Strategies For Connectivity Configuration To Access E-Learning Resources: Case Of Rural Secondary Schools In Tanzania

In response to address different development challenges, Tanzania is striving to achieve its fourth attribute of the National Development Vision, i.e. to have a well educated and learned society by the year 2025. One of the most cost effective methods that can reach a large part of the society in a short time is to integrate ICT in education through e-learning initiatives. However, elearning initiatives are challenged by limited or lack of connectivity to majority of secondary schools, especially those in rural and remote areas. This paper has explores the possibility for rural secondary school to access online e-Learning resources from a centralized e- Learning Management System (e-LMS). The scope of this paper is limited to schools that have computers irrespective of internet connectivity, resulting in two categories schools; those with internet access and those without. Different connectivity configurations have been proposed according to the ICT infrastructure status of the respective schools. However, majority of rural secondary schools in Tanzania have neither computers nor internet connection. Therefore this is a challenge to be addressed for the disadvantaged schools to benefit from e-Learning initiatives. {"references": ["MoEC. (2002). Education Projects and Programmes. Ministry of\nEducation and Culture. Dar es Salaam.", "ICT Policy, (2003). National ICT Policy of Tanzania, Final Draft.\nhttp://tanzania.go.tz, Retrieved on 10th Oct, 2007", "Mason, R and Rennie, F. (2004). Broadband: A Solution for Rural e-\nLearning? International Review of Research in Open and Distance\nLearning, Scotland.\nhttp://irrodl.org. Retrieved\non 18th feb, 2007.", "Talavera, N., Alvarez, E., Mondelo, P. and Terres, F. (2001). Capturing\nRequirements for E-Learning Systems Design. In Proceedings of\nInternational Conference on Computer-Aided Ergonomics and Safety.\nHawaii-USA.", "ICT4E, 2007. MoEVT ICT Policy for Basic Education\nhttp://moe.go.tz ICT Policy for Basic Education.\nRetrieved on 3rd June, 2007.", "Sheriff, S (2007). Rural connectivity in Tanzania: Options and\nChallenges. SWOPnet/IICD study report. Dar es Salaam, Tanzania.", "Menda, A. (2006). Tanzania: ICT education project amid rural\nconnectivity challenges.www.iconnect-online.org. Retrieved on 28th\nFeb, 2008.", "Isamuyo, Z., (2006). Open Access ICT Infrastructure in Rural Tanzania.\nMaster-s Thesis, Royal Institute of Technology (KTH), Stockholm,\nSweden.", "Chitamu, P. J. and Vaunucci, D. E. (2002), \"Networking Africa: A case\nfor VolP, In Proceedings of IEEE Africon, IEEE Catalog No.\n02CH37385, George South Africa, pp. 361-366.\n[10] Islam, A. H. M. R., Shafik, R. A., Hassan, M. I. and Song, J. B. (2006).\nNext Generation Rural Wireless Connectivity Model for Developing\nCountries. In Proceedings of 12th IEEE Asia Pacific Conference on\nCommunications (APCC2006), Busan, Korea.\n[11] Raman, B and Chebrolu, K. (2007). Experiences in Using WiFi for\nRural Internet in India. IEEE Communications Magazine. pp 104 - 110.\n[12] Hammond, A. and Paul, J. (2006). A new model for rural connectivity.\nWashington, DC: World Resources Institute. nextbillion, Retrieved on 23rd\nOct, 2007.\n[13] Chebrolu, K; Raman, B and Sen, S. (2006) ``Long-Distance 802.11b\nLinks:Performance Measurements and Experience''. In Proceedings of\n12th Annual International Conference on Mobile Computing and\nNetworking (MOBICOM), Los Angeles, USA.\n[14] Hare, H. (2007). Survey of ICT and Education in Africa: Tanzania\nCountry Report. infodev.org] Anatory, J.; Mvungi, N.H.; Kissaka, M.M. (2004). Trends in\ntelecommunication services provision: Powerline network can provide\nalternative for access in developing countries. In Proceedings of the 7th\nAFRICON Conference in Africa, Vol.1, pp 601 - 606.\n[16] Kalinga, E. A., Bagile, B. R. B., Trojer, L., (2007). \"An Interactive e-\nLearning Management system (e-LMS): A Solution to Tanzania\nSecondary Schools- Education\". International Conference on\nComputers, Electrical, Systems Science and Engineering (CESSE),\n2007 WASET.ORG, ISBN 978-975-01752-0-6, V-21, 19.\n[17] Yair, A., Danilov, C., Miskin-Amir, M., Staton, J., Tutu. C., (2002).\n\"Practical Wide Arae Database Replication\" Technical Report CNDS-\n2002-1 Johns Hopkins University, cnds.jhu.edu] Kondoro, J.W.A and Nungu, A. (2007). ICT for Rural Development\nProject: Provision of ICT Access to Rural Tanzania. In Proceedings of\nTowards Multidimensional Partnership in Promoting Use and\nApplication of ICT for Rural Development Workshop. Dar es Salaam,\nTanzania.\n[19] Simba, F. (2005). Implementation of Internet Protocol Virtual Private\nNetwork (IPSec-based VPN) in Tanzania. M.Sc Thesis. Department of\nPhysics. University of Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania."]}