A new purpose for education
The eLearning Africa annual conference and exhibition is the largest and most comprehensive knowledge sharing event for technology-enhanced education, training and skills on the African continent.
With this year's theme being 'A new purpose for education', eLearning Africa 2022 looks at a range of issues, including:
- the specific, practical challenges facing African countries
- the suitability of global models in the African context
- the importance of redirecting education to what are likely to be African countries' future needs
- the use of technology in enabling African countries to respond to their specific needs in context
- the development of a single African market and the consequent opportunities and requirements of employers
- the contribution Africa can make to global learning and to providing African experience to solving global problems
Olivier Habimana, lecturer at VVOB's partner University of Rwanda - College of Education, presents a paper on 'Investigating the impact of conversational learning via chatbots on learning motivation and outcomes in two blended in-service teacher education programmes in Rwanda' on Thursday 12 May at 2:30 pm.
Abstract
Due to COVID-19 restrictions, shifting from face-to-face to online delivery of continuous professional development (CPD) programmes for in-service teachers offered by the University of Rwanda, College of Education in collaboration with VVOB has created challenges related mainly to motivation and to learning outcomes achievement. In response to challenges, a conversational chatbot system intervention was designed to complement the regular e-learning platform (Moodle) to ensure the smooth continuation of learning. This study investigated the impact of using a conversational chatbot system on students’ motivation and learning outcomes acheivemement. Mixed methods research was conducted on 621 trainees taking part in two courses: Educational Mentorship and Coaching (EMC) for School-Based Mentors and Sector Education Inspectors as well as Educational Mentorship and Coaching in STEM (EMC-STEM) for School Subject Leaders. The results indicate that the conversational chatbot system positively impacts the trainees’ motivation and learning outcomes. The chatbot intrinsically motivated the trainees to complete and enjoy various activities in terms of motivation. In addition, it helped them to access the Moodle link easily as one of the main factors in equity learning. However, the results revealed no significant difference in assessment scores across treatment and control groups on learning outcomes achievement. Besides, the district and academic background were found to be the main predictors for assessment scores in both CPD programmes. As different indicators have shown that the conversational chatbot system intrinsically motivates the trainees and helps for the equity of learning for trainees, it can be added as a support in other programmes and classroom-related environments. In addition, further research is needed to deeply investigate if conversational chatbot system aids the intensity of learning for trainees.
