The University of Rwanda plans to equip six additional campuses with multimedia studios to make online educational resources more interactive and better engage students, particularly the most vulnerable.
The University of Rwanda wants to make its digital material on its e-learning platform more interactive. Uploading only books, PDFs and PPTs discourages students’ active engagement in online courses. Adapted or blended solutions could result in a better inclusion of vulnerable people (girls, people with disability, and refugees). However, teachers and students do not have enough adequate capacities and skills to create and use quality digital content, MOOCs and open learning resources (OERs) and use them in a blended learning mode.
ACTION
The University of Rwanda has set up a multimedia studio at Rukara Campus to support blended learning in place since it was established in 2013. Several academic staff have been trained to design and create digital content materials. The multimedia studio has become an issue of critical importance to students and academic staff at the University of Rwanda during the current COVID-19 pandemic, when ICT has widely become the primary means to convey learning. The project will equip 6 additional campuses with mini multimedia studios, and support their staff and students to design and produce quality digital content, MOOCs and OERs locally, focusing on Science, Technical, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) content.
ORGANIZATION
The Wehubit Programme was launched in 2018. It looks for and supports actors that aim to deploy and scale-up existing digital solutions. The programme primarily supports tested solutions that contribute to the Sustainable Development Goals. The grants are awarded to public organisations or civil society organisations that support digital social innovation projects. Currently, the Wehubit programme supports 27 very varied projects (including the 5 new ones) in twelve of the partner countries of Enabel. Calls for proposals are regularly launched on the Wehubit website (wehubit.be). Since 2021, the programme has a new component: the Knowledge Exchange Network and the e-Library. They were created with a view to facilitating the exchange of good practices, lessons learned and knowledge deliverables.
PARTNERS
The Wehubit program aims to stimulate digital social innovation and is primarily targeted at public sector and non-profit organizations. In our sixth call for proposals, we work with:
— Save the children FUND
— Save the children International
RESULTS / IMPACTS
The project will first establish mini mobile multimedia systems and related infrastructure (server, internet connectivity), managed by technical/instructional designers, in six campus running STEM academic programme to support expansion and continuity of STEM education through the availability of interactive and inclusive digital content. 90 academic staff teaching in STEM programs will be capacitated in instructional design and online pedagogy to create e-learning material. 600 students selected from STEM Programs will be trained on EdTech solutions and sensitized on the availability of interactive digital contents for their modules.