Experiences in Using MUELE by a Physicist - Makerere University

Experiences in Using 

MUELE by a Physicist 

Benon Fred TWINAMASIKO 

December 3, 2013 

The Experiences in Using MUELE by a Physicist

Technologies 

in 

Teaching and Learning 



Why Online Education? 

• Enhanced learning 

– more learning resources 

– development of independent learners 

• Flexible learning opportunities 

– no need to take leave from work 

– no loss of income 

• Global competition 

– if we don’t do it, someone else will 

• Less institutional physical space required 


The Experiences in Using MUELE by a Physicist 

3

Technology Planning 

Mak 

Physics 



Objectives 

• Understand the Importance of Planning 

when Adopting Technology 

• Know the Components of a Technology 

Plan 

• Consider a Strategy for a Technology. 



Why a Technology Plan? 

• How Effective is a: 

– Meeting without an Agenda? 

– Lesson Plan without Objectives? 

• Acquiring and implementing technology 

without a plan is very risky and rarely 

effective. 

• Define the Needs/Requirements before 

adopting technology. 



What is a Technology Plan? 

• It is NOT about Computers Only. 

• A good Technology Plan considers: 

– People 

– Technology 

– Processes 

• It is a living document that is reviewed and 

updated regularly 

• Represents a vision for technology adoption. 

• Different models and strategies exist. 



Who Prepares the Plan? 

• A Technology Committee with wide 

representation from the institutional 

Community. 

• Committee members should be committed to 

the process. 

• The process is as important as the plan itself. 

(builds a shared vision) 

• Ideally, the technology plan is tied to a larger 

institutional planning process. 



Needs Assessment 

“An evaluation of the functions you 

want your technology to have or the 

needs the technology should meet” 



Needs Assessment 

• Distinct from the Technology Itself 

• Must be widely consultative 

– Achieve Buy-in 

– Feedback from who? 

• Administrators 

• Faculty 

• Students 

• Technical Support Staff 

• Partners 



Needs Assessment Process 

• Gather Information 

• Prioritize/Organize 

• Document 



Needs Assessment/Organizing Phase 

• Review the information collected 

• Determine which needs are more important. 

– Essential? 

– Nice to Have? 

• Consider what processes could be changed 

to meet the requirements. 



Needs Assessment/Gathering Phase 

• The most detailed/lengthy step 

• Consultation Process 

– Wide as possible 

– Watch out for: 

• Half-hearted Participants 

• Over Zealous Participants 

• Seek out Quantitative Information 

• i.e: # courses, # faculty,# users 

• Faculty/Student Surveys 



Needs Assessment/Documentation 

• Prepare the findings into a report 

• Use a format that is suitable for you (There 

is no “right” way to document) 

• Tip: Pretend you are finished with project 

and that the report will be used by 

someone else. 

• It should stand alone. 



Technology Assessment 

• What technologies will be used? 

• What technologies are available or required 

on site? 

• What technologies are required by the end 

user (if applicable)? 

• What technology infrastructure is available 



Situational Analysis 

• Provides a picture of the gap between your 

vision and your current reality. 

• Consider strengths, weaknesses, opportunities 

and threats. 

• Questions could be: 

– What technology is currently available for 

faculty/staff? 

– How is technology currently used in teaching? 

– What support services exist? 

– How do technology acquisitions occur? 

– What training is currently conducted for 

faculty/staff/students? 

– ?? 



Pedagogical Considerations 

• The use of technology is tied to Teaching 

and Learning activities. 

• Consider Learning Theories when 

deploying technologies: 

– Behaviorism, Cognitivism , Constructivism 

• A faculty will utilize technology in different 

ways, depending on the underlying 

learning theory. 



Professional Development/Training 

• Professional Development is a critical 

component of the plan 

• Isolated, “one off” training activities are not 

effective, particularly for technology 

• The plan should encourage a culture of 

learning/exploration. 

• There are a variety of strategies to provide 

training. 



Evergreening/Technology Refresh 

• Plan to keep your technology 

infrastructure up to date. 

• Define minimum standards/maximum age 

of equipment. 

• Policy should decide whether the purpose 

is to replace technology to maintain an 

acceptable level of reliability, to acquire 

improved speed and capacity at an 

acceptable price or a combination of the 

two 



Implementation 

• As technology leaders, you will be 

responsible for implementation 

• Projects should be formulated based on 

goals formulated in the technology plan. 

• Principles of good project management 

apply. 



Evaluation of the Plan 

• As projects are implemented, the use of 

technology should be monitored and 

assessed. 

• Use formative and summative evaluation. 

• Consider how the technology is assisting 

learning. 

– Improving outcomes? 

– Changing attitudes? 

– Affecting teaching methods? 



Summary 

• A Technology Plan is a critical component 

in the effective adoption of technology. 

• Plan development is a very useful 

process, contributing to a shared view of 

the goals, priorities. 

• The plan itself is a living document that 

must be regularly reviewed and updated. 



COMMUNICATION TOOLS 



Communication Tools 

• Listservs 

• Email 

• Live Collaboration tools 

• Blogs 

• Wikis 

• Audio Conference 

• Video Conference 

• Streaming (Live) 

• Webconference 

• Discussion forums 

• Podcasting 

• Paper-based 



How to Classify the tools 

Asynchronous 

• Listservs 

• Email 

• Blogs 

• Wikis 

• Discussion forums 

• Podcasting 

• RSS Feed 

• Paper based 

Synchronous 

• Audiconference 

• Videoconference 

• Streaming (live) 

• Live collaboration 

tools 




Asynchronous 



LISTSERV 

(Academicstaff and Staff lists) 

LISTSERV is the first electronic mailing 

software application. Before its invention, 

all Email lists had to be administered 

manually. 



Email 

E-mail, short for electronic mail and often 

abbreviated to e-mail, email or simply mail, 

is a store and forward method of 

composing, sending, storing and receiving 

messages over electronic communication 

systems. 



Example of Yahoo! Email 



Internet Forum 

An internet forum is a web application for holding 

discussions and posting user generated content. Internet 

forums are also commonly referred to as Web forums, 

message boards, discussion boards, (electronic) 

discussion groups, discussion forums, bulletin boards, 

fora (the Latin prural) or simply forums. The terms 

’forum’ and ’board’ may refer to the entire community or 

to a specific sub-forum dealing with a distinct topic. 

Messages within these sub-forums are then displayed 

either in chronological order or as threaded discussions. 



A Blog 

A blog (a portmanteau of weblog) is a 

website where entries are commonly 

displayed in reverse chronological order. 

’Blog’ can also be used as a verb, 

meaning to maintain or add content to a 

blog. 



Example of a Blog 



Wiki 

A wiki is a software that allows users to 

create, edit, and link webpages easily. 

Wikis are often used to create 

collaborative websites and power 

community websites. They are being 

isntalled by businesses to provide 

affordable and effective intranets and for 

Knowledge Management. 



Wikipedia Website 



Bliki 

A bliki (also known as a wikiLog, wog, 

wikiWeblog, wikiblog, or bloki), is 

combination of the two internet concepts 

of a blog and wiki. It combines features 

from both: as with blogs, posts or articles 

appear in reverse chronological order on 

the front page, with the most recent one at 

the top; but editing is done in wiki style, 

with a version history for each page and 

special markup tags. 



Podcast 

A podcast is a collection of digital media 

files which is distributed over the internet 

using syndication feeds for playback on 

portable media players and personal 

computers. 



RSS Feeds 

RSS (formally ’RDF Site Summary’, known 

colloquially as ”Really Simple Syndication”) 

is a family of web feed formats used to 

publish frequently updated content such as 

blog entries, news headlines or podcasts. 



Paper-based 

• Usually copies of resources such as 

manuals, texts, and study guides 

• Expensive to produce and mail 

• More challenging than website to update 

• Useful with areas with no internet 

connectivity 

• Primarily one way communication 

• Slow- multi-directional communication. 




Synchronous 



Radio 

• One-way Communication 

• Currently improving to phone in participation 



Audioconference 

Audioconference, also known as 

Teleconference is the live exchange and 

mass articulation of information among 

persons and machines remote from one 

another but linked by a 

telecommuncations system, usually over 

the phone line. Using a phone with a 

speaker. 



Videoconference 

A videoconference (also known as a 

videoteleconference) is a set of interactive 

telecommunication technologies which 

allow two or more locations locations to 

interact via two-way video and audio 

transmissions simulteneously. 

A simple webcam like the one supplied by 

Tropix can do the magi when on internet. 



Streaming media 

streaming media is multimedia that is 

constantly received by, and normally 

displayed to, the end-user while it is being 

delivered by the prrovider. 



Webconference 

Web conferencing is used to conduct live 

meetings or presentations over the 

internet. 



LEARNING MANAGEMENT SYSTEMS 



What is a LMS? 

A Learning Management System (or LMS) 

is a term used to describe software tools 

designed to manage user learning 

interventions. 

LMSs go far beyond conventional training 

records management and reporting. 

The value-added for LMSs is the extensive 

range of complementary functionality they 

offer. 



What is a LMS? 

Open source and Web-based LMS 

software solutions are growing fast in the 

education and business world. 



Open Source LMS 

• A tutor-Open Source Web-based Learning Content Management System 

• Claroline-Claroline is a free LMS 

• Dokeos-eLearning and course management web applications 

• Fle3 

• ILIAS-Open Source Learning Management System 

• KEWL.nextgen 

• LON-CAPA-Open Source Learning Management System with linked 

Domains 

• Moodle-Open Source Course Management System 

MUELE: Makerere University eLearning Environment 

• OLAT-Online Larning and Training 

• Sakai Project-Collaboration and Learning Environment 



MUELE 



MUELE 



Student List 



Knowing Students 



Video Lectures 



Commercial LMS 

• Saba Software 

• Apex Learning 

• Blackboard Inc. (formally WebCT) 

• ANGEL Learning 

• Desire2Learn 

• SAP Enterprise Learning 



Virtual Campus 



WebCT Platform 



Modules in WebCT 



WebCT Discussions 



Elluminate Live!

Starting the Computer 



Yahoo! Wesite 



Google Web page 



Yahoo Login page 



Windows Live Sign in 



Synchronous Communication 



Disk Drive 



Where you are seated 



Using the Helpdesk 

• Provides assistance for the end user to help fix a 

problem 

– via email 

– via live chat 

– via phone 

• Use of remote access 

– help desk takes control of your machine 

• Inform the help desk of the following: 

– symptoms 

– who had the problem 

– when it happened 

– steps taken 

– results of steps taken 



Help Desk 

Sheila 

Ben 

Mak 



Technolgies Used 



Workspace 



Thank You! 

For Listening 



Range from 28 – 49 years old 

Good self esteem but would 

like to increase credentials 

Come from a variety of organizations 

including private multimedia firms, and 

private and public educational institutes 

May have work and 

family pressures 

This is the first online course 

that most have “taken”. 

Most are local and a few may be 

from other provinces of Canada. 

Most are sponsored by 

their employers but some 

are self funded. 

Most are keen to meet 

others “in the same boat”. 

Most have degrees, 

most are undergraduate 

and some with graduate level. 

Some are developing work-skills and 

others feel they must prove themselves. 

Some do not want to do all the 

typical instructional design theory 

stuff but are more interested on 

how to “put courses online” soundly. 

All have instructional design 

experience but few have education 

in the area of instructional design. 

Some have participated in an instructional 

design course(s) but not id courses that have 

included the aspect of online distance education. 

Most will have fast connectivity 

and few will dial-up. 

Some may have family or significant 

other support others may not. 

All are comfortable with 

the use of computers. 

All will have access to better 

than necessary computers. 

Most are pragmatic rather than theoretic. 

Most will work on specific 

work problems within the 

activities 73 of the course.

Experiences in Using MUELE by a Physicist - Makerere University

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