E-learning readiness and e-learning adoption among Public Secondary Schools in Kisumu county, Kenya

Abstract

This study sought to investigate the status of E-learning readiness in public secondary schools in Kisumu County given the agreement by educators and policy makers across the world on the importance of ICTs to the future of education. There is also a policy emphasis by Ministry of Education on ICT integration into education and training systems in Kenya. The main objective of the study was to investigate the effect of e-learning readiness on e-learning adoption in secondary schools in Kisumu County, and specifically to assess the level of preparedness of public secondary schools in Kisumu County to implement E-learning so as to enhance access, equity and quality in secondary education. The study revealed that public secondary schools in Kenya lack adequate ICT infrastructure and connectivity to support effective E-learning delivery. The schools are facing various challenges which can make E-learning very difficult to implement, only 11.6% of the school confirmed that they get relevant E-learning materials while 45% confirmed that they were not receiving relevant material from the internet. 45% of the schools confirmed availability of internet in the schools but only 14.8% of the internet is reliable to support e-learning. The region has frequent power outage with 68.1% of the respondent acknowledging that they experience more than 3 times power outage in a month on average. According the respondents, only 6.7% of them were very ready to roll out the elearning program in the school. The researcher recommends a consistent students and teachers exposure to e-learning devices to increase their level of e-learning readiness by increasing computers contact hours including weekends and further investments in ICT infrastructure by the school. The frequent power outage that hinders e-learning readiness in various schools can also be reduced if the schools invest more on power back-up systems and alternative power sources.