COTE D'IVOIRE

The Virtual University spearheads modern digital education
When the Virtual University of Côte d’Ivoire (UVCI) opened in 2015, many students and parents had their doubts about this new university without classrooms and amphitheatres, but a growing number of students are enrolling because it offers flexibility.A student like Kouakou Prisca does not regret choosing the virtual university. “I can go to school and at the same time have professional activities or an internship in a company.
“This would be difficult if I had to be in a classroom or lecture hall every day. I think that’s why more and more people are coming to this university,” the student in computer coding said.
Moreover, as COVID-19 disrupted education at contact institutions across the world, the university was able to continue its work.
Professor Tiémoman Koné, the director general of the UVCI, explains: “Many public and private universities and schools in the country were obliged to close and stop their activities for a long period.
“The Virtual University of Côte d’Ivoire continued to provide online courses and massive online open courses (MOOCs). As a result, our students continue to study normally: teachers continue to record and broadcast their MOOCs and students follow them from their homes.”
Through the digital education project, the Ivorian government had opened the country’s first virtual university in 2015. The (UVCI) is a fully online university designed also to help the country deal with overcrowded universities.
To grasp the importance of distance learning for Ivorian higher education, two numbers concerning the biggest university of the country, Félix Houphouët Boigny University in Abidjan, should be kept in mind: 70,000 students attend the university, but the capacity is only 30,000.
“Overcrowded universities and traditional educational practices can no longer be. Like every modern country around the world, Ivory Coast needs to move to new educational practices, including how our universities are organised,” Koné said, emphasising that the university is the highlight of modern higher education.
“Our university uses new technology to provide quality education to the entire population. We bring the university to the students. They can be at home and in the classroom at the same time,” he said.
Classroom or television studio?
The headquarters of the UVCI looks different from traditional universities. Classrooms seem to be part of a television studio. Teachers stand in front of their students via cameras and control rooms. Lessons are recorded and broadcast on the university’s platforms or streamed live (MOOCs).
“It’s not weird or even strange to talk to students who are far away. The university platforms are designed to facilitate remote learning and interaction between teachers and students,” Brice Kouassi, lecturer in digital communication, said. The content of the lectures remains the same as that of traditional lectures but, due to the remote nature of teaching, lecturers must make additional efforts to make their lessons accessible during live streaming.
In addition to the stream-classroom, the virtual university has a FabLab, a technical laboratory where students carry out their projects and create their prototypes. Equipment such as advanced computers, 3D printers, robotics machines and software for computer code are available.
With their ideas or prototypes, students can join the business incubator of the university. With the support of the teachers, students can think about proper ways to develop their ideas to find partners and funding. From the FabLab to the incubator, learners move from student to entrepreneur.
Not a fashion fad
“That is the reason why I decided to join UVCI. As a student, I can continue to learn and work at the same time. I have the opportunity to study, practise what I learn and even use it to earn money,” Diderot Gore Bi, a masters student in cyber security, said.
Some years ago, friends and parents were so surprised to see him choose what they call “a university in the cloud without buildings and classrooms”.
“Actually, Ivorians have changed the way they perceive the UVCI because students are doing well. What we learn here can automatically create job opportunities and be a solution to training-employment mismatch,” Gore Bi added.
In 2021, 14,000 students were officially enrolled in UVCI, now a member of the Francophone University Agency like more than 800 French-speaking higher education institutions throughout the world. Côte d’Ivoire has understood that virtual universities are not a question of ‘fashion’, but a necessity.