A Literature Review on Automatic Generation of Examinations

The examination is a key activity in determining what the learner has gained from the study. Institutions of higher learning (IHL) perform this activity through various assessment methods (test/examination, practical, etc.). The world today is focused on automation of exam generation which is ongoing with dire need during this period of the COVID-19 pandemic when education is greatly affected, leading to embracing online learning and examination. A text/exam comprises questions and answers that focus on evaluation to determine the student’s conversant level in the area of study. Each question has a cognitive level as described by (Armstrong, 2016) in the revised Bloom’s taxonomy. Questions chosen have cognitive levels based on the level of study and standardization of the exam. There is, therefore, a need to consider the question’s cognitive level along with other factors when generating an examination by incorporating deep learning algorithms.

Intelligent Conversational Agent for Enhancement of Online Communication in Universities: An Overview of Kenyatta University

University websites and online portals are the primary means through which potential students and other stakeholders find important information about an institution. University websites are essential to these organizations’ marketing and communication efforts. In this paper, focus has been put on the need to complement these websites with the use of an AI Chatbot (UniBot) in order to serve more efficiently. This study aims at performing an extensive literature survey on intelligent conversational agents and the feasibility of applying them in enhancing online communication in universities. The study utilizes an iterative – incremental methodology to aid in design and development of UniBot, using AIML (Artificial Intelligent Markup Language) Pattern matching algorithm on the Pandorabot (AIAAS) platform, to generate high quality training data, with which, the agents Natural Language Understanding (NLU) model is trained. The study also provides for training and testing the agent using data which is acquired from Online Communication, University Website department at Kenyatta University.

Reinforcement Learning Approach for Adaptive e-Learning Based on Multiple Learner Characteristics

We introduce a novel three stepwise model of adaptive e-learning using multiple learner characteristics. We design a model of a learner attributes enlisting the study domain, summary details of the student and the requirements of the student. We include the theories of learning style to categorize and identify specific individuals so as to improve their experience on the online learning platform and apply it in the model. The affective state extraction model which extracts learner emotions from text inputs during the platform interactions. We finally pass the system extracted information the adaptivity domain which uses the off-policy Q-learning model free algorithm (Jang et al., 2019) to structure the learning path into tutorials, lectures and workshops depending on predefined constraints of learning. Simulated results show better adaptivity incases of multiple characteristics as opposed to single learner characteristics. Further research to include more than three characteristics as in this research.

Gamified Blood Donors System Based on Intelligent Agents

The population of the country of Kenya is drastically increasing thus causing the number of possible blood donors to rise. Despite this, the blood collected and stored in most blood banks is not enough to cater for the huge demand. The demand has been due to increase of number of accidents experienced in the country and the advancement in medical procedures which calls for organ transplant and blood transfusion. Even though systems have been developed which can connect the donors and recipients and location tracking, most people are dying because they don`t get this vital commodity in good time. The process of donating blood has not been enticing. There is nothing that prompts a person to donate blood. This call for developing a gamified blood donor management system based on intelligent agents so as to increase the number of donors and keep the system performance at optimal level. The project adopts Goal-Oriented Methodology in the system development process. Two agents are developed: donors’ agent and the blood admin agent. The intelligent agents help in profiles personalization thus improving the system performance. Gamification technique is implemented in the system so as to increase the traffic of blood donors interacting with the system and participating in the donation exercise. This increase the number of blood donors hence enough blood is collected to cater for the huge demand.

Applications of Information Communication Technology (ICT) in Academic Libraries: An Overview of Turkana University College Library

Information is considered as need of human in the recent undertakings. In this paper the study has been done to research on application of Information communication Technology (ICT) and uses of ICT tools in Academic Libraries, with a focus on Turkana University College Library, to find out the application of ICT skills in Library Information Science professionals and to modernize the libraries. The study has been done in the School of Science and Technology and School of Education and Social Sciences, with the aims: (1) how students in these schools apply ICT in the library, and (2) how ICT tools are applied to provide innovative services to the users. This paper shows that the application of ICT tools is increasing in academic libraries especially from the two schools of Turkana University College, due to the development of technologies and according to the respondent ranking mobile phone is making it inevitable, due to easy access at any time anywhere.

The Impact of Information Communication Technology (ICT) on Procurement Processes: Case of Zimbabwean Urban Councils (2009 to 2018)

The research aimed at determining the impact of ICT applications on procurement processes. The population of study was composed of 110 respondents from Chegutu, Kadoma, Kwekwe, Chinhoyi and Gweru urban councils with a representative sample of eighty-six participants all drawn from the procurement, finance and works departments of the five councils. Quota sampling was used in this research with strata based on the level of employment in the three different divisions. The research utilized a proportion of 78% from each stratum to select eight-six respondents. Both primary and secondary data was used. Primary data was collected through questionnaire which was designed to satisfy research objectives. Secondary data came from relevant literature review, journals, business magazines, conference papers, and internet. Questionnaire responses were tabulated, coded by use of Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 16 to analyze quantitative data. Qualitative analysis was used to obtain in depth knowledge of the level of ICT utilization and why users were operating at different levels. Findings of the study indicated that although ICT infrastructure with procurement application is in existence and available, utilization of Information Communication Technology is at basic level. Acceptance and adoption of ICT in procurement was driven by both organization and personal objectives. The view that technology adoption is based on the Technology Acceptance Model was applied in this study by testing the perceptions of ease of use and usefulness of ICT. The study revealed that ICT adoption in procurement improves the process and benefits other operations of the business. ICT training and skills development, coupled to organizations’ leadership commitment and availability of financial resources were cited as critical success factors in the acceptance and improved utilization of ICT in procurement. The researchers recommended further studies on the topic of ICT adoption in business operations by public entities.

Social Media Marketing for User Engagement: Evidence from Bosnia and Herzegovina

Internet enabled the emergence of social media platforms, opened new markets and changed the way businesses and organizations operate, communicate with their target audience, promote their activities and achievements. Non-profit organizations worldwide use social media platforms and strive to increase user engagement and the number of reactions to achieve their goals. Although in Bosnia and Herzegovina, non-profit organizations use social media platforms, there is no empirical evidence of their success in increasing user engagement and the number of reactions. This study investigates which social media factors have an influence on user engagement, particularly on the number of reactions on Facebook posts. The real data from the period of 15 months were collected from a Facebook business profile of a non-profit organization from Bosnia and Herzegovina. SPSS and Excel were used to analyze the data. According to the research results, the period of publishing and the number of photos have an effect on the number of reactions on Facebook posts, while the amount of text and the day of publishing do not have an effect on the number of reactions.

Multi-Agent Adaptive e-Learning System Based on Learning Styles

Most traditional e-learning system fails to provide the intelligence that a learner may require during their learning process. Different learners have different learning styles but the current e-learning systems are not able to provide personalized learning. In this paper, we discuss how intelligent agents can aid learners in their learning process. Three agents have been developed namely, learner agent, information agent, and tutor agents that will be integrated into a learning management system (Moodle). Learners are provided with a personalized recommendation based on the learning styles.

Information Systems Audit Framework to Improve the Quality of Audit in Higher Education in East Africa

There are some similarities between Financial Statement Audit (FSA) and Information System Audit (ISA). FSA is an examination of the reliability and integrity of financial statement records whereas ISA is a review and evaluation of the controls, risks, and system development within an Information system infrastructure to determine if the information systems are safeguards to protect against abuse, safeguards assets, maintains data integrity, and operates effectively to achieve the organization's going concern objective. Decision makers need to ensure that the process of collecting and evaluating evidence of an organization's information systems, practices, and operations are reliable. Data manipulation can be caused by external or internal threat. Internal manipulation threat is the most dangerous one because it is committed by authorized personnel which make it very difficult to be detected. In particular, the framework introduces an anomaly detection technique, one of the data mining methods, to determine the suspected transactions arise from both internal and external threat. Once the suspected transactions are identified, procedures and monitoring control will be in place to minimize each threat. The proposed framework is expected to help both universities and ministry of higher education managers at all levels to make a vital decision based on reliable and accurate information in East Africa.

Information and Communications Technologies as a Driver of Effective Internal Communication

Internal communication is considered to be fundamental process for organization. The information and communication technology (ICT) has been a strong trigger of organizational change in every aspect, as well as in internal communication. This paper investigates ICT tools usage effects on internal communication. Three research hypothesis were set up: (i) employees’ perceived importance of internal communication has a relationship with their ICT usage, (ii) employees’ perceived quality of internal communication has a relationship with their ICT usage, and (iii) ICT tools usage contributes to the perceived impact of IT on informing, motivation, productivity, loyalty, organizational development understanding, reducing rumors within organization of employees, willingness to change and overall satisfaction of employees. In order to test hypothesis, data were collected via an online survey conducted among Croatian public relations experts. Data mining was applied in data analysis: including both, descriptive (distributions) and predictive models (Bayesian networks). Sensitivity analysis of Bayesian networks identified significant factors of successful internal communication. Results showed that Skype usage mostly contributed to the quality of internal communication, whereas social network usage mostly contributed to the perceived importance of internal communication. Bayesian network model identified e-mail usage as a predictor of employees informing and chat usage as predictor for productivity of employees. Organizations’ management should embrace opportunities that new technologies have brought to the field of internal communications and use it as a tool for improvement.