Digitising higher education: challenges for low income countries
May 1, 2020
The impact of ICT and Internet access on the education sector, particularly higher education, in the last 20 years has been enormous. For students, broadband Internet access offers opportunities to improve personal circumstances, including better access to learning materials, software tools, distance learning and job markets.
For educators and researchers, it facilitates international collaboration, improves access to teaching and research resources, extends outreach to distant communities and engages communities in lifelong learning programs. On the administrative side, access to broadband improves productivity, connectivity with other government entities and potentially leads to significant reductions in administrative costs.
Ubiquitous high speed connectivity is also changing the nature of research. While research has always been a networked activity where scholars build on and improve the work of others, digital technologies have enabled findings to be disseminated more rapidly, making research more productive. The number of networked devices, highspeed networks and increased computing power has enabled the collection and analysis of large amounts of data that was unimaginable 20 years ago.
A changing landscape
Similar to other industries, universities are slowly undergoing digital transformations far beyond mainstream computerisation of administration and multimedia distance education. Some of the new innovative applications include: using advanced analytics to analyse and improve student performance and retention, applying artificial intelligence (AI) in admission processes to ensure fairness and reduce human bias, automatic grading, and using AI to power digital assistants and adaptive online learning customised for student profiles (Exhibit 1). Augmented (AR) and virtual reality (VR) are also starting to be used to teach complex topics, such as anatomy, enhancing student understanding and engagement. These technologies not only improve learning experiences but also solve existing problems and bottlenecks in educational and administration resources.
However, the rapid development of digital technologies and the continuing need for learning and training over professional life-times are also reshaping the role of the university itself. A number of alternative delivery modes have started to emerge over the last decade, including massive open online courses (MOOCs), ‘learn now-pay later’ courses, alternative digital credentialing and bootcamps. As these models continue to gain popularity and become increasingly recognised by employers, higher education providers are adapting their course offerings as well. Physical resources such as books and scientific journals are becoming increasingly digitised, with libraries shifting books into basements and converting halls into spaces for collaborative and project based work. eVersity, a fully online university originating from the University of Arkansas system, is now fully reliant on open educational resources (OER) for course delivery. While these trends may never substitute traditional campus universities, they address many skill gaps in the labour market and enable provision of affordable education at scale.
Challenges facing low income countries
Most of these developments are taking place in more advanced economies. With their potential to improve quality and access to education at lower cost, these technologies are also desperately needed in low income countries. However, adopting these technologies appears far beyond the reach of many countries due to the lack of essential digital infrastructure. This includes inadequate broadband connectivity in educational institutions, bottlenecks in the domestic telecommunications infrastructure and limited international Internet capacity. The digital gap between low and high income countries in terms of access is best indicated by the international Internet capacity per user, with the median being around 10kbit/s in Africa compared to over 90kbit/s per use