Exploiting Google Apps for Health Professional Training’s: A Case of a Rural University (Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology)

Norbert Boruett

(Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology)

Abstract: The use of eLearning in Africa is still hampered by a host of many factors. Chief among them is low internet connectivity and lack of expertise to tweak the systems. Google has grown a number of tools that can be exploited by teachers. The great thing is that the tools are free, and secondly, they don’t require any management and they are hosted in the cloud with Google. It is for this reason that we decide to use the free Google apps for teaching and learning. Specifically, we picked on the Google docs and the Wikispaces. The Google docs were very ideal for formative assessment, and when we incorporated flavor, it graded, analyzed and dispatched the feedback to the learners. The Wikispaces are a wonderful learning management system. Albeit some limitations, we could use to create and disseminate content and monitor discussions. The platform allowed, also an assessment of learners, it was possible to embed quizzes among other resources. Collaboration among students was enhanced. Students were satisfied with the use of the Google apps and the performance was enhanced as demonstrated by the results. The other humanitarian benefit, was that most of the learners were health workers, so they could, take their lesson in their respective workstations and attend to their patients.

Key words: Google apps, Wikispaces, learning management system