Department of Computer Science

Permanent URI for this collectionhttp://erepository.kibu.ac.ke/handle/123456789/188

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Big Data Analytics and Electronic Resource Usage in Academic Libraries: A Case Study of a Private University in Kenya
(European Scientific Journal, 2019-05-01) Wakahia, Samuel Kairigo
The purpose of the study was to apply Big Data analytics as a tool for evaluating electronic resources usage in the academic library setup in Kenya with reference to the library of one private university. Log files of postgraduate students were mined from the server where the offsite access platform (ezproxy) has been installed. Descriptive statistical techniques such as mean, standard deviation and percentages were computed. Data was transferred to the Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) software was aided in the analysis. Results revealed that in terms of usage intensity, total URL count was 2,352, the highest user made 283 downloads and the mean URL count was 49 downloads. Further findings revealed that no user utilized more than 5 databases over a period of one year. The mean usage intensity score for respondents who were trained or orientated on e-resource usage was above average at 69.0 while those who had not received training were below average at 29.8. It was concluded that big data analytics is a necessary and powerful tool for investigating electronic resources seeking and usage trends and patterns within Kenyan university libraries. Through big data analysis and data mining, usage patterns and trends such as usage intensity that might not have accurately been revealed through other tools are unearthed. Big data analytics has revealed user preferences and intensity of utilization of various databases and helped in detection of redundant databases. From the usage patterns, it was clear that the level of utilization of the University library’s e-resource platform was very low. Most of the databases accessible through the platform were redundant. Further, only two databases namely e-book central and ebscohost were the most popular among users while the rest were barely being utilized if at all. For most students, just one or two databases were sufficient in meeting their research needs. An integrated data analytics model for investigating university library’s e-resources usage is proposed.
Current status of e-health in Kenya and emerging global research trends 1
(2012) Juma, Kilwake; Nahason, Matoke; Apollo, Waliaro; Gregory, Wanyembi; Patrick, Ogao
Healthcare delivery is being transformed by advances in e-Health which is now recognized as an essential enabler for support of health systems across the world, acting not only as an agent for reforming healthcare systems, but also as an enabling tool to share resources among countries with similar challenges without having to duplicate efforts. Lack of interoperable health systems and consensus on data standards is one of the major barriers to the use of health information. Mobile phone use has seen tremendous growth across the developing world offering opportunities to engage e-Health applications. This paper looks at the status of e-Health in Kenya exploring the efforts the government has put in place to create a conducive environment for e-Health and also explores the global research trends in e-Health. The study is carried out through an examination of scientific research papers in journals and conference proceedings. Additionally, telephone interviews with the Ministries of Health, and Public Health and Sanitation is carried out to gauge the level of adoption. The study seems to reveal that though e-Health in Kenya is still in its infancy, the potential for its growth is enormous. This is fuelled by the rapid penetration of mobile phone use, an educated and entrepreneurial populace, and conducive legal, regulatory, and infrastructural environments.
Current status of E-health in Kenya and emerging global research trends 1
(2012) Kilwake, J.; Nahason, M.; Apollo, W.; Gregory, W.; Patrick, O.
Healthcare delivery is being transformed by advances in e-Health which is now recognized as an essential enabler for support of health systems across the world, acting not only as an agent for reforming healthcare systems, but also as an enabling tool to share resources among countries with similar challenges without having to duplicate efforts. Lack of interoperable health systems and consensus on data standards is one of the major barriers to the use of health information. Mobile phone use has seen tremendous growth across the developing world offering opportunities to engage e-Health applications. This paper looks at the status of e-Health in Kenya exploring the efforts the government has put in place to create a conducive environment for e-Health and also explores the global research trends in e-Health. The study is carried out through an examination of scientific research papers in journals and conference proceedings. Additionally, telephone interviews with the Ministries of Health, and Public Health and Sanitation is carried out to gauge the level of adoption. The study seems to reveal that though e-Health in Kenya is still in its infancy, the potential for its growth is enormous. This is fuelled by the rapid penetration of mobile phone use, an educated and entrepreneurial populace, and conducive legal, regulatory, and infrastructural environments.
Determinants of E-Resources Usage Intensity of Postgraduate Students in a Kenyan Private University
(IOSR Journal of Humanities And Social Science (IOSR-JHSS), 2021-09-01) Wakahia, Samuel Kairigo Mboha, Sylvance Anyumba
The aim of this study was to ascertain the determinants of usage intensity of e-resource platforms accessible to postgraduate students of a Kenyan private university. The research applied Technology Acceptance Model (TAM) to make sense of e-resource interaction and usage by postgraduate university students within a developing country context. Cross-sectional descriptive survey design was used. The target population was 225 postgraduate students who were on session during September 2017 semester and who had completed at least one year of study. From this, 79 eligible respondents were randomply sampled. Perception data was matched against users„ uniform resource locator (URL) log count. Inferences were drawn using correlation and regression technique. The study established that TAM factors explained 10.9 percent of the variability in the student‟s eresource usage intensity. The results showed that perceived ease of use had no statistically significant predictive power on e-resource usage intensity. The results also indicated that perceived usefulness did not significantly predict the student‟s e-resource usage intensity. Similarly, perceived behavioural factors did not significantly predict the student‟s e-resource usage intensity. The results challenge the applicability of TAM for explaining technology acceptance and usage as far as e-resource usage is concerned. Conclusion was drawn that TAM factors are not adequate for explaining postgraduate student„s e-resource usage intensity in a Kenyan private university. University librarians should be user-centric in the design of all its systems. This calls for collecting the views of users and bringing their input on board as opposed to library logic where the library staff create a system based on what they believe is good for the users. More studies that integrate objective data mined from e-resource servers with perception data using a larger dataset should be conducted to confirm or refute the findings of this research. Meta analysis of such studies can lead to the development and validation of new models for explaining e-resource usage especially in a resource-constrained country.
Devolved Governance in Kenya; Is it a False Start in Democratic Decentralization for Development?
(2015-01) Khaunya, M.F.; Wawire, B.P.; Chepng’eno, V.
Many democracies world over, including Kenya have in recent years adopted devolution as a system of decentralization for development. In Kenya, this was after years of the post independence approach of Local Governments which still embraced a strong centralized governance structure and which had been meant to resolve the regional development challenges but apparently failed. This is evidenced by the challenges in Kenya have mainly associated with bureaucratic inefficiencies, lack of accountability and transparency, unequal distribution of national resources and minimal community participation in local development, amongst others. The Constitution of Kenya 2010 upon promulgation and enactment changed the Governance structure from a centralized unit to devolved sub-units known as the County Governments. It was expected that the onset of these devolved governments after the 2013 Elections and enactment of subsidiary laws would address these development challenges of the centralized governance that Kenya has faced since independence. Indeed currently, there is a deliberate effort by the National Government to equitably distribute resources through County Government quota disbursements, there is evidence of increased accountability arising from efforts of relevant ‘watchdog’ institutions and also community participation in development matters through appropriate institutional frameworks can be noted. However, despite these apparent positive realizations through County Governments’ establishments in Kenya, they to a larger extent seem to have been overshadowed and threatened by a number of challenges, four years after the enactment of the Constitution and a year into their decentralized functionality. Currently, most media houses in Kenya have so much of the negative reports about the County Governments that the impression given is that this form of decentralization in Kenya could be a false start if not a total failure. For example, it is currently being reported that a Governor in Embu County, Eastern Kenya has been impeached due to impropriety, the Auditor General’s report screams of massive impropriety in many Counties, a section of Governors have been summoned by the Senate to account for some specified allegations, striking citizens in some Counties over one issue or another, boycotts due to ‘irregular’ appointments by respective County Public Service Boards, the list is endless! It is in light of the aforementioned reports and the initial apparent development challenges of centralized governance that the paper seeks to measure the extent to which these challenges have been addressed after the decentralized devolved system of governance was introduced. The paper adopts a diagnostic approach based on desk research to investigate these Kenyan challenges, draws from expert opinion and does comparative analysis based on lessons from other devolved political systems in Africa and the world. The paper explores and discusses these challenges with a view of informing other world democracies that have or are on the verge of adopting this strategy of decentralization for development to be conscious of these pitfalls and design appropriate structures and a roll out framework for circumventing them. It also informs Constitutional development of devolved government structures. The paper establishes that the County Governments in Kenya have indeed made significant progress in involvement of stakeholders on development at County level, a realization of devolvement of funds, creation of employment opportunities, a more accountable political system and devolvement of certain key functions to the local level.This is commendable. However, the study establishes that the Counties have been faced with a myriad of challenges that indeed stand in the way of the realized achievements, namely lack of political goodwill, inadequate funding, ‘devolved’ corruption, nepotism, inability to absorb some devolved functions, mistrust among stakeholders, different implementers of devolution with varied cultures and approaches, devolved bureaucracy, a bloated workforce with duplication of duties and internal political supremacy wars. These County Governments are also threatened by an over bearing National Assembly and Executive, an overzealous County Assembly, deteriorating public goodwill and a weak legislature and institutional framework. It therefore concludes that the malaise of a centralized system of governance still lingers within this devolved system and until these challenges are addressed, no real benefits of devolution will be realized or even if so, sustained. The author recommends legislation to allow for a phased approach to devolution preferably on pilot basis starting with the fairly large County Governments and those with varied economic, social and demographic characteristics, more stringent anti corruption laws and an effective mechanism for community participation. The retention of the public service functions with the National Government to maintain a smooth transition in public service delivery and a stringent and coherent legislative framework to guide all aspects of the devolution process are other recommendations suggested by the author.
The digital board in a university setting: two real cases in Europe and East Africa
(Springer, Berlin, Heidelberg, 2010-05-19) Bertarelli, Fabio; Corradini, Matteo; Guaraldi, Giacomo; Genovese, Elisabetta; Kilwake, Juma; Mutua, Stephen
Usually the digital board is thought of as a tool that can only be used beneficially in the context of primary school, secondary school or in a situation of learning handicap. In this case study we want to highlight how the new tools can be used in more broad settings such as teaching in scientific and technical universities. The easy adoption of all useful software on the market to the use of these tools makes them an innovative element in the teaching techniques of the future
The Influence of Emotional Intelligence on Service Delivery
(2015-01) Nyerere, K.J.; Wawire, B.P.
In this paper the authors determine the influence of emotional intelligence in service delivery. The independent variables social skills, self-awareness, social awareness and self-management are analyzed to determine their influence on service delivery. Ex post facto research design was used. The results of the paper indicated social skills, self-awareness, social awareness and self-management has an influence on service delivery. The paper recommends training targeted at the development of emotional intelligence of employees in organizations, knowledge, skills and personality orientation.
Influence of social personalization on performance in group learning
(IEEE, 2017) Mayeku, Betty; Wabwoba, Franklin; Hogrefe, Dieter
Though personalization has been proposed as an approach that addresses learners' individual differences, the focus of studies in this domain has mainly been on tailoring learning to individual learners' needs as compared to group learning. The few studies that have factored the aspect of learner personality in group learning have overlooked learners' sociological preferences when modeling learner personality. However, it is of essence for learners' social personalities to be considered in group formation since social presence is the basis for collaborative learning. Furthermore, sociological preferences differ among learners and this contributes to individual differences. This paper explored the effect of taking into account the social personalities of a learner in creating collaborative groups. The study was based on the use of PECALE software prototype that enhances personalization and learner engagement through context awareness. The group performance was measured based on how long a group could take to solve a given collaborative task. The results showed that groups that had similar sociological preferences spent significantly less time solving a task than the groups that were formed with no consideration of sociological preferences. Assigning learners into groups while adhering to their sociological needs may offer a platform for equity and inclusion in collaborative learning since every learner's needs are addressed. This may in turn enhance group productivity. Furthermore, the study's approach may also be useful in formation of teams that can work effectively together in the workplace.
Influence of social technical factors on ict readiness for primary schools in Bungoma county, Kenya
(2015) Batoya, Isaac Barasa; Wabwoba, Franklin; Kilwake, Juma
Since the 1980s integration of ICT in education has been compulsory in the developed nations where the access rate is one computer to 15 students. In developing nations such as Kenya it is more recent and experimental with the access rate of one computer to 150 students. Many government efforts and private initiatives tried to address ICT integration in the school level by carving out policies and strategies, providing computers and Internet access. Despite the huge investment in ICT infrastructure, equipment and professional development for teachers by the government and schools, developed countries have reported up to 41% of integration of ICT to teaching and learning, the proportion remains substantially low in Africa, Kenya included. This raises questions as to how well the integration was being done and how ready the environment was, if less than 40% of the available ICT infrastructure were being used. The purpose of the study was to analyze the influence of social technical factors on ICT Readiness for Primary Schools. The study established that for one to integrate ICT in schools, ICT usefulness, leadership support, professional development and technical support should be put in place. The study recommended that education stakeholders in the county should train all the teachers on how to integrate technology in teaching, guarantee technical support to ICT infrastructure, ensure leadership support and develop an elaborate professional development programme for educators.
Integrated Multi-Agent-Based eLearning System as a Strategy to Promote Access to Higher Education in Africa
(IGI Global, 2015) Omulayi, G.N.; Wawire, B.P.
In this chapter, the authors present the integrated multi-agent-based eLearning system as a strategy to promote access to higher education in Africa. The integrated multi-agent eLearning system breaks through the traditional barriers of time, location, and the cost of delivering educational content. The power of the Internet in an educational context has always been that it simplifies access to content and contact with the experts. An agent-oriented methodology is used in this chapter to demonstrate how multi-agents can help to design an eLearning system. This integrated multi-agent-based eLearning system brings in merits of portability, convenience, collaboration, instant response, and multi-literacies, and provides solutions in cases where expertise is distributed all over Africa. Given the rising population in Africa and scarcity of qualified professors in higher education, the best strategy is to implement the designed eLearning system to help support the learning processes in higher education institutions.
Use of low cost wireless communication technology for education in rural Kenya
(ACM, 2010-06-15) Mayeku, Betty; Kilwake, Juma; Bertarelli, Fabio
With the advent of mobile revolution, the emerging mobile technologies can support a broad range of learning activities on a variety of mobile devices, a concept referred to as mobile learning. The combination of wireless communication technology and mobile computing is resulting in rapid transformations of the educational world. This paper explores the use of low cost wireless technology in combination with other existing technologies to bring education to rural and pastoralist tribes in Kenya who would otherwise not have access to education.

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