MS FORTUNE MUKANYA - INTRA-ACP MASTER STUDENT
Brief: Intra-Africa Caribbean Pacific (Intra-ACP) STREAM Mobility Scheme student.
Your thesis addressed the use of information technology in education and how to enhance teaching and learning using technology. Tell us more about it. Why you chose this thesis? In the modern world “collaboration” has become the new normal. People are no longer expected to work on individual tasks but to collaborate on projects. As the African (Botswana) saying goes ‘if you want to go fast go alone but if you want to go far, go together. Students need to collaborate in all their studies and gone are the days where students need to be physically present in class to be able to “attend”. The use of social networking in higher education is critical as students need to meet their classmates. They cannot meet physically for one reason or the other and solve problems online or meet people they would have never met in real life and get help from a fellow student. This removes the walls of the classroom as learning can take place from anywhere at any time.
What impact will your new qualification bring to the teaching and learning aspect in education? The study focused on the development of a Social Networking Site for an institution for higher learning. The study hence came up with the framework of developing an institutional Social Networking Site and that is essential for all institutions of higher learning today.
What you intend to do after you complete your studies? I am inclined to humanitarian, work that excites me. Things such as empowerment and development interest me. I will go where that takes me.
Looking back since you started your studies at the Namibia University of Science and Technology (NUST) what is your special highlight or achievements? I always enjoyed the cultural festival in the Polytechnic of Namibia year after year, and I made sure to taste the different foods year after year. I have built friendships from around the world. I got to know the world better, by appreciating similarities in people and acknowledging the differences. I learnt that in every person you meet there is a lesson to be learnt, you don’t meet anyone by accidents. There is a common purpose that make your paths cross, so utilise the opportunity. Don’t let pride; prejudice and tribal views prevent you from the benefits of interaction.
How was the Intra-ACP scholarship selection done and what was it base on? Would you encourage fellow NUST students to apply for the Intra-ACP scholarship and why? The Intra-ACP scholarship is actually a mobility scholarship. This means it encourages the beneficiaries to study in countries different from their home country. The whole idea is to encourage interaction among African people instead of all just studying outside the continent and hence know very little about the continent. If the idea of United States of Africa or a common currency in Africa could ever be achieved, scholarships like Intra-ACP are the starting point. I would encourage fellow NUST students to apply for Intra-ACP to go out there and see the rest of Africa. Like the African (Uganda) saying goes “A person who does not travel thinks that their mother is the only cook”. You need to go out and see how things are done in other African countries if you would ever build a better Namibia.
Success quote: The world owes you nothing, so don’t ask what the world can do for you, but strive to make the world a better place than you found it.