Monitoring and Evaluation of electronic resources in Academic and Research Institutions in Kenya

The revolution of Information Communication and Technology has brought a great change in the way libraries are providing services. Libraries have continued to embrace these technologies vis‐à‐vis Internet thus seeing the introduction of electronic resources to the library collection and services. The availability of good internet connectivity is essential in the provision of electronic resources. Kenya has had internet since 1996 (Mutula, 2001) and over the years there has been great effort to improve connectivity such as the recent introduction of fibre optic cable in 2009. The need for good internet connectivity has also been supported by initiatives such as Kenya Education Network (KENET) whose aim is to enhance internet access for Kenya Universities (Odero‐Musakali & Mutula, 2007). With the advent of internet and subsequently an emergence of electronic resources, libraries have encountered a myriad of challenges ranging from collection management, cost of the resources, marketing of these resources, training users on how to use these resources among others. These are some of the challenges that saw libraries in Kenya come together in 2002 to discuss concerted efforts to overcome these challenges. In response to this, Kenya Libraries and Information Services Consortium (KLISC) was formed in 2003. Cost being a major challenge for sustainability of electronic information resources (e‐resources) which continue to inflate every year, KLISC’s main objective therefore was cost sharing and capacity building (Ouma, 2007). According to a survey carried out by (Ouma, 2007) KLISC has made great strides in alleviating these challenges and this has translated into better services offered by KLISC member libraries

Collaborative development of remote electronics laboratories in the ELVIS ilab

Remote laboratories represent a significant value to engineering curricula in a variety of cases. Whether it is a complement to a hands-on experience or a substitute when a traditional lab is not feasible, remote laboratories can be a valuable educational resource. Since 1998, the MIT iLab Project has worked to increase the quality and availability of remote laboratories. Using the iLab Shared Architecture, developers of new labs can leverage a set of generic support functions and then share those labs easily and with minimal administrative cost. More recently, the iLab Project, in partnership with Obafemi Awolowo University in Nigeria, Makerere University in Uganda and the University of Dar-es-Salaam in Tanzania and in coordination with the Maricopa Advanced Technology Education Center (MATEC), has focused on building iLabs around the National Instruments Educational Laboratory Virtual Instrumentation Suite (ELVIS) platform. The ELVIS is a low-cost, small-footprint unit that contains most of the common test instruments found in a typical electrical engineering lab. By coupling the ELVIS with iLabs, a variety of remote electronics laboratories can be built and shared around the world. Using this common hardware/software platform, participants in the iLab Project at different levels of the educational spectrum have developed experiments that meet their individual curricular needs and are able to host them for use by other peer institutions. Not only does this increase the variety of ELVISbased iLabs, but it also spurs the creation of teams that can then build other, more diverse iLabs and substantively participate in project-wide collaborative development efforts. Through such coordinated efforts, iLabs can provide rich practical experiences for studentsMaricopa County Community College District. Maricopa Advanced Technology Education CenterCarnegie Corporation of New YorkMicrosoft CorporationNational Science Foundation (U.S.) (award 0702735)Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology Cente

Chinua Achebe and the Post-colonial Esthetic: Writing, Identity, and National Formation

Chinua Achebe is recognized as one of Africa\u27s most important and influential writers, and his novels have focused on the ways in which the European tradition of the novel and African modes of expression relate to each other in both complementary and contesting ways. Achebe\u27s novels are informed by an important theory of writing which tries to mediate the politics of the novel as a form of commentary on the emergence and transformation of nationalism which constitutes the African writer\u27s epistemological context. Achebe\u27s esthetic has been overdetermined by the changing discourse on representation and national identity in colonial and post-colonial Africa. His anxious quest for a post-colonial esthetic is predicated on the belief that narrative can enable the writer to express an alternative order of things opposed to realities imprisoned by imperialism and Western domination

Writing in Limbo

In Simon Gikandi’s view, Caribbean literature and postcolonial literature more generally negotiate an uneasy relationship with the concepts of modernism and modernity—a relationship in which the Caribbean writer, unable to escape a history encoded by Europe, accepts the challenge of rewriting it. Drawing on contemporary deconstructionist theory, Gikandi looks at how such Caribbean writers as George Lamming, Samuel Selvon, Alejo Carpentier, C. L. R. James, Paule Marshall, Merle Hodge, Zee Edgell, and Michelle Cliff have attempted to confront European modernism. ; In Simon Gikandi’s view, Caribbean literature and postcolonial literature more generally negotiate an uneasy relationship with the concepts of modernism and modernity—a relationship in which the Caribbean writer, unable to escape a history encoded by Europe, accepts the challenge of rewriting it. Drawing on contemporary deconstructionist theory, Gikandi looks at how such Caribbean writers as George Lamming, Samuel Selvon, Alejo Carpentier, C. L. R. James, Paule Marshall, Merle Hodge, Zee Edgell, and Michelle Cliff have attempted to confront European modernism

Using Learning Management Systems to Scaffold Collaborative and Interactive Teaching and Learning

The Sustainable Development Goal 4 of the United Nations advocates for inclusive and equitable quality education for all despite the unique circumstances faced by the learners and the teachers. Such circumstances could be economic, social or natural such as the COVID-19 Pandemic, which led to disruptions on the school calendar. Although several institutions of Higher Learning transited to online teaching using Learning Management Systems (LMS), the use of technology in ensuring interactivity and collaboration, which are crucial aspects of learning, needs to be examined more closely to establish its effectiveness. Given the fact that COVID -19 will be with us in the unforeseeable future, online teaching is here to stay. It is thus imperative to improve it so that the quality of education is not compromised. Previous research has shown the importance of Technology, Pedagogy and Content knowledge in effective delivery. LMS and related tools have been used to change the view of technology in the classroom, and the facilitator’s role is being re-evaluated. Successful facilitators look for innovative ways to scaffold the learning process. Instructional scaffolding is the process of supporting students in order to enhance learning and aid in the mastery of tasks. The aim of this study was to establish how LMS tools are used to improve collaboration and interaction in online teaching. The objectives were to establish which LMS tools are used to aid in interactivity and collaboration, how these tools are used to scaffold the teaching and learning process and how different elements interact to complete the scaffolding process. This study used a qualitative methodology where two virtual focus groups consisting of faculty and students in online graduate courses were used to review the scaffolding process.  The findings were analyzed qualitatively and the results indicate that synchronous and asynchronous tools found in LMS and their plugins are used to scaffold collaboration and interaction. LMS tools were found to improve learning outcomes and to build a sense of community. The need for flexibility and the ability for LMS to be integrated with other tools and plugins was identified as crucial. The study established the need for both learners and faculty to be trained on the use of the tools was proposed as an additional requirement for the success of the scaffolding process. &nbsp

Effects of Interest Rate on Credit Access of Small and Medium Enterprises in Garissa County

Purpose: The main purpose of the study was to assess the effects of interest rate on credit access of small and medium enterprises\u27 in Garissa County.Methodology: A descriptive survey was employed in this study. The target population of this study was 10 SACCOs and 150 SMEs registered within Garissa County. Primary data was collected from respondents via structured questionnaires. The descriptive statistics was analyzed using the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) Version 20.0 and presented in the report in the form of tables, bar charts and graphs. Correlation and regression analysis was done to establish the relationship between the variables.Results: The results showed that interest rate policy was significantly related to credit access since its p-value (0.000) was less than the significance level of 0.05. The findings implied that a change in interest rate policy by one unit could result to positive variation of 0.70 units in credit access.Unique contribution to theory, practice and policy: Based on the study findings, the study concluded that SACCO\u27s interest rate policy affect SMEs accessibility to credit. The study recommended that SACCOs should consider revising their policy on interest rate charged. The study also recommended that County government should intervene to ensure that SMEs have access to financial services to enable them contribute to development and employment creation. The study validates the Credit access theory and its applicability in financing SME\u27s firms

A review on solving the interoperability challenge of health care systems using artificial intelligence

Tackling the challenge of healthcare interoperability calls for more than just technical fixes; it needs a well-coordinated and collaborative effort that brings together both systems and people. This study, grounded in sociotechnical systems theory, recognizes that successful health information exchange depends not only on technology but also on how people work together around it. The research aimed to pinpoint where current data sharing falls short, explore how well automated tools help standardize and connect health information, and understand how better interoperability affects patient care and health system efficiency. To do this, a mixed methods approach was used: quantitative analysis of healthcare data highlighted where inconsistencies and breakdowns were happening, while interviews and focus groups with healthcare workers and system developers provided deeper insights into what is working and what is not. The results showed that many healthcare facilities still operate on systems that do not talk to each other well, leading to fragmented data and unnecessary delays. But when automation was introduced, tools that translate and link data from different systems made a big difference. Information became more consistent, manual entry errors dropped, and providers gained quicker access to patient records. The study found that to truly improve interoperability, healthcare systems need to invest in integrated solutions that prioritize data consistency, security, and compatibility. It recommends developing national standards for how health data is shared, offering more training to health workers on using digital tools, and building stronger partnerships between healthcare providers, tech developers, and policymakers. When these pieces come together, the result is a more connected, efficient, and patient-centered healthcare system where everyone involved can work smarter and deliver better care

Flexible platform for online laboratory experiments in electrical engineering

Thesis (M. Eng.)--Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Dept. of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, 2006.Includes bibliographical references (leaves 81-83).This thesis describes a project that is part of the collaboration between MIT and universities in sub-Sahara Africa to exploit the value of iLabs in the developing world. The main goal of this project is to develop software that will exploit the value of the National Instruments Educational Laboratory Virtual Instrumentation Suite (ELVIS) system in Africa by integrating it into the iLabs shared architecture, while taking into consideration the special circumstances surrounding the deployment of iLabs in Africa such as bandwidth limitations, limited access to networked computers and lack of computer skills on the part of students. Integrating ELVIS into iLabs will facilitate the rapid deployment of new online labs to augment the Physics and Electrical engineering curricula in these universities. iLab development efforts for this project are being done in parallel with developers at the Obafemi Awolowo University (OAU) in Nigeria. One of the main goals of the new system is to fill the gap of laboratory experiences in introductory level electronics and physics classes, which are hardest hit by the lack of equipment due to their typically large enrollment. Our goal is to support the development of electronic circuit building skills by providing an environment where students can easily try different circuit configurations before submitting experiments for execution. We are therefore investigating new iLab client user interface designs that will enable students to create and edit circuit schematics from provided electronic components. Our ELVIS iLab design will also formalize and simplify the process of creating and administering such labs for instructors, thereby speeding up the deployment of new labs in an environment where software development skills are not at a premium.(cont.) This will be achieved by recycling many of the components that are currently behind the success of the microelectronics weblab, which have already been adapted before for new iLabs. Besides reusing existing software, the project hopes to make a major contribution towards enhancing students experiences with iLabs through its new interactive client design.by Samuel Gikandi.M.Eng

Assessment of usability and sustainability of digital braille assistive devices for learners with visual impairment in Kenya

This research focuses on examining usability and sustainability of digital braille assistive devices towards improving inclusivity of learners with visual impairment (VI) in formal education.  This study was guided by the universal design for learning and assistive technology theories. Firstly, the study examined the usability of digital braille assistive devices in improving inclusivity of learners with VI in secondary school and at university level. Secondly, sustainability of access to digital assistive technologies for use among the learners with VI was examined. The study employed a mixed methodology approach within which a descriptive survey design was adopted. The study utilized interviews and questionnaires in data collection.   The study was delimited to 2 institutions in Kenya: a mainstream private University & Special School for the Blind. The study participants included 34 learners with visual impairment who were purposefully sampled from the 2 selected institutions. Four teachers and 2 technical support staff were also purposefully sampled as study participants. Quantitative and qualitative data analysis techniques were adopted. The findings show that the usability of digital braille assistive devices for visually impaired learners is vital in increasing inclusivity of learners, promoting learner’s independence and enhancing learning opportunities. The study underscores the importance of increasing device usability to improve device performance and foster user independence. The study recommendations highlight the need for schools to establish robust support systems for the users of assistive technologies in order to enhance sustainability, including dedicated technicians for adequate training for both students and educators, and regular device maintenance