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| Mzumbe University Campus |
Arusha:
Wholesome application of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in
teaching programmes may lead to having students who do not want to listen but
are keen on downloading materials from websites.
The warning
was made here by some university lecturers during the recent Higher Education
Forum 2012. They contended that conventional teaching methods through the use
of text books and writing notes should not be abandoned they enabled students
to grasp lessons taught.
Prof Beda
Mutagahywa from the University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM) said with the digital
age some people were seeing the danger of students only interested in
downloading the reading materials from networks instead of concentrating on
lecture notes.
"They
may not want to think and this is very dangerous. It is a big problem because
they can download materials during examinations," he remarked in his
presentation on the Role of ICTs in University
Governance at a forum hosted by Mzumbe University (MU) in Arusha.
However, his
remarks were challenged by other speakers who said it was high time
universities and other institutions of higher learning fully embraced ICTs in
their teaching and research programmes as well as management of their
institutions.
For
instance, Prof Elifas Bisanda of the Open University
of Tanzania (OUT) said the use of computers, laptops and
Internet has made teaching programmes cheaper compared to the traditional use
of text books which were increasingly becoming expensive and hard to obtain.
He said
universities can make huge savings in finance by switching to electronic
handouts and on-line books which can be accessed by students on their laptops. The
engineering don cited cases where universities used to spend Sh200,000 to buy
only ten text books for their students, whereas the same materials can now be
obtained from a CD ROM costing only Sh500 each.
He said with
the increasing number of students in universities and other institutions of
higher learning, it was becoming very difficult to purchase bulky books, many
from overseas. "On-line books of PDF folders address the problem given the
growing number of students. ICT is a solution to governance and can also arrest
plagiarism," Prof Bisanda stated.
However,
the OUT don said although ICT had a bad side, this can be well addressed by existing
regulatory frameworks. An MU student leader, Mr Amon Chakushemeire said he
supported ICT in university teaching programmes since there was no likelihood
of a U-turn from the digital age.
However, he
cautioned that there was a danger of students using the social media and mobile
phones to coordinate strikes and riots, sometimes at the behest of foreign
forces.
The MU vice
chancellor, Prof Joseph Kuzilwa,
defended Information Technology, saying its application would contribute to
improvement of the quality of education in educational institutions.
"ICT
is not only necessary for teaching, but also for the management and running of
universities," he
explained. He added that it should be integrated in university governance and
academic delivery to enhance quality and efficiency.
By Zephania Ubwani,
The Citizen, Tanzania