By Mohamed Jaward Nyallay
The campaign group Heal Sierra Leone (HSL) has designed an innovative e-learning platform for secondary and tertiary education in the country.
The platform is integrated with the social media site Facebook, through which teaching sessions will be broadcast live.
Executive Director of the organization, Joseph Sannoh, told Politico that the platform is the future of education in the country in the wake of the Coronavirus pandemic.
“We know how much kids and young people are hooked up on social media these days, so that is why we decided to use Facebook and Google meet to broadcast our classes,” he said
“Even though the Corona is here, we don’t want the education of these kids to be halted. We considered several options like having a web portal, but we knew most platforms are not as interactive as Facebook,” Sannoh added.
The organization has built a state of the art studio with modern broadcasting equipment like cameras, computers and microphones.
Politico visited the studio on Saturday and did a test run to understand how the system works and the quality of the production output.
Classes can be linked in on several social media platforms simultaneously, whiles teachers or lecturers deliver their lessons with the aid of studio screen which serves as a prompter.
The lessons can also be recorded and accessed later.
Sannoh said the pilot phase of the initiative has cost more that Le 175 million.
Heal Sierra Leone was the pioneer of the radio teaching program in the country during the Ebola outbreak.
Sannoh said he is already in advance talks with the government to roll out his organization’s expertise and project to colleges.
“We are hoping that the ministry will approve the construction of these same studios in FBC, COMAHS, IPAM and other colleges. Even though it is capital intensive, it is good that the colleges have it,” he said.
Schools and colleges have been closed since March 31st this year by the Government of Sierra Leone, over fears that the Coronavirus might be transmitted by pupils and students.
The Ministry of Basic and Secondary Education has resorted to radio teaching program. But there are constraints with teaching every subject on the radio, despite it being the most prominent medium in the country.
There have been talks of exploring visual learning.
The University of Sierra Leone is also struggling to conduct its online teaching program using its portal. Most of the challenge has been due to technical difficulties.
Sannoh said his e-learning project can be an alternative to all these problems.
“I have the expertise and I have the experience. Education is my passion. Lecturers should just be focused on teaching and let us do the technical set up. We have brought some lecturers here who have been impressed by our set up,” he told Politico.
The challenge for e-learning in Sierra Leone is internet access and cost, something which Sannoh said further negotiation with mobile companies might resolve.
Copyright © 2020 Politico Online
