MAKERERE UNIVERSITY

COLLEGE OF COMPUTING AND INFORMATION SCIENCES

SCHOOL OF COMPUTING AND INFORMATICS TECHNOLOGY (SCIT)
P.O. BOX 7062 KAMPALA, UGANDA
GROUP
COURSE UNIT: E-SERVICES
COURSE CODE: IST 2202
LECTURER: DR. EVEVELYN KALENZI ASIO

RESEARCH PROPOSAL
NAMES REG Nos.
SSEMANDA YAHAYA KYEYUNE 18/U/13714/PS
NAMATA BRAVINDAH 18/U/20884/EVE
NAMATOVU ANGELLA 18/U/22821/PS
SSEBAGGALA TIMOTHY 18/U/22874/PS
NDAWULA ALBERT MAWANDA 18/U/22774 /PS
NAMUDDU SHAMIRAH 18/U/22802/PS
BALYEJJUSA DENNIS SAMUEL 18/U/21034/PS
BANURA REAGAN 18/1361/PS

YEAR 2020

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Theme: E-LEARNING
1.What is an e-service in the context of learning or education? Namata Bravindah11
An e-service in the context of learning or education is the use of electronic technologies or
internet or information and communication technologies for leaching or learning.
2) Explain the term e-learning? Is there a difference between e-learning and e-education? If Yes,
Justify your answer. If no explain why. Namata Bravindah
a) E-Learning is the use of technologies in learning opportunities, encompassing flexible
learning as well as distance learning, and use of information and communication
technology as a communications and delivery tool between individuals and groups to
support student’s and improve management of learning.
b) There is no difference between e-learning and e-education.
This is because E-learning is utilizing electronic technologies in order to have access to
educational curriculum outside of a traditional classroom.
NOTE: Whoever is studying online is receiving education because e-education is the
same as e-learning since all classes are carried out via the internet and it is the education
curriculum followed.
E- Learning is the use of technological resources, processes and systems to improve or
manage the learning or education process.
3) Provide at least 3 elaborate examples of e-learning initiatives or solutions (NB: give local and
international examples of the initiatives (or commercial and open source examples). For each
example list key functions or capabilities and disadvantages).Namatovu Angella
Internationally
99 math. This is an interesting e-learning form that is used to teach math to students. Its helps
them virtually improve their math skills. It is mostly designed for elementary and primary school
students.
3D learning. 3DL is an app that can be downloaded by both students and teachers containing
1000+ videos and animations that can be used for e-learning.It contains Q&A forms and quizzes
that help students. Also can be used by teachers as a mode of teaching.
Locally
Kolibri. This is a digital platform approved by the National Curriculum Development Centre
(NCDC). It empowers students with skills that are used in day-day life.
Cyber school technologies. This is another e-learning platform used in schools these days.
Schools pay an annual fee of UGX 100,000 and can access most subjects like biology, physics
etc
Disadvantages are Some of these e-learning initiatives cannot be accessed by some people or
schools as they tend to be expensive.Some initiatives can also not be accessed due to network
issues.
4) Discuss at least 3 benefits of e-learning (hint on answer structure: provide benefits of
eLearning to an institution, its learners, and its instructors) Namatovu Angella
Institution E-learning saves time and money. Content can be accessed anytime and anywhere.
Employees don’t need to first leave their jobs to attend class. And it’s also cheaper as you don’t
need to hire a trainer.

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Learners Promotes active learning. Most of the e-learning videos contain videos that enable the
learner to participate in the study. Some are in form of games to help learners solve problems for
example in mathematics.
Instructors E-learning sites enable instructors to stay in the game as this allows them update
their knowledge. Also instructors don’t need to leave their homes to go train other people, as
they can upload videos of themselves thus saving time.
5) Discuss at least 3 challenges faced in e-learning adoption or implementation in developing
countries such as Uganda. Ssemanda Yahaya
Low network bandwidth in some areas of the country has not only discouraged distant
interaction of the lecturers and their students but as also slowed the access of the material online
such as text books. This in return has discouraged many potential students from embarking on
such an important emerging trend in education.
Lack of important elements such such as personal monikers that have not only deprived the
students from accessing the academic information online but also have denied them a chance of
getting online interactions with their instructors.
Limited computer skills among some students has also challenged the adoption of E-learning.
Due to luck of such skills, the students find it complex to adopt the system as it tends to
confusing to them. This in return makes the system hard to be accepted by such students with
limited computer skills.
6) Discuss at least 3 success factors for e-learning adoption or implementation (or possible
solutions for addressing adoption/implementation)Nammudu Shamirah
Perceived ease of use has attracted many college students to adopt the this learning method as it
tends to ease learning through availing the studying material to its users with a lot of ease for
example the use of CISCO network academy in studying computer networking.
Perceived usefulness not only to course instructors but also the students as the tends to be no
need of the two parties to move in to the lecture theatre for live interactions. All this can be done
online and at convenient places of both the two parties thus working in preferred environment.
Increase in training on E-learning technologies. This in turn has led to adoption of the technique
as many college students from various universities in Uganda have been given such skills by
their course instructors thus finding easy to interact with such E-learning system put in place.
This in return has increased its success in Uganda.
7) E-Learning Case Study: Choose a university that you are familiar with (private or public) and
identify a problem that would be solved through effective adoption of e-learning. Ssemanda
Yahaya and Balyejussa Dennis
Case study:ST Lawrence University
Problem statement:Failure of the university students to balance academics demands with work.
This is due to the fact that some of ST Lawrence students are working students who try hard to
balance work with studies. But because of a weak E-learning platform, many students find it
difficult to optimize work and studies and the same time.
Features of the problem are Inconsistent attendances of various students from various
colleges,Increase in the number of missing students, Increase in numbers of students who don’t
complete the study programs.
The E-learning solution to solve the problem is developing an online interactive study system.

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Major system requirements and specifications include; Visually simple for students to interact
with it, Required to be easy to navigate so as to ease the extraction of information and more so to
attain optimum utilization, Required to be social so as to facilitate distance interaction between
the students them selves and the student lecturers’ interactions.Required to be interactive so as to
enable students find their questions answered and also reduce on the student consultations to the
lecturers.
Infrastructure requirements for the E-learning solution to operate; A good database for storage of
the users’ information, the study material, and other important information needed by the users
and the system administrators. Security is also required as the system stores important
information for not only the students but also for lecturers. For that reason therefore, security for
information in the system should be highly emphasized so as to eliminate information miss.
Network requirements should also be considered since the system encourages distant learning. A
failure in network means a failure in information access. Therefore the network administrator
should make sure the system must be well networked for proper information sharing.Cost
effectiveness in construction. This eases the stakeholders from heavy budgets and
discouragements that would occur out of the highly estimated systems.

Course Work:
NDAWULA ALBERT MAWANDA
a)An e-service refers to a agricultural system based on formalized agriculture but with the help
of electronic resources.
b) E-agriculture involves the conceptualization, design, development, evaluation and application
of innovative ways to use information and communication technologies (ICTs
c)locally:
WeFarm. This is an online agricultural in initiative in Uganda were farmers share more than
40,000 questions and answers every day. Farmers connect with one another to solve
problems, share ideas, and spread innovation, for free, and without needing an internet
connection (We farm works even through SMS). Utilizing the latest machine learning
technology, Wefarm’s service gets bespoke, crowd- sourced information to help farmers
increase yields, gain insight into pricing, tackle the effects of climate change, source the
best quality seeds, fertilizer, and loans and diversify their agricultural interests.The
disadvantage is that it requires one to have a device and network connectivity which is
normally hard in the extremely rural areas of Uganda.
eSagu. eSagu provides customized solution to the farmers’ problems and advises them from
sowing to harvesting. Farmers send their farm condition in the form of digital photographs and

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videos, which were analyzed by the agricultural scientists and experts. After that, they suggest
the right things to do to the farmers even small and marginal farmers are also getting advantage
by this. The expert advice is conveyed to the concerned farmer within short time. The queries of
illiterate farmers are dealt with the help of educated coordinators at village level. The farm
situation or problem is communicated to the agricultural experts and they transmit accurate
information to the farmers.
Internationally;
Agrisnet. It is a comprehensive web portal to broadcast relevant information to farmers, which
was initiated and funded by the Ministry of Agriculture, Government of India. The AGRISNET
serves farming community by disseminating information and providing services through use of
Information & Communication Technology (ICT).

BANURA REAGAN
d)Benefits:
To the farmer, it strengthens capacities and better representation of farmers constituencies when
negotiating input and output prices, land claims, resource rights and infrastructure
To the country, it eases access to Information about pest and disease control, especially early
warning systems, new varieties, new ways to optimize production and regulations for quality
control thus increased revenue.
To the consumer, it provides Up-to-date market information on prices for commodities, inputs
and consumer trends.

e) Challenges
Availability of Internet connection is an important factor when implementing agricultural
technology tools and techniques. Uganda generally has low and internet connection in rural areas
and thus access to slow-speed internet. As a result, farmers in further located areas struggle with
implementing new technologies and tools.
Limited Infrastructure development is still in its infancy in many areas of Uganda. This is
however prevalent in most rural communities. Most rural communities in Uganda are
characterized by poor road network, no access to electricity, and poor network connectivity.

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With the majority of the farming population living in rural communities, the absence of these
technological infrastructure poses a challenge to adoption of E-Agriculture.
High illiteracy rate among farmers. Illiteracy rate is very high amongst smallholder farmers
which affects their ability to effectively understand and manage the use of ICT tools.

f) Success
Prevalence and simplicity. The prevalence of computers is consistently increasing which in turn
reduces reluctance to adopt them. Eventually reduced inhibition and lower costs lead farmers to
seek and adopt software to suit their needs. The less sophisticated farmers tend in time to join the
process by seeking suitable simple, non-challenging solutions.
High Returns on investment. Farmers that find ICT to be beneficial and compatible with their
needs point out the following advantages: easy collection of data, favorable comparisons of cost
and income, follow-up of data input, establishment of cumulative data sets, their use and
information accessing all translating into management efficiency. This alone makes it a success
factor for adoption of E-Agriculture among other farmers.
Flexibility. ICT is not confined to a specific crop or crop-pattern which in turn allows the farmer
maximum adaptation flexibility. Consequently, different farmers growing the same crop may
utilize the e-agriculture differently thus adoption.

8) E-Agriculture Case Study: Choose a scenario in agriculture services that you are familiar with
(rural or urban setting) and identify a problem that would be solved through effective adoption of
e-agriculture. Ssebaggala Timothy
PROBLEM: UNPREDICTABLE CLIMATE CHANGE
"Climate change" refers to any long-term change in Earth's climate, or in the climate of a region
or city. This includes warming, cooling and changes besides temperature.
Agriculture is extremely vulnerable to climate change.
The accelerating pace of climate change threatens food security everywhere. Agriculture is
extremely vulnerable to climate change. Higher temperatures eventually reduce yields of
desirable crops while encouraging weed and pest proliferation.
Heavy rains that often result in flooding can also be detrimental to crops and to soil structure.
Most plants cannot survive in prolonged waterlogged conditions because the roots need to
breathe.

e) Describe key features or characteristics of this problem using skills acquired in Systems
Analysis and Design.

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Rainfall patterns: Rainfall patterns depend on the number of water bodies in an area. As
temperatures rise and the air becomes warmer, more moisture evaporates from land and water
into the atmosphere. More moisture in the air generally means we can expect more rain and
snow (called precipitation) and more heavy downpours.
Sea-level rise and melting of snow and ice: As temperatures rise, glaciers melt faster than
they accumulate new snow. As these ice sheets and glaciers melt, the water eventually runs
into the ocean, causing sea level to rise.
Use of information tools to better adapt to climate change such as early warning systems
and using ICTs to communicate weather forecasts to farmers. In agriculture, adaptation will
require cost-effective investments in water infrastructure, emergency preparation for and
response to extreme weather events, development of resilient crop varieties that tolerate
temperature and precipitation stresses, and new or improved land use and management
practices.

g) Describe major system requirements and specifications that should be fulfilled by the e-
agriculture solution.
Functional requirements: These define the function of the system or its components and what
the system should do for example, the system must be able to notify farmers about different
climatic patterns throughout the year so as to properly plan their seasons.
Non-functional requirements: These specify the criteria that can be used to judge the
operation of a system and how the system is supposed to be in terms of its characteristics as
design, user interface, compatibility for example, the system should have a good and easy user
interface.

h) What are the major infrastructure requirements for the e-agriculture solution to operate?
Construction of smart meteorological stations or weather stations: A weather station is a
facility, either on land or sea, with instruments and equipment for measuring atmospheric
conditions to provide information for weather forecasts and to study the weather and climate.
Development of assessment tools that incorporate the biophysical constraints that affect
agricultural productivity and include climate and socioeconomic scenarios, including improved
characterization of policy and program environments and options.
Development of global testing sites and data collection.

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