Factors influencing success in the delivery of business courses through Web CT in remote locations: a case study of collaborative partnership between Curtin University and the African Virtual University

Abstract

There is limited access to tertiary education for students in remote African locations. In 1997 the World Bank launched the African Virtual University which collaboratively "facilitates the use of effective Open Distance and eLearning (ODeL) Methodologies in African Tertiary Education Institutions" (2007). As collaborating partners, lecturers from Curtin University of Technology in Western Australia utilised Web CT to deliver the Bachelor of Business (BBA) into four East African universities; Addis Ababa University (Ethiopia), Kigali Institute of Science & Technology (Rwanda), Kenyatta University (Kenya), University of Dar es Salaam (Tanzania). This paper presents a case study which describes the deployment of Web-CT into these locations. The successes identified in this case study refer, particularly, to student completions. Due to environmental conditions present at the time of the AVU-BBA project and documented in the literature the project encountered difficulties. Some references are made to the African students' expectations concerning their distance and e-learning experiences and capacity building as an outcome of the AVU and Curtin University of Technology partnership. As a result of this research, recommendations are made for the successful delivery of distance and e-learning in similar African rural and remote locations.