Dr Mildred Ayere is a lecturer in the School of Education within the Department of Educational Technology and Curriculum Studies at Maseno University in Kenya.
She also doubles up as the director of the eCampus at the university.
When asked why her institution was keen to become involved in the CVEinAI project, (Critical Virtual Exchange in Artificial Intelligence), Mildred says: “At first, the attraction was the AI at a time when the university was asking us to develop a course on the basics of AI for staff and students. So, we quickly jumped in!
But, she smiles, ‘then we realized it’s about virtual exchange experiences with an international team, and about sharing different perspectives on how AI is used in their context. So it suddenly became even better!”
Beyond Kenya with Virtual Exchange
Mildred realised that such a project would help them understand that some of the challenges and issues experienced with AI in Kenya, were, in fact, similar for other countries. Therefore, the concept took on a whole new and interesting dimension.
For students at Maseno, the bigger picture was the idea that they could have a chance to learn together with other groups of students with very different perspectives and contexts.
“If they continue to learn alone, says Mildred, ‘they don’t get the international perspective in what they do. And this is what is so enriching about virtual exchange.”
For Maseno
Mildred says the buy-in has been massive, highlighting that Maseno university has been really enthusiastic about this virtual exchange development project.
“You can see, even in the content development stage. Our teams requested to be part of the content development following the Masterclass we had with UNICollaboration trainers.
We have four team leaders and we are taking part in three of the modules. So it means we have had to work with our students and junior staff in this content development.
That speaks to you that they are really, really interested. We’ve had to really choose carefully who can take part in this as there was a lot of enthusiasm and we wanted to make sure we chose the ones who would be very engaged from the start.”
Future plans for Virtual Exchange and AI
Mildred says the technical team at Maseno have requested to adopt the content from the virtual exchange modules they are creating onto their LMS. In this way, it becomes an introductory interdisciplinary course that introduces our students to what AI is and how to use it ethically and inclusively.
“They keep asking me how far I am and when it will be ready”, she laughs, “so that tells you how it’s going here in Maseno.”
Not only, but the quality assurance and the directorate are following developments closely because they want the content developed with an international audience in mind. They are mindful that they also want the same content for their own students.
Virtual Exchange experience
Mildred already had some background in VE, having previously taken part in a German-led collaboration for DAAD with participants from 15 universities.
The project they were asked to come up with was subsequently shared internationally and some have been adopted for use at Maseno already. Consequently, Mildred says, many Sub-Saharan universities would love to come on board with this virtual exchange pedagogy, which for many is still quite a new concept.
“It’s difficult for our students to travel abroad, so if you can have an international intercultural experience without the need to do a physical mobility, for us, this is a great development.
It helps us forge collaborations that we’d otherwise not have had without the virtual exchange.”