Browsing by Author "Raphael, Christina"

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    A Critical Review of e-Learning Research Trends in Tanzania
    (Journal of Learning for Development - JLD4, 2018) Mtebe, Joel; Raphael, Christina
    This study investigated research trends on eLearning implementation in Tanzania from 2007 to 2017. A total of 74 articles from electronic databases, conference proceedings, and selected electronic journals were reviewed. Using content analysis, the study found that there is an increasing interest in eLearning research with the majority of studies conducted by researchers from three universities. Students was found to be the most studied population group while quantitative research design being the most preferred research design. It was also revealed that mobile and game based learning were the least investigated eLearning technologies despite the proliferation of mobile telephony in Tanzania. Internet access and lack of support were the most ranked challenges hindering eLearning implementation in Tanzania. This study will also help policy makers to promote further research in areas where the research gaps have been identified and find interventions to overcome barriers that hinder eLearning implementation in Tanzania.
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    A Critical Review of eLearning Research Trends in Tanzania
    (2018) Mtebe, Joel; Raphael, Christina
    This study investigated research trends on eLearning implementation in Tanzania from 2007 to 2017. A total of 74 articles from electronic databases, conference proceedings, and selected electronic journals were reviewed. Using content analysis, the study found that there is an increasing interest in eLearning research with the majority of studies conducted by researchers from three universities. Students was found to be the most studied population group while quantitative research design being the most preferred research design. It was also revealed that mobile and game based learning were the least investigated eLearning technologies despite the proliferation of mobile telephony in Tanzania. Internet access and lack of support were the most ranked challenges hindering eLearning implementation in Tanzania. This study will also help policy makers to promote further research in areas where the research gaps have been identified and find interventions to overcome barriers that hinder eLearning implementation in Tanzania.
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    A decade of technology enhanced learning at the University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania: Challenges, achievements, and opportunities
    (International Journal of Education and Development using Information and Communication Technology, 2017) Mtebe, Joel S.; Raphael, Christina
    For a decade past, integration of technology in teaching and learning has been received with both apprehension and skeptism from academics and student majority at the University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM). The study recounts real, professional and practical experiences, challenges, and opportunities of integrating educational technologies using available official documents and reports covering real practical experience in the period of ten years at UDSM . The study identifies gaps th at need to be worked upon to unleash full potentials brought by educational technologies at the university. The study recommends more support to early adopters committed to initiating blended learning programs, strengthening and expanding existing blended distance programs as well as seeding new ones and building capacity in developing and testing more reliable blended distance program innovations.
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    A decade of technology enhanced learning at the University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania: Challenges, achievements, and opportunities
    (International Journal of Education and Development using Information and Communication Technology (IJEDICT), 2017-08-31) Mtebe, Joel S.; Raphael, Christina
    For a decade past, integration of technology in teaching and learning has been received with both apprehension and skeptism from academics and student majority at the University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM). The study recounts real, professional and practical experiences, challenges, and opportunities of integrating educational technologies using available official documents and reports covering real practical experience in the period of ten years at UDSM. The study identifies gaps that need to be worked upon to unleash full potentials brought by educational technologies at the university. The study recommends more support to early adopters committed to initiating blended learning programs, strengthening and expanding existing blended distance programs as well as seeding new ones and building capacity in developing and testing more reliable blended distance program innovations.
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    Eliciting in-service teachers’ technological pedagogical content knowledge for 21st century skills in Tanzania.
    (Journal of Learning for Development, 2018) Mtebe, Joel; Raphael, Christina
    The Tanzania Vision 2025 articulates the country's aspiration of becoming an industrialized and middle-income country by 2025. The education sector, which is the main driving force towards realizing this goal, is expected to bring about the right mix of high-quality skills for the rapid development of quality and adequate human resources. The kind of revolution needed is nevertheless impossible if teachers are not equipped with the necessary skills to bring in the desirable changes. This study adapted Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) for 21st-Century skills to investigate teachers’ competence levels of 21st-Century skills using self-reported survey and classroom observations from a sample of 132 teachers in 20 schools in Pwani and Morogoro regions. The study found out that many teachers have moderate self-reported confidence in all TPACK elements with technology. Conversely, teachers self-reported confidence levels in content knowledge, pedagogical knowledge, and pedagogical content knowledge was found to be high. The findings from this study provides valuable insights on how teachers use ICT to prepare students for 21-Century skills capable of supporting the country’s efforts towards developing an industrial economy
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    Eliciting In-service Teachers’ Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge for 21st-Century Skills in Tanzania
    (2018) Mtebe, Joel; Raphael, Christina
    The Tanzania Vision 2025 articulates the country's aspiration of becoming an industrialized and middle-income country by 2025. The education sector, which is the main driving force towards realizing this goal, is expected to bring about the right mix of high-quality skills for the rapid development of quality and adequate human resources. The kind of revolution needed is nevertheless impossible if teachers are not equipped with the necessary skills to bring in the desirable changes. This study adapted Technological Pedagogical Content Knowledge (TPACK) for 21st-Century skills to investigate teachers’ competence levels of 21st-Century skills using self-reported survey and classroom observations from a sample of 132 teachers in 20 schools in Pwani and Morogoro regions. The study found out that many teachers have moderate self-reported confidence in all TPACK elements with technology. Conversely, teachers self-reported confidence levels in content knowledge, pedagogical knowledge, and pedagogical content knowledge was found to be high. The findings from this study provides valuable insights on how teachers use ICT to prepare students for 21-Century skills capable of supporting the country’s efforts towards developing an industrial economy.
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    Instructor Support Services: An Inevitable Critical Success Factor in Blended Learning in Higher Education in Tanzania
    (IJEDICT, 2016) Raphael, Christina; Mtebe, Joel S.
    The adoption of blended learning to widen access, reduce cost, and improve the quality of education is becoming prevalent in higher education in sub-Saharan Africa and Tanzania in particular. University of Dar es Salaam and the Open University of Tanzania offer various blended learning courses using Moodle system via regional centres scattered across the country. Despite the success of these courses, instructors’ support has been unsatisfactory and habitually ignored regardless of the fact that institutions have established IT Units to provide such services. This study investigated the effectiveness of instructors’ support services as a major success factor to the delivery of blended courses using mixed method design using questionnaire and semistructured interviews from 65 instructors teaching blended learning courses at the University of Dar es Salaam and the Open University of Tanzania. The study revealed that lack of both technical and pedagogical support has been critical factors inhibiting instructors from facilitating blended courses effectively via the LMS. The findings from this study have a number of important lessons and implications for similar institutions running blended learning or wishing to implement blended learning specifically in sub-Saharan Africa.
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    Instructor support services: An inevitable critical success factor in blended learning in higher education in Tanzania
    (2016-08-18) Raphael, Christina; Mtebe, Joel S.
    The adoption of blended learning to widen access, reduce cost, and improve the quality of education is becoming prevalent in higher education in sub-Saharan Africa and Tanzania in particular. University of Dar es Salaam and the Open University of Tanzania offer various blended learning courses using Moodle system via regional centres scattered across the country. Despite the success of these courses, instructors’ support has been unsatisfactory and habitually ignored regardless of the fact that institutions have established IT Units to provide such services. This study investigated the effectiveness of instructors’ support services as a major success factor to the delivery of blended courses using mixed method design using questionnaire and semi- structured interviews from 65 instructors teaching blended learning courses at the University of Dar es Salaam and the Open University of Tanzania. The study revealed that lack of both technical and pedagogical support has been critical factors inhibiting instructors from facilitating blended courses effectively via the LMS. The findings from this study have a number of important lessons and implications for similar institutions running blended learning or wishing to implement blended learning specifically in sub-Saharan Africa.
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    Integrating ICT into teaching and learning at the University of Dar es Salaam
    (Curriculum and Instruction, 2011) Mtebe, Joel S.; Dachi, Hillary A.; Raphael, Christina
    Since 1985, Tanzania has been undergoing significant political and economic changes from a centralized to a more market-oriented and globally connected economy. The University of Dar es Salaam1 (UDSM) has responded to these changes by reviewing its legal status, vision, and functions, particularly those related to research, teaching, and public service. UDSM’s Five-year rolling strategic plan, 2006/07–2010/11 (2006) spells out its transformative strategy and programme. The aims are to increase access to higher education, improve the quality and output of research and publications, improve the quality of teaching and learning, including curriculum design and delivery strategies, improve the number and quality of consultancy and services, and increase the number and productivity of UDSM’s linkages with other institutions focusing on civic engagement and social responsibility. This report focuses on the use of technology to improve the efficiency and effectiveness of educational processes and outcomes at UDSM and highlights one of the key lessons learned: innovations in the sphere of teaching and learning need to take cognizance of and address factors in the broader national and institutional contexts, as well as those relating to the readiness of individual staff to accept change. In other words, both first-order barriers (including access to hardware and software, technical and administrative support) and second-order barriers (i.e., those intrinsic to individuals, such as their readiness to accept change and their belief systems about teaching and technology) (Ertmer, 1999) provide challenges to access and uptake of e-learning.
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    Key factors in learners’ satisfaction with the e-learning system at the University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania
    (2018) Mtebe, Joel; Raphael, Christina
    This study aimed to identify key factors that have an influence on learners’ satisfaction with the e-learning system at the University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania, using a modified, updated DeLone and McLean (D&M) (2003) model. The research model was tested against regression analysis using a sample of 153 enrolled students. The study found that system quality, instructor quality, and service quality had a significant positive effect on learners’ satisfaction, with service quality being the strongest predictor. However, course quality was found to have no significant effect on learners’ satisfaction with the e-learning system. The findings from this study will help institutions that are planning or implementing e-learning systems to enhance learners’ satisfaction and, consequently, increase systems success. The implications of these findings are discussed.
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    Pre - Service Teachers’ Self - Efficacy Beliefs Towards Educational Technologies Integration in Tanzania
    (Journal of Learning for Development, 2017) Raphael, Christina; Mtebe, Joel S.
    This study examines pre - service teachers’ (N = 386) self - efficacy beliefs towards educational technologies integration in the classroom at the two colleges in Tanzania that prepare secondary education teachers. Using regression analysis, the study found out that the determinants of self - efficacy beliefs among pre - service teachers towards educational technologies integration are support, perceived ease of use, performance expectancy, and social influence. The findings of this study enhance our understanding of factors that hinder teachers from integrating educational techn ologies into the classroom.
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    Students Support Services: A Case of Blended Learning in Higher Learning Institutions in Tanzania
    (IGI Global, 2016) Raphael, Christina
    This chapter examines challenges the higher learning institutions offering blended learning programmes in Tanzania face in enhancing student support services from administrative standpoint. Using interviews, documentary analysis, and observation as data gathering instruments, the chapter reveals that higher learning institutions face numerous student-support related challenges including poor Internet and narrow bandwidth, erratic electricity and lack of alternative power, computer illiteracy, scarcity of study materials including e-resources and the absence of affirmative institutional policies. The chapter contends that for blended learning programmes to remain viable, effective, and sustainable, students support services need to be carefully tailored and regularly evaluated. Further, thorough decisions need to be undertaken regarding the design and development of effective student support which are contextualised according to respective institutional needs.
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    Students ’ Experiences and Challenges of Bended Learning at the University of Dar es Salaam , Tanzania
    (Educational Assessment, Evaluation, and Research, 2013) Mtebe, Joel S.; Raphael, Christina
    Recent developments in Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), especially eLearning, have heightened the need for University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM) to supplement on-campus face-to-face delivery as well as meeting increased students’ enrolments through blended distance learning. Since 2008, the University has been offering three postgraduate programmes: Postgraduate Diploma in Education, Postgraduate Diploma in Engineering Management, and Master degree in Engineering via dedicated Learning Centres in Mwanza, Arusha, and Dar es Salaam. In total, 310 students have been enrolled into these programmes since 2008. However, the implementation of these programmes has resulted in mixed and unpredictable results. This paper reports on students’ experiences as well as challenges UDSM has been facing during the implementation of blended learning courses in Tanzania. The data were generated through documentary reviews and 22 responses from a questionnaire distributed to students enrolled into these programmes. The study has revealed outdated learning resources, unavailability of instructors during live online sessions, under-utilization of Learning Centres, and technical difficulties are the main factors that affect students from exceling well in blended learning programmes. These findings have a number of important lessons and implications for similar institutions running blended learning or wishing to implement blended learning specifically in developing countries.
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    Students’ experiences and challenges of blended learning at the University
    (IJEDICT, 2013) Mtebe, Joel S.; Raphael, Christina
    Recent developments in Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs), especially eLearning, have heightened the need for University of Dar es Salaam (UDSM) to upplement oncampus face-to-face delivery as well as meeting increased students’ enrolments through blended distance learning. Since 2008, the University has been offering three postgraduate programmes: Postgraduate Diploma in Education, Postgraduate Diploma in Engineering Management, and Master degree in Engineering via dedicated Learning Centres in Mwanza, Arusha, and Dar es Salaam. In total, 310 students have been enrolled into these programmes since 2008. However, the implementation of these programmes has resulted in mixed and unpredictable results. This paper reports on students’ experiences as well as challenges UDSM has been facing during the implementation of blended learning courses in Tanzania. The data were generated through documentary reviews and 22 responses from a questionnaire distributed to students enrolled into these programmes. The study has revealed outdated learning resources, unavailability of instructors during live online sessions, under-utilization of Learning Centres, and technical difficulties are the main factors that affect students from exceling well in blended learning programmes. These findings have a number of important lessons and implications for similar institutions running blended learning or wishing to implement blended learning specifically in developing countries.