UNIVERSITY MANAGERS PARTICIPATION IN DISTANCE EDUCATION: THE ROLE OF DISTANCE EDUCATION SUPPORT FACILITIES

Universities continue to develop new methods of teaching in order to reach many people who cannot access education through the conventional methods; and to attain equity and increase access in higher education for development. Education is a key pillar in development. As Kenya works towards the attainment of Vision 2030 a lot has to be done in education to increase equity and access to allow many people to participate in the development. A lot of resources have been committed to development and implementation of DE materials and facilities but adoption of DE continues to be minimal at the Kenyan Public universities. This paper explores the role DE support facilities plays in the participation of university managers in DE activities in Kenya’s Public Universities. To study this role, the following indicators were analysed: computer availability to the managers and staff; access to personal computer; internet availability; number of internet connection points; and availability of ICT help desk. The study sort to establish the extent to which availability of personal computers availability of internet, number of internet connection points, availability of computers for teaching influence managers’ participation in DE; and to assess the availability of ICT help desks. The research employed cross-sectional descriptive survey design; and multi-stage stratified sampling design. The findings indicated that availing necessary support facilities is crucial if adoption of DE is to be increased in the public universities in Kenya. This study recommends that the university management avails the necessary support facilities to ensure participation in distance education activities. The management should work towards identifying strategies that can improve managers’ participation at different levels. The study also recommends training to enhance attitude transformation

Manpower Development In The 21st Century: The Role Of Distance Education

Generally, education is considered one of the biggest instruments for development; a means for realizing social, cultural, economic and political needs and aspirations. However, in many African educational institutions there is an enormous challenge in training a cadre of highly qualified professionals to fuel such development. There are inadequate educational resources, due to loss of the best talented faculty to the developed world. In addition, contemporary educational thought holds that one of thepivotal causes of inadequate school performance is the inability of schools to adequately staff classrooms with qualified teachers, especially in fields such as mathematics and science (Gordon and Thomas, 2007, p.43). To address the issue of teacher shortages in Kenya, some single mode universities converted themselves into dual-mode. Among them is the University of Nairobi. Apparently, the belief among academics is thatconventional education is real education. This makes distance education to act as complementary and worse of all supplementary. This paper sets out to compare whether there is a significant difference in TP performance between B.Ed (Science) Distance and on-campus students. A sample of 181 students: face-to-face n=131 vs. distance learning n= 50 students was used. The instrument of data collection was an observation guide. Though students taking courses by on-campus mode outperformedtheir counterparts in the distance mode of learning, this paper will conclude that distance learning should be treated as the emerging standard of quality in higher education and can effectively perform a complementary function, which should alleviate teacher shortage in Kenya. This study has demonstrated that science can be successfully taught by distance mode even given the current technological investment levels. This is important for policy because it leverages on what is available and the change that can bring especially in the area of manpower development, access and equity. The researchers argue that raising the technological level is not difficult since this can be done through collaboration with specialized bodies such as the African Virtual University (AVU) that is spearheading the infusion of ICTs and e-learning into the educational arenaKey words: Distance education, face-to-face learning, teaching practic