access educational resources. ’students from all parts of the world can study for a short course and get a LUANAR certificate through the software, as long as they are registered with the university, without having to actually live on campus’ said Kamwamba. His concern was however with the loopholes that exist in the software which he said made it easy for students to cheat and discuss exams or assignments since there will be no supervision. He further stipulated that LUANAR had “smart” students who could easily hack into the system.

LUANAR ICT staff who were part of the training helped in providing ICT support, site administration, configuration and installation. Daurice Nyirongo , Network Engineer, described the role of ICT in the new system as one that ensures that the software is always available and rightfully customized in a way that it is user friendly. She said it was important that the ICT team was included in the training and can now effectively manage the software by optimizing its performance, track all activities and monitor security and integrate it with other existing systems.

Kondanani Phiri, ICT technician added that faculty members were the real owners of the software and that the acceptance of the software will depend on the attractiveness of the content and mode of content delivery the lecturers will use. He urged lecturers to be creative in developing their learning content and for the LUANAR administration to make it mandatory for all students to learn how to use the platform.

Powering tens of thousands of learning environments globally, Moodle is trusted by institutions and organizations large and small, including Shell, London School of Economics, State University of New York, Microsoft, Cambridge, Glasgow, Leeds and the Open University. LUANAR is in line to join the MOODLE users group as it strives to become a World Class University. .

Written by Christie Kang’ombe.