UConnect has striven to enhance acquisition and sharing of knowledge and information by students and teachers in Uganda through e-learning technologies in since 1995, signing MoUs with the Ministry of Education from 1997.
UConnect provides with refurbished quality computers to schools, with a modicum of content, on a non-profit basis.
The demographics were such that only percent of the people had mains electricity, and except for a few donor-funded solar powered computer labs, schools without electricity had little access to e-learning. Most schools with power did not have computers, and fewer had Internet access; despite schools discounts by ISPs school budgets tended to prioritise more tangible assets.
Academics
Schools with computers could now simply get a copy on USB to share with other schools under the Creative Commons license. UConnect spoke at relevant events about how students and teachers were benefiting from the rich offline learning content, including, supplying copies to educators, officials, NGO, aid agency managers from African countries, even copying to ministers laptops.
To reach out to teachers and head teachers UConnect has been providing them with low cost laptops preloaded with the most up to date Rachel Repository, GCFLearnfree, Allversity and Practical Action, vast libraries of resources on agriculture, food processing energy, construction, climate change, water resource and disaster management.
The teachers are shown how to use the content effectively, incorporating methodologies such as the flipped classroom, to increase the level of engagement between student, teacher and content. They are also encouraged to copy the repository for their colleagues, teachers from other schools, students and their parents.
Area of impact
The objective of UConnect is the advancement of public education in developing countries with focus initially in Uganda and the East African region, using Information and Computer Technology (ICT) to improve the quality and efficiency of education through the provision of relevant hardware, software and educational content, and the training of teachers and relevant stakeholders in the use of communications technologies for education, health, agriculture and other sectors.
[related_posts]The NGO, Uconnect imports used computers from Europe and USA, revamps them and supplies them to schools and organisations. The organisation also helps them to network their computer labs and to get Internet connections.