Making an African LMS: Using global platforms versus trying something new

Since starting my research into African-based e-learning companies and platforms following my last blog post, I have focused in on identifying African Learning Management Systems (LMS) in k-12 and higher education throughout the continent. I have had the wonder and opportunity to discover not only a plethora of development, but also innovation in new forms of platforms, providing access through mobile and standard devices to many students across Africa. However, considering how recent much of this development is and how competitive the sector is, there is a lot of competition and turnover for startups/businesses in the sector. This has made it difficult to quantify the exact number or nature of the businesses and products outside of the more popular ones, but I have been able to identify common themes in the development of these products--specifically LMS.

First and foremost, my particular interest in LMS relates to the encompassing effects that it has for educational systems in terms of management. A well-organized, staffed, and efficiently modeled LMS can provide countless benefits: data analytics, grade reporting, contact lists for students/parents, attendance records, centralized folders for collaboration between professional learning teams, and ease of access for compatibility with mobile/other devices (i.e. no paper clutter--a big one for me as a former teacher). This also reflects largely on the school/system at large; is it efficient? How is it organized? Is there collaboration? How is attendance tracked (if it is)? Are grades reported, and if so, how? While one can argue that many regions throughout the continent are not at the paper-level of organization/management answered by these questions (see previous blog post), many MOE's and systems are looking for LMS to solve these issues.

This leads to two concerns: who is developing and funding LMS in Africa? The answer may seem obvious--NGOs, country governance, private corporations--but it is not as simple. In my endeavor to discover the e-learning companies address prior, I have found many dichotomies with one central theme: the idea of "makers" vs. "takers." In 2011, Michael Trucano put forth the concern of the future of ed-tech development in Africa, and how much of it would be dominated by "makers" vs. "takers." To clarify, "makers" here would refer to Africans making content/tech for Africans, whereas "takers" would use existing systems/OER's/tech to implement regionally.

To an extent, everyone internationally is a bit of a "taker" when it comes to tech development. Programming languages, operating systems, and devices have all been standardized to such a degree that it is difficult to do any development outside of certain OS and programming languages, the majority of which are English-based (programming languages in other spoken languages do exist, but C#, Java, .NET, Python, and Ruby are dominant in the region). The advantages to borrowing large-scale and internationally renown systems such as Moodle, Blackboard, etc. can be multitudinous. First, resources for teachers are easy to find considering the large community of users/providers internationally, which can drastically reduce both the time-commitment and funding required to make the materials in the first place. Similarly, the system itself is consistently updated and maintained for its large network of users, and is top-of-the-line in usability and access. Finally, tech support is frequently provided by the parent company at its different offices, which takes some of the burden off of local providers/managers.

However, there are a number of issues with the "taker" mentality. First is the language presented to users--English, French, Swahili, etc. While there is a lot of funding and marketing for international LMS like Blackboard, Sakai, Moodle, etc. and support for local educational systems to implement these LMS, the language of implementation is frequently an issue for local learners--especially for educational systems that struggle with literacy levels for national languages and preside over a constituency with many different ethnic language backgrounds. Also, while these are very efficient and valuable systems for regions with technological development, issues such as bandwidth, loading times, and access to some of the more streamlined features can bog down the usability of these platforms. For those that do have externally located supported, call-waiting times and time-zone differences can further diminish practicality.

Hence, many local organizations and start-ups are attempting to develop LMS and other learning software that is more compatible with devices and users in the region--our "makers." The goal: develop African content for African schools/standards that works for African users. While most of the development in my research has predominately highlighted organizations utilizing Blackboard/Moodle/etc., it has been encouraging to see the amount of investment and resources poured into local start-ups and companies that are coming up with their own solutions. According to Docebo's E-learning Market Trends and Forecasts: 2014-2016 Report, as of 2016 revenues would be $512.7 Million (I am unsure if this actually came to fruition). Growth has been considerable and continues to grow according to the same report, and it is evident in the region. According to a report by GSMA, there are 314 active tech hubs across the continent. While many of these draw funding from Google/Microsoft, they provide support through incubators/accelerators for many start-ups developing independent solutions for African learners.

Hubs such as iHub in Nairobi continue to also provide analytics and data on growth throughout the region, and continue to publish through their blogs information, sources, updates and news about development in the region. Other blogs such as Disrupt Africa also provide reports and updates on development from Africans for Africans, and how their solutions are progressing across the continent.

Many of these start-ups have met with success. In West Africa, start-ups such as Edves have had success in serving as a whole education management system: for administrators, teachers, students, and parents for streamlining the grade reports, attendance, etc. While not a learning management system, capabilities of Nigeria's Youngsoul provide in class data analytics and feedback for teachers/students, which provides some of the criteria for LMS and can further limit the "paper trail."

While these are just a few examples in West Africa, I plan to further pursue examples of these systems and their efficacy. Hopefully through contact to these organizations and further investigation, I can get a glimpse of how these systems are actually fairing--i.e. number of users, cost, access, etc. Also, I plan on looking at support policy for these systems in terms of funding. I want to investigate how many of these are funded/supported through incubators, or possibly directly from government funds/NGOs.

In light of the recent U.S. election and plans that President Donald Trump has, there is a considerable push towards de-funding international organizations. This can have drastic implications on these start-ups and tech-hubs--and/or NGO's that support them. Hopefully, African based-solutions can continue to thrive and compensate for the net losses that may occur over the next few months and years. Hopefully my investigation will shed light on alternatives. We shall see if de-funding takes place, and what impact will be made.

#LMS #Africa #elearning #makers #takers #Moodle #Blackboard #education #startups