Elsevier

Computers & Education

Volume 54, Issue 4, May 2010, Pages 1241-1247
Computers & Education

The Daktari: An interactive, multi-media tool for knowledge transfer among poor livestock keepers in Kenya

https://doi.org/10.1016/j.compedu.2009.11.010Get rights and content

Abstract

This article describes the findings from the assessment of a touch-screen, multi-media learning program on livestock health and production: The Daktari. The program was tested on a sample of 62 livestock keepers in the Nairobi slums of Kariobangi and Kibera. The study examined prior knowledge regarding three livestock diseases (liver fluke, mastitis and mange) and compared this to newly acquired knowledge after exposure to the software. The results demonstrated a significant difference between pre- and post-knowledge assessments confirming that use of the program led to learning. Learning occurred among a variety of demographic/social groups (i.e. age, gender and education) with a range of abilities. Indeed, by utilising an audio–visual interface developed with relevant content for the population in question, it was found that the program could support and enhance participant understanding of livestock disease causation, diagnosis, treatment and prevention.

Introduction

The digital divide between the world’s better-off citizen and the poor in relation to ICTs needs to be rethought (Fink and Kenny, 2003, McNamara, 2003, Mungai, 2005). However, the digital divide is not homogenous construct, there are many gaps between user groups at the local, national and global levels (Maxfield, 2004, UNDP, 2001, WorldBank, 1998). In recent years, it has been argued that the conceptualisation of many of the tools created under the auspices of ICT4D are fundamentally flawed, which has led to ill-formulated projects and programs (Bailur, 2007; Heeks, 2007, Soeftestad and Sein, 2003).1 Authors have argued that the software produced by ‘experts’ is often inappropriate to the learning needs of the poor (Lloyd-Laney et al., 2003, Sciadas, 2003, Soeftestad and Sein, 2003). In response, there has been a call for local user groups to translate content into their own ‘cultural milieu’ (Lin and Heffernan, 2009, Mansell and Nordenstreng, 2006, Mansell and Wehn, 1998).

Nevertheless, few studies have explored how this ‘cultural milieu’ can be embedded into the actual ICTs themselves. An exception has been the creation and dissemination of the Livestock Guru, an interactive, multi-media learning tool created for poor farmers in Bolivia and India (Heffernan and Nielsen, 2007, Nielsen and Heffernan, 2006). The authors demonstrated the advantage of verbal and visual cues situated within a particular cultural context on learning uptake (Heffernan & Nielsen, 2007). By placing the learning content squarely at the interface between customary and ‘scientific’ knowledge, the findings illustrated the potential of ICTs to enhance the connectivity of the poor to new knowledge constructs (ibid). The studies also illustrated the superiority of multi-media vs. traditional learning environments such as videos and written pamphlets on the acquisition of livestock-related knowledge (Heffernan and Nielsen, 2007, Lewalter, 2003, Nielsen and Heffernan, 2006).

The above tools, however, were premised on the assumption of a socio-cultural context in which livestock were a vital part of local livelihoods and therefore, the motivation for livestock-keeping and acquisition of livestock-related knowledge was high. The aim of the present study is to explore the effectiveness of an interactive, multi-media learning program designed for livestock keepers in an urban context where customary beliefs regarding livestock disease and healing are likely to be less relevant. Therefore, the study focused on a subset of livestock keepers residing in two slums of Nairobi, who had little social connectivity with natal origins often in disparate areas of the country. As such, the present study explores the uptake of knowledge delivered through the program by comparing the impact of individual factors (age, gender, level of education) on new and existing knowledge frames regarding livestock health and production among users. Prior to detailing the testing methods and results, a brief overview of the software is offered.

Among slum dwellers, the communal language is Kiswahili. Therefore, this language was chosen as the principle language of The Daktari. By using Kiswahili instructional content with the appropriate visual cues, users were guided through a series of steps to choose the particular livestock species and topics of interest. In this manner, the software is ‘stand alone’ and does not require either literacy or an aide to enable users to understand/use the program. Further, the software was designed to be ‘demand-led’ i.e. users could choose the learning modules of interest.

A touch-screen option rather than a keyboard was chosen for the following reasons. First, the clients of the program were poor livestock keepers and therefore, an assumption at the design stage was that they have low or no experience with computer keyboards. Second, the touch-screen supported greater access by illiterate users. Further, all commands and instructional material were presented orally as such the software contains little written text. Further, any text contained within the illustrations deemed necessary such as how to measure livestock feed or calculate insecticide dosages were also explained orally, therefore, obviating the need for literacy on the part of the user.

The software was created in Adobe Director. As the software program improved, a range of versions (V7.0–V11.0) were involved in the development. Director V7.0 combines graphics, sound, animation, text and video to create streaming, multi-user, interactive multi-media material. From Director V8.0 to V11.0, many new features were introduced such as ‘New Cast View’, ‘Linked Scripts’, and ‘Multiple Publishing Formats’. These provided a more efficient developing environment for developers. Adobe Flash was utilised to create 2D animations across the learning modules.

The functionality of the program is described as follows.

The functionalities provided by the Daktari first, enable the poor to access livestock-related information and second, capture of the demands of the poor for particular information in order to transfer these demands to decision-makers.

Therefore, to underpin the program and capture the demands of the poor, a database was created to monitor and capture user input. A web-camera was also included to take a picture of the user as part of the user registration feature and as a means of further engaging and immersing users in the experience. After pressing the screen saver, the user registration feature collects key data such as a picture of the user, household and livelihood information and details regarding the livestock herd. In this manner, decision-makers can determine who is using the program, the number of repeat users and basic demographic features of the population at hand including information regarding livestock-related livelihoods. The database also captures user preferences for particular learning modules and the time spent on each area of the program. The system also includes a problem-tracking component to identify any errors and support system protection. The following figure illustrates the functionality structure of the Daktari (see Fig. 1).

To devise the relevant program content, semi-structured interviews were performed with 432 households in the slums of Nairobi. The initial data identified the animal health priorities and knowledge needs of the user group thereby, ensuring that the content of the software was demand-led.

The design of the software was informed by the Information Processing (IP) Theory of learning. Indeed, the Information Processing (IP) theory of learning considers how the learner interacts with information to produce knowledge (Clark and Sugrue, 1995, Rieber, 2000). As such, the appropriateness of the media, the particular learning style of the individual involved, and the relevance of the content to the learner are all identified in the IP model.

Therefore, prior to building the program, visual referents were assessed for preferences and suitability. Sample illustrations were tested in both focus groups and individual interviews to determine user preferences with regard to style and the visual look of characters. The illustrative style with the highest ‘preference rating’ was that created by a local cartoonist, who often published his illustrations in the national press. As such, the style of the illustrations utilised in the software had a high recognition value by users. Once the overall style of the illustrations was chosen, specific visual characteristics associated with both knowledge of livestock-keeping and trustworthiness were assessed. Depictions were selected which best represented these features as decided by the majority of study participants.

For example, the illustration of the main character scoring the highest in trust and knowledge of livestock is represented in Fig. 2.

Although few of the respondents had ever been to a veterinarian, the illustration closest to a formal livestock service provider scored highest with regard to trust. Further, given that women in Kenya are often the primary care-takers of livestock, women characters were introduced to illustrate the learning modules for which women were most likely to be responsible, such as feeding and management and specific diseases of management such as mastitis. Therefore, a community animal health worker, ‘Jane’, was introduced at the beginning of the program as represented in Fig. 3. The visual and auditory characteristics of Jane were tested among focus groups of women to appeal specifically to women users.

Based upon the priority management issues and disease constraints identified by the 432 participants above, the software contained information about poultry, cattle, goats/sheep and pigs. After choosing the species of interest, the user may then choose learning modules on housing, management or disease particular to the individual species involved. In total, the Daktari is comprised of 32 learning modules distributed across each of the above sub-headings for each species. To enhance user familiarity the disease learning modules for each species proceeded in the same sequence: disease causation, diagnosis, treatment and prevention.

Section snippets

The study set

To test for knowledge uptake, the target population included resource poor livestock keepers with varying levels of education and prior knowledge residing in Kariobangi and Kibera, two slums of Nairobi. Purposive sampling was utilised to identify poor livestock keepers and within this population further attempts were made to represent different age groups, gender and level of education. The distribution of the study set is presented in Table 1.

Assessing knowledge uptake and learning

Individuals utilised a touch-screen computer with

Individual factors and learning

Table 3 offers the influence of age on knowledge uptake across the disease modules. Prior knowledge of the diseases in question was low with little differences across the age groups, although prior knowledge scores tended to increase with age.

Interestingly, while all age groups demonstrated a significant increase in knowledge, the youngest age group showed the least improvement. The finding is somewhat surprising as it would be expected that this age group would have the highest levels of

Conclusions

The study demonstrated that appropriately designed ICTs can enhance the knowledge of the poor through via exposure to interactive, multi-media learning tools. Moreover, the findings suggest that the Daktari was appropriate for a wide variety of user groups. Indeed, knowledge was significantly improved among both men and women, across a range of ages and, levels of education, after exposure to the learning media.

However, differences in learning were observed depending upon program content and

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