PROF. OMWENGA ELIJAH I.

The rapid growth of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has
brought about significant changes in the practice of e-learning globally. In recent years,
there has been an increasing adoption of Learning Management System (LMS) assisted e-
learning in higher education institutions (HEIs) in developing countries. Despite the
perceived benefits attached to e-learning, several studies concur that there are still many
challenges facing e-learning.

Group cognitive conflicts occur when a learner in a collaborative mobile learning environment becomes aware of a discrepancy between his/her existing cognitive framework and new information or experience. The cognitive conflicts stimulate the learning process by making an individual to move from his/her learning sphere and participate with others in the learning process. However, there is a big challenge on how students handle and resolve conflicts during collaborative learning. Intelligent agents have been used in this paper to provide support for group interactions by regulating the group conflicts. An experimental design with one control group and two experimental groups (role playing and guided negotiation) is used to compare levels of group knowledge construction. The findings showed improved levels of knowledge construction where regulated conflicts were used compared to where they were not used.

Analogous to the motorists’ roadmap that shows roads, directions and distances to a destination of a given region, A roadmap in this context is a detailed guideline that answers the “why-what-how" questions and lay out the required actions, the "to-do's." towards adoption of e-payments in the government of Kenya. For over a decade, the government of Kenya grappled with the idea of implementing a national payment gateway through which all payments for government services, levies, duties, and fines were to be electronically made. For a long period, industry players and policy makers in government had unsuccessfully developed varied strategies of achieving a cashless government payment system. These efforts failed to yield due to lack of a comprehensive roadmap that addressed pertinent issues that had to be dealt with for e-payments in government to be fully adopted. This research was done by conducting a survey study on the government of Kenya about the adoption of e-payments. A random sample of the research population was drawn from ICT and Finance employees of 262 state corporations, 19 Ministries, and 47 counties to which a questionnaire was administered to gain an understanding and information on why there had been low uptake of e-payments in the government of Kenya. The data collected was analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively using descriptive statistical techniques. The results from these analyses have been used to propose a roadmap for the adoption of e-payments in the government of Kenya and any other similar setting.

The main focus in training evaluation is not only to determine whether training objectives were achieved but also how to improve evaluation so as to enhance both employability of graduates and performance in the job. This is in response to challe nges facing not only graduates in choosing industry jobs that befit their skills, but also employers in selecting graduates whose skills match to their needs. Problem solving is one of the skills acquired during training by graduates and strongly sought fo r by employers during evaluation to promote performance in the job. This paper presents a model for evaluating graduates’ by mapping their problem solving skills to industry jobs ’ competence requirements and the potential of using machine learning techniqu es to train the model in predicting suitable industry jobs for new graduates from college . The paper outlines challenges facing both graduates and industry in selecting industry jobs and skilled graduates respectively, highlight s trends , methods , and gaps in skill evaluation and prediction. A brief discussion is made of key strategies in skill evaluation and prediction that need to be undertaken and evaluation theories behind the key variables of the proposed model.

The use of web 2.0 technologies in web based learning systems has made learning more learner-centered. In a learner centered environment, there is need to provide appropriate support to learners based on individual learner characteristics in order to maximize learning. This requires a Web-based learning system to have an adaptive interface to suit individual learner characteristics in order to accommodate diversity of learner needs and abilities and to maintain an appropriate context for interaction and for achieving personalized learning. The purpose of this paper is to discuss how machine learning techniques can provide adaptive learning support in a Web-based learning system. In this research, two machine learning algorithms namely: Heterogeneous Value Difference Metric (HVDM) and Naive Bayes Classifier (NBC) were used. HVDM was used to determine those learners who were similar to the current learner while NBC was used to estimate the likelihood that the learner would need to use additional materials for the current concept. To demonstrate the concept we used a course in object oriented programming (OOP).

A Learner-Centered Approach for
Technology Supported Instructions ABSTRACT Bonface Ngari Ireri Africa Nazarene
University, Kenya Elijah I. Omwenga University of Nairobi, Kenya Robert Oboko University of
Nairobi, Kenya Ruth Wario University of Free State, South Africa Since technology alone without
the instructor or teacher cannot deliver learning to learners, the presence of the teacher or instructor
is very important. For any meaningful teaching and learning to take place in a class, the teacher
must gain learner's attention. Teachers who use learner centered approaches have a strong
trust in students, they believe that students want to learn, have great faith in student ability and
offer students ownership of class activities. They are able to manage their classroom.

Analogous to the Motorists roadmap that shows the roads, directions and distances to a destination of a given region [1]. A roadmap in this context is a detailed guideline that answers the “why-what-how" questions and lay out the required actions, the "to-do's." towards adoption of e-payments in the government of Kenya. For Over a decade, the government of Kenya grappled with the idea of implementing a national payment gateway through which all payments for government services, levies, duties, and fines were to be electronically made. For a long period industry players and policy makers in government had unsuccessfully developed varied strategies of achieving a cashless government payment system. These efforts have failed to yield due to lack of a comprehensive roadmap that addressed pertinent issues that had to be dealt with for e-payments in government to be fully adopted.
This research was done by conducting a survey study on the government of Kenya on the adoption of e-payments.
A random sample of the research population was drawn from ICT and Finance employees of 262 state corporations, 19 Ministries, and 47 counties to which a questionnaire was administered to gain an understanding and information on why there had been low uptake of e-payments in the government of Kenya. The data collected was analyzed quantitatively and qualitatively using descriptive statistical techniques. The results from this analysis have been used to propose a roadmap for the adoption of e-payments in the government of Kenya and any other similar setting.

Today's learner is able to access information from mobile devices. Due to accessibility and affordability of mobile devices, more instructors continue to adopt instructional design models of mobile learning as more learners also bring their mobile devices to their classrooms. Instructors using flipped classroom model organize the learning activities both inside and outside classroom. Before the next class the instructor avails instruction and content in advance. The learner reviews class content materials and assigned research activities at home prior to class. In class, the instructor allows learners to peer review their work in groups while the instructor engages them to validate their work. The findings described in this chapter suggest that introducing mobile learning to learners in a flipped classroom model helps to bridge learner entry behavior as it improves learner performance.

The main focus in training evaluation is not only to determine whether training objectives were achieved but also how to improve evaluation so as to enhance both employability of graduates and performance in the job. This is in response to challenges facing not only graduates in choosing industry jobs that befit their skills, but also employers in selecting graduates whose skills match to their needs. Problem solving is one of the skills acquired during training by graduates and strongly sought for by employers during evaluation to promote performance in the job. This paper presents a model for evaluating graduates’ by mapping their problem solving skills to industry jobs’ competence requirements and the potential of using machine learning techniques to train the model in predicting suitable industry jobs for new graduates from college. The paper outlines challenges facing both graduates and industry in selecting industry jobs and skilled graduates respectively, highlights trends, methods, and gaps in skill evaluation and prediction. A brief discussion is made of key strategies in skill evaluation and prediction that need to be undertaken and evaluation theories behind the key variables of the proposed model.

Keywords: Gap, Mapping, Problem solving skills, Training evaluation, Trends

The introduction of Web 2.0 tools has led to enhanced communication and collaboration in both social and academic environments. The focus of this study was to identify factors influencing the use of Web 2.0 tools in e-learning in Kenyan Public Universities. The tools can then be introduced and used to aid in successful collaborative learning. A descriptive survey research design was used. Data was collected through questionnaires from both students and lecturers. Purposive sampling was used for the selection and the respondents, who included e-learning instructors and students. A total of 48 lecturers and 136 students participated in the study. The results of the study showed that the most common tools used for elearning
in Kenyan Public Universities were social networks, which included YouTube and Facebook. It was also interesting to note how learners perceived the tools. The major challenges relating to these tools were also identified.
Finally, Performance expectancy was identified as the main factor influencing the use of Web 2.0 tools in Public Universities in Kenya.
Keywords: E-learning, learning management systems, unified theory of acceptance and use of technology

EGovernment and innovation can provide significant opportunities to transform public administration into an instrument of sustainable development. However, the rate of failure of eGovernment projects in the developing world, and specifically Africa, has raised questions on the critical factors contributing to their success or failure. The general lack of comprehensive information concerning eGovernment project performance status and the critical technological factors influencing it in Kenya also necessitated this study. To answer this question, this study aimed at assessing the critical technological factors of eGovernment projects performance in Kenya. The study targeted all the 18 eGovernment projects in place implemented through the Communications Authority (CA) of Kenya. The results are based on response from 217 respondents who consisted of 52 eGovernment project implementers and 165
eGovernment service consumers. The study found that of the technological predictors of eGovernment, only system integration, processes and usage of eGovernment system emerged to have positive significant relationships with project performance in Kenya.
Other factors including information technology standards, security issue, privacy issue, cooperation or collaboration, eGovernment portal availability, eGovernment portal access, and various computer usages also had positive but insignificant relationships with eGovernment project performance and hence not critical in influencing to eGovernment project performance in Kenya.
Keywords: eGovernment, Projects, Critical, Technological, Factors, Performance