The African Nation of ZambiaThe Republic of Zambia is a South African country landlocked by the following neighboring countries: Angola, Botswana, Democratic Republic of Congo, Malawi, Mozambique, Namibia, Tanzania, and Zimbabwe. This English-speaking African country, inhabited by the Khoisan and Buntu tribes, was colonized by the British until it gained its independence in 1964.
The United Nations considers it one of the fastest growing populations with an estimated population of 16.5 million as of 2016 that it projected to triple by 2050. Its economy relies heavily on copper, only trailing The Congo as the largest copper producer in Africa. Hovewer, two-thirds of the Zambians are still considered to be living in poverty due to the country’s declined economic growth since 2015. |
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Lifelong Learning Program in Zambia
The University of Bolton (UoB) in England, has been working with developing countries through their off-campus program. One of their goals is to create a team of learning professionals who can act as agents of change within their respective institutions. The said university first became involved with Zambia through an off-campus Bachelor’s Degree program for Technical and Vocational Education, B. Ed. Utilizing face-to-face discussions, the Zambian students were taught to master basic IT skills such as word processing skills, and the use of e-mail and the internet. In response to the UN Millenium Development Goals in 2015, the University of Boston offered a Master’s program in Zambia.
The Zambia-University of Bolton model is a strategy delivery model that uses ICT through blended learning. The main objective of using blended learning in this model is to both promote the use of e-resources and ICT tools of UoB and to encourage collaboration among students through face-to-face or remotely with the help of technology available. The program consists of six modules with 45 teaching hours and 200 learning hours each. Among the six modules, only one is delivered fully online using a Virtual Learning Platform (VLP) such as WebCT, with interactive content, intensive use of the discussion board and e-resources. |
This video provides an overview of Zambia’s education goal for 2030. The main objective of “Vision 2030” is for Zambia to become a prosperous middle-income nation by the year 2030. In line with this, their main educational goal is to promote innovative and lifelong learning among its people. Credits: Zambia Vision 2030. (2015). Education Zambia Vision 2030: Innovative and productive life-long learning for all. Retrieved from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cLkiW3aVK2M&feature=youtu.be
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Challenges and Opportunities
The University of Bolton’s Master of Education program in Zambia encountered a couple of challenges and issues throughout its implementation. First, the existing interconnectivity problems such as limited access, poor infrastructure, and bandwidth restrictions in Zambia continued to pose as a hindrance to the program’s success. Internet access in Zambia is both limited and expensive because most of its resources - from optic fiber, ICT equipment, to expert personnel - are heavily dependent on foreign providers. Aside from that, they also experienced threat from internet cable thieves in the community. As a result, program applicants experienced difficulty in securing a stable internet connection at home and in the workplace. There was also a problem in terms of the use of asynchronous online communication. The program participants failed to experience immediate responses in online discussions and interactions through e-mail seemed to be a form of an impersonal communication among them. As a result, the face-to-face sessions or the traditional teaching set-up offered in the program is still widely preferred by the Zambian students. They consider it as a more reliable form of education as compared to distance learning.
Positive reception towards new teaching ideas and availability of resources play an important role in lifelong learning in developing countries. Despite the connectivity and accessibility problems faced by the country at that time, the Arts, Media, and Education Department (AMED) still pushed for a blended learning model for their new Masters program. Zambian students and educators may have still preferred learning through the traditional approach but this new model opened their perspectives towards distance learning. Blended learning may not have been that well-received by the Zambian students, but little by little it exposed them as to how this educational approach would help them learn better. This program may not have been that perfect but it has been an eye-opening experience for both the University of Bolton and its Zambian partners. It calls for the strong need for Zambia to work on the improvement of their ICT resources and internet connections to ensure that quality distance learning will be achieved. With a strong commitment to pursue distance education in the country and the enhancement of their ICT resources, lifelong learning will definitely be achieved.
References:
Positive reception towards new teaching ideas and availability of resources play an important role in lifelong learning in developing countries. Despite the connectivity and accessibility problems faced by the country at that time, the Arts, Media, and Education Department (AMED) still pushed for a blended learning model for their new Masters program. Zambian students and educators may have still preferred learning through the traditional approach but this new model opened their perspectives towards distance learning. Blended learning may not have been that well-received by the Zambian students, but little by little it exposed them as to how this educational approach would help them learn better. This program may not have been that perfect but it has been an eye-opening experience for both the University of Bolton and its Zambian partners. It calls for the strong need for Zambia to work on the improvement of their ICT resources and internet connections to ensure that quality distance learning will be achieved. With a strong commitment to pursue distance education in the country and the enhancement of their ICT resources, lifelong learning will definitely be achieved.
References:
- Smith, C. and Rodriguez-Yborra, M. (2007). Lifelong Learning and Widening Participation in HE in Developing Countries – The Challenge for e-Learning. Retrieved from http://www.onlineconference.net/jisc/content2007/Smith%20-%20Lifelong%20Learning%20in%20Developing%20Countries.pdf
- Mwila, K. (2016). Why is the Internet so Expensive in Zambia. Retrieved from http://www.manic.co.zm/cost-of-internet-in-zambia/
- Index Mundi. (2018). Zambia Country Profile – 2018. Retrieved from https://www.indexmundi.com/zambia/#Introduction