As schools adjust to the government's decision to temporarily close schools to curb the spread of COVID-19, one thing is clear; remote learning remains a possibility.

An escalating number of COVID-19 cases are being confirmed globally, and at least seven cases have been reported in Rwanda as of Tuesday, making extended school closures more likely.

As a result, for students to be able to study and learn more in the face of the outbreak, different schools have resorted to digitalisation of classrooms.

Such is the case for University of Rwanda which ordered all university branches to upload instructional materials to the university’s e-learning platform effective March 16.

"We have been reflecting on our level of digitalisation, and wish to undertake a final push to complete this week. Thus, all instructional materials of modules that are currently being delivered are to be uploaded to UR's e-learning platform not later than March 20, 2020. This exercise applies to all second trimester and second-semester modules for undergraduate and postgraduate programs respectively,” part of the statement, released by the Vice Chancellor’s office reads.

According to Philip Cotton, UR vice-chancellor, the public statement released is a warning to all the lectures who have not yet uploaded content needed by the students on the e-learning platform.

He points out that lecturers need to maximise this short break by uploading all the required instructional materials to the existing platform.

"The decision to upload instruction material was not made lightly," he says. "Currently there are some schools that have 70% of the work needed by students but we want lectures to be able to upload 100% of the content.”

Additionally, the vice-chancellor is of the view that as students fight to stay on track with their academics, teachers should not relax, but instead ensure to upload all the necessary content needed online.

"First of all, we are dealing with lectures to ensure that whatever a student needs is uploaded,” therefore, he adds, "Students will be able to access full information with no challenges.”

For Olivier Minani, an IT expert, there is no better time to digitalise classrooms.

"The goal of these changes is to minimise the need to gather in large groups and spend prolonged time in close proximity with each other in spaces such as classrooms, dining halls, and residential buildings."

Existing challenges

Among the major challenges that face digitalisation at the University of Rwanda is accessibility, highlighted by a student from the university who asked for anonymity.

"We are not proficient in using e-platforms and some courses such as practical courses can’t be done on-line,” the student says.

She adds, "There is still a challenge of no credentials provided to us. Which hinders us from accessing content. But also there is a shortage of internet and user friendly gadgets.”