A student speaks out :Can we lead the country towards a digital Kenya?
By Peter Oduor
For a third world country, the state of Information, Communication Technology (ICT) in Kenya is impressive. Impressive in terms of its rapid growth, its versatility in terms of the options it presents to the public and in the manner in which it is changing the lives of Kenyans. To say that the ICT industry in Kenya is on an upward mobile direction will be an understatement, Kenya is simply flying on information air using a communication plane and headed for a technological destination.
Not to be left behind in the technological march in Kenya are Kenyan institutions of higher learning. The number of ICT related courses in these institutions speaks of an education system fully preparing the future stakeholders and key players in the ICT industry of an eminent technological transfer. The students have a full menu of ICT related courses to choose from. There are even some students who take two or more ICT related courses, say one at the university and a different one at one of the colleges in town or elsewhere. The direct implication of this is that before long Kenya will have a pool of well versed ICT experts who will have graduated from the institutions of higher learning inclusive of the technical colleges.
For instance The University of Nairobi, in its Information and Communication Technologies Center Mission Statement, commits itself to the procurement, development, operation and maintenance of a reliable University-Wide computer network to meet the academic and administrative needs of the University and provide the requisite advisory services and training in line with its mandate. This involves proper training of students too.
On their own, students in institutions of higher learning have perfected the art of milking technology for all it can produce. To start with the technological gadgets used by students come in different forms and specialties. A walk within these institutions will tell of a large population of students owning computer laptops, desktops in their rooms, and GPRS enabled mobile phones from where they can access Internet services. Also in this category are music gadgets like IPods and music systems.
Technology and research
The complexity of learning in institutions of higher learning especially with reference the amount of research work makes the relationship between the student, the work to be done and technology be akin to that of the three African cooking stones all of which have to be present for cooking to occur. Be it personal reading, be it course work or for some thesis the manner in which students use the Internet to accomplish their academic research is the same all over the country. Having the advantage of directness and on- spot results through search engines like Wikipedia, Google, Zuku and others the Internet has ensnared students when it comes to research on their academic endeavors.
Reading for a research paper among most students is no longer a book affair. They approach it form the Internet where they have no doubt that they will find answers to their questions quickly together with citations of authors who have worked on such fields before. Book reading for class work is slowly getting to become the preserve of ‘traditional academicians’ and the studious students.
Students of Architecture, Engineering, IT, Medical courses among others are the students who have to constantly rely on IT when it comes to their day to day class activities. For design, drawing, chemical experiments and many more of such functions, computers benefit these students in a manner that has never been seen before.
The importance of Internet to students has been accurately understood by the administrations of the institutions of higher learning so much that over the past two to three years, universities such as Kenyatta University and Nairobi University have invested a fortune in developing, improving and buying of new ICT equipment. Kenyatta University has arguably the best computer complex amongst all the institutions of higher learning in the country.
Nairobi University on other hand has improved on the existing ICT services including developing internal networks and increasing the network presence in all its campuses. The university has even availed Internet to students in their halls of residence not to mention the Wireless Fidelity(WiFi) and hotspots which enable them to access Internet within specific radii without have to pug in cables to their computers.
ICT for management systems in institutions of higher learning
Online based systems like the Human Resource Management System (HRMIS) and Student Management Information System (SMIS) have been established in these institutions to help in handling of students.
This means that registration of students, room application, checking of fee balances, examination results, examination registration and rolling out of timetables for students is now being done online. To be added to that list is the official student email accounts through which students can receive and send mail. For the staff online leave application systems and online CV submission tool is also available.
Though these systems have occasionally failed the students, they are by far a big step away from the time wasting caused by queuing as was the case in the past. It is worth mentioning that part of the reason for the devastating Kenyatta University student unrest of last year according to some students was a slow online registration process. Whichever way, these systems are more than a blessing to the students.
ICT for socialization among students
The world of hi-tech socialization is the in thing these days; from job hunting, business networks, to romantic relationships this is one of the most exploited aspects of ICT by the students. Facebook, Tweeter and LinkedIn head this group. These social sites help students meet new friends, form relationships, look for friends they had before but who had disappeared from their social cycles. Able to relate instant chats between one two online partners regardless of the physical distance between them, these sites give students the opportunity of meeting friends from all over the world.
Created with options of forming groups, these sites have become gadgets of mobilization of friends towards a particular cause, a celebration of something etc. Facebook has various student groups ranging from Old Boy groups, campaign groups, to students against… The overall feeling one gets is that of a socially aware lot who cannot take crap from anyone anymore and things are even made much better by the fact that these groups are not restricted by the service providers’ administrator.
One can not deny that there is tremendous opening up of personal communication by the internet through such sites. It is even better that GPRS enabled phones are nowadays available and are owned by most students. That means twenty four hour internet access.
ICT for entertainment
It is evening, sitting on one of the University lawns is a young man in a hooded jacket, right infront of him on the grass is a laptop, he is browsing, wired to his ears is a Nokia 2700. This is the picture one gets as one sets foot with the University lecture areas. Not wanting to miss out on the fun despite classes, students have often been spotted using two or more electronic gadget at one particular time. The IPod, the phone and the laptop come into play in this area.
The situation is to different in their hostel rooms. A desktop computer, some good music system , the phone etc these are what defines the entertainment life of a campus student technologically. These come in handy when it comes to watching movies, listening to music and for some downloading the entertainment material from the Internet.
This aspect of ICT is by far the most abused by the students. The quiet but silently spreading act of students forging documents is one thing that has gripped institutions of higher learning. Armed with a computer, scanner and printer in their rooms,students can forge any document there is and they have done so with obscene accuracy to the dot. KCPE certificates, KCSE certificates, University result slips get forged in student rooms. Others forge receipt books and bank cheques, all these of course they sell to the people who want.
The number of student who engage in computer related crimes in colleges and Universities is overwhelmingly high,a walk in any of hostels will tell you exactly why the war on piracy is here to stay. Music CDs and movies will be copied at little or no cost at all , no sane student or so they think, would waste hundreds of shillings to buy a music CD when it can be found at fifty shillings or no cost in his friends’ room. It can be considered softcrime or e-crime but these young men surely know how to do their thing.
Then there is the problem of pornography. It is now an open secret that most if not all of the have a go at pornographic material. The privacy of their room makes it even better for them since the interruption will be minimal.
Did I mention examination cheating? The GPRS phones and their magic… the less said the better.
ICT in religious matters.
Student religious organizations in a bid to hold on to their flock and to attract new members have turned to electronic gadgets . The time when church was quiet, orderly and conservative are long gone especially for a religious organization that wants to hook young people as part of its congregation. The church elders have learnt that students and by extension young people do not like preachy environments, they therefore make the worship area as relaxed and as informal as possible.
The result is a music band within the youth group, movie nights, power point preaching sessions and all. There you have it, technology in the church. Students can not get enough of the movie nights and well designed power point presentations.
Students in Kenya today have the greatest advantage of being at the right time when it comes to ICT matters what they do with this great opportunity is the question but I hope they lead lead the country to a digital Kenya.
