Kiribati Campus Visit

Jenny, Roly and I would like to take this opportunity to say a very very big KORAPA (means thank you in Kiribati) to all the USP staff here in Kiribati campus. We have indeed had a wonderful time, work wise and also through our extra curricular activities. You have all been kind & generous and very hospitable and accomodating during our visit here. As Roly said during our lunch with Ueantabo today, we leave Kiribati with very fond memories of Kiribati!!

A special thanks to:
Ueantabo for going out of his way to making our stay very enjoyable;
Matana for being so hospitable and also for driving us around Tarawa; and
Torote for bearing with us in the satellite room.

SABO (means Goodbye in Kiribati)

This posting was suppose to show you an album of photos we took of the campus.

All I can say at this time is this will be provided to you in once we get to Suva due
to the internet connection problems we have been facing here.

Our day at the campus started by sitting in for the CHF03 tutorial at 11am.

The CHF03 experience was as follows:

• 5 Kiribati students present. Other students tuned in from Lautoka and Tonga.
• Session began with an outline of the upcoming Test 2 format
• Pace of talking quite fast
• 15 minutes into session then we realised that we were out of audio. Operator was able to solve the problem. OFF AIR button was enabled on Click to Meet interface.

After the session, had a chat with the students. This is what they said:

• tutorials held every 2 weeks
• lab sessions organised on a weekly basis
• class shares used to access lecture notes, tutorial questions - ppt. notes used during sessions.
• microphones occassionally work based on experiences from previous sessions
• Print materials consists of a Textbook, Course Guide and an I&A book
• As for access to media devices; no computers at home, use internet on campus. able to access DVD player by going to a relative to has one. no longer use video tapes or audio casette tapes. Only use DVD and CDs currently. listen to the radio occassionally. access to a local TV service called KTV1 which airs 1 hour a day from 6-7pm. It airs special events such as Independence day celebrations. no access to mobile phones.

[photo to be provided pending internet connection problems]

Ueantabo took us for lunch at the Parliament House restaraunt which is operated by his wife. We again filled ourselves up with some delicious delicacy including toddy (have yet to ferment though..) then we took a tour of the parliament house. Met a former classmate of mine at USP, Eni who is senior deputy clerical officer in Parliament. Took some pics which of course we will upload later. Very very impressive. The parliament house is shaped like a canoe.
There was labels on the parliament seats and Koro's first cousin the Honourable Ioteba Redfern as told to us by Ueantabo is also a MP. Took a photo of his seat especially for Koro. I also discovered that there is a representative nominated by the Rabi Council and also one representing the Banaban community.

As mentioned earlier, in our desperation to get online we went to the nearby town of Bairiki to use the internet facilities at the internet cafe operated by Telecom Kiribati. They charge $3 per hour. Our chats with students here we found out that not many of them use this service. Most rely on the USP provided internet service. They dont' allow VOIP use in the cafe. Internet speed was slow. They charge 20c per page for print outs.

After the BIF03 tutorial session we went to have lunch. Came in for the S0F02 tutorial at 2pm but the power outage in Suva caused a loss of connection to everything USPNET related;audio, video and internet. We then ventured off to Bairiki town to use the internet cafe facility operated by Telecom Kiribati. Was slow but at least we didn't continously lose our connection like at the USP campus here. Took so long to upload photos even on blogger. Frustrating day to do anything online!!

Fema Lodge is the name of the place where we have been accomodated. Just found out during lunch that the name Fema is derived from the first names of the owners; Husband (faatalei) and Wife (ema)
They are so very accomodating and they live just 2 houses away from the lodge. We highly recommend this place to anyone who will be visiting Kiribati in the future. Its only a 5 minute drive to Kiribati Campus and it has a very impressive setup including the view too...
Its a 2 storey block. We occupied the top block which includes; 4 bedrooms (1 is a master bedroom), living area, dining area, kitchen (includes a gas stove, electric kettle, fridge & pantry + cutlery), bathroom & toilet, laundry area with automatic washing machine plus a clothes line on the balcony area. All rooms have fitted air conditioning. There is a well equipped shop within walking distance (say 2 minutes walk) from the lodge as well. So very highly recommended!!
There is a specially negotiated rate for USP staff to top it off.

Sat in for the BIF03 tutorial from 12-1pm.

The details of the session is as follows:

• 4 students in Vila, 4 students in Kiribati, 1 student in Lautoka
• Important notice on short test shown in the beginning of the session
• ppt. notes provided with use of diagrams and images
• Question asked by tutor on Animal Movement
• Microphones are now working so students were able to participate in the session.

After the session we has a chat with the students. Here is what they said:

• Local tutorial conducted once a week on Fridays. Few students attend this.
• Majority of the students are doing the course full-time with about 5 on a part-time basis.
• Lab sessions also part of the course. This has already been completed. There is more attendance here.
• Class shares is used for the course to access lecture notes, digrams, lab info., test formats
• Print components for the course include the following; Course Guide, I&A and Text Book which costs $AUD180
• Key reason for attending the tutorial is for revision and also they are studying full-time so they can spare a time to attend organised sessions.

We also tried to established the accessibility to media devices such as DVD Players, computers etc. and here is what they said:

• For DVD Player access, they don't have one at home but they can easilly use one of their relatives.
• Computer access is mostly at the Campus.
• Ocassionally listen to radio
• No access to mobile phones. very expensive

[photo to be provided pending internet connection problems]

Sat in for the ECF01 tutorial from 11am-12pm conducted by Fozia Nisha, CFS.

The details of the tutorial session was as follows:

• 1 student in Lautoka, 1 student in Vila and 1 student in Tonga who joined in 8 minutes into the session
• No visual aids used for the session
• Session began with tutor establishing relations with students - Posed a question about How is the weather.. Weather is not looking too good in Suva.
• explanation of test format provided
• breaky reception to audio several minutes into session
• Question posed: Any questions for Assignment 2?
• Lesson covered is a continuation from previous session - Units 13-14
• Course uses Class Shares which is updated everyday.
• Connection error 15 minutes into the session due to power failure at Laucala campus. Power restored after 2 minutes.
• Error message reads, Conference Engine Error: Remote Host does not exist (-603)
• Tonga student left during power failure
• Vanuatu student raised a question during the session but reception was not clear at all.

[Photo to be provided pending internet connection problems]

We started off the day with a pre-arranged e-beam test with Koro & Tui at Laucala Campus. We wanted to find out how it works especially with the new system in place. We booked the 8-9am slot for this. We also took this opportunity to test the audio & microphones here in Kiribati Campus. It hasn't been working since we arrive here.

The results were as follows:

• It worked quite well with perhaps a 1/2 second delay in writing appearing on the e-board.
• Also took control, in Click to Meet terms, took control of the podium and it seems to work alright.
• Tested the microphones in the student area, no feedback. Tui contacted Marika at the hub station and finally got some audio once there was an increase in bandwidth for Kiribati Campus adjusted at the hub station end.

It seems to work well during the time we conducted the testing but we wonder if we will receive the same results if say there were a couple other USPNET related actitvities going on later in the day...

Took some pics of the despatch area. Well organised according to courses & levels.
Noticed though that a lot of courses still have the old covers which simply means
that there is still a lot of the old cover books in stock.

[photos to be provided pending internet connection problems]

We also stopped at the Tarawa Technical Institute (TTI) on Monday. Its probably the equivalent of FIT in Fiji. It offers trade courses; welding, metal fabrication etc. and is soon tooffer a plumbing course. In addition accounting, English, Maths and some public service courses are also offered. All courses are offered entirely in the F2F mode. There is about 500 students enrolled at the Institute. Interestingly the new building block that houses the trade courses was designed by Erasito Consultants which is based in Fiji.

[photos to be provided pending internet connection problems]

Almost all the shops that we passed by on our visits and ride back to the lodge had the Punjas Flour sign. Punjas have substantially intergrated itself into the economy of Kiribati with a wholesale facility setup in Betio town. You could also see the Punjas truck go pass once in awhile.

After visiting the primary school then we ventured off to the Maritime Training Centre (MTC). It is quite an impressive setup perhaps the best in the Pacific. The MTC Principal or Commander in Chief!? I think they call them, is from Bulgaria and he took us on a very comprehensive tour of the facility. They have a couple of simulators of ships, engine setup etc. In fact the centre is setup like a ship, the harbour area, storeroom etc.. and it has a very strict disciplinary code. For instance if a student is 15 minutes late from shore leave i.e. when they go home for a break, they are instantly dismissed from the Centre. By the way, all students enrolled live on the premises throughout their studies and occassionally go for home break or shore leave in maritime terms. At the end of their studies, they have employment arrangements with German ships and Columbus Line to do their sea time.

Ueantabo took us to visit a primary school which he attended many years back. Its located in the Betio area. Temanoku Primary School has a roll of 900 children. It offers classes from Classes 1-8. We were very lucky to be able to take some photos which we can use in our learning materials especially for the BED Primary Programme. The course team is well aware of the difficulty in getting an even representation of images in our learning materials for all the 12 USP member countries. Most of the photos used have been from Fiji. So this is also a call out to those that will be embarking on visits to other countries. Try and get photos that may be use in our learning materials. Took some video shots as well for a class in session. Check out the outdoor school canteen in the pic.

We received quite a surprise last Friday. We has a visit from Katarina's brother who so kindly brought a carton of bottled water and fruits. Katarina, A big vinaka vakalevu for this!! We are really touched by this generous and kind gesture by your family!!!

There is a village here called Eita. So Anthony is in our minds all along. During our Sunday drive, we thought we'd take this picture of a petrol station called Eita Petrol Station located in the village area of Eita. Over to you Anthony...

Rented a car on Sunday for a drive around Tarawa. We didn't realised until we got in the car that it was out of petrol! We had the E sign on for a good 15 minutes in our search for the nearest petrol station. We passed by 2 stations but they were both out of gas. Our only hope was the Betio (pronounced Besio) Petrol Station which was next to the Punjas wharehouse. We breathed a sigh of relief when we found out that they had petrol. We were almost on the brink of a car emergency!! Whew!! Then we were off to the war memorial from WWII. It was here that 22 English, Australian and NZ soldiers were beheaded by Japanese soldiers on 15th October, 1942. Then we were off to take more war relic pics. - guns mostly then it was off to the end of urban Tarawa, Bonriki airport direction. Took some pics! then we had a relaxing moment at the Ontiitaai Hotel. Then it was back to the lodge and of course looking forward to our gourmet dinner later in the evening. Then we sat to watch a DVD movie - Steam Boy. But we were just so tired so we didn't make it to the end.

Forms of transport here in Kiribati is by motorbike, car and bus. We have been
travelling regularly on the bus - minivan and its quite reliable and has a very regular
schedule. You can bet that you'd have a bus pass by every minute. And probably the only bus
service that reverses back to pick up passengers if they see them waiting when the bus is metres in front. For every bus there is a driver & hostess team. The hostess collects the bus fares (with a wooden till in place) and opens and closes the bus door. Bus fare is relatively cheap depending on your destination ranging from AUD 55c-90c.

Well! we decided that for our Saturday night activity, we'd go to the Otiintaai Hotel for dinner. Caught the bus but after about an hour we realised that we seem to be seeing the same things along the way. Well, we discovered we went in the wrong direction but the driver was very accomodating so we spent about an hour or so travelling then we finally got to our destination.
Had dinner at Otiinaai then took the bus back. Had a drunk guy on the bus who can't seem to decide where it wants to get off. Our driver had to stop another bus for us, to get us safely to our lodge. Whew!! what a night!!

After our ED318 tutorial on Saturday, we went back to our lodge then we took the bus to Bairiki town for a look around the market. We stopped at one of the local stores to buy some extra supplies then we ventured into the market area. There wasn't much produce at the market expect cooked fish & rice packs & some second hand clothes, bags and stuff! We took a bit of a breather! then it was a walk around the town. Stopped to buy some bananas, then we had a leisurely drink at a local cafe!

After facing problems in the morning, we were able to listen in on the ED318 tutorial session from 12-1pm. There are no students enrolled in this course from here but we though we'd listen in to see how the tutorial proper goes. Thanks to Dr. Sala Bakalevu for allowing us to listen in.
Suva, Lautoka, Labasa and Tuvalu Campuses were tuned in. Sala was conducting the tutorial from Lautoka Campus. Labasa campus's audio output was working so they were using the chat facility in Click to Meet. We were also out of audio output so resorted to the chat as well.
The features of the session were as follows:

• There was a ppt. presentation which was the basis of the session. Slide transition was okay.
• Students were given a significant amount of time to ask questions or provide comments. This occured in the beginning and basically throughout the session. Unfortunately, we lost connection including Lautoka I think after a Suva student was sharing his experiences about multi-class teaching when he was a teacher (1o years experience) in the Lau Group, Fiji.

We are starting to wonder whether it is really necessary to deliver such sessions through this system. Jenny is thinking that perhaps we can explore the use of Impatica ppt. notes placed on disk and used this in conjuction with chat or perhaps more appropriately the discussion forum. It is really pointless using this system when campuses cannot even use the audio part of the system.

I think connection speed differs depending on when you actually try to access. During the week i.e. Thursday, Friday say during the peak hours 8am-5pm, connection is problematic. besides the slowness, we lost connection everytime we tried accessing a web page or site. Have tested access to WebCT, again problematic during these hours. blogger too..

It was quite a different story today i.e Saturday perhaps because not many users are accessing at this time (staff & students included). I think I lost connection only twice when trying to access blogger.

Tried accessing the DFL server. Connection is very good. no delay in this. Torote, the USPNET Operator here said that he doesn't have problems accessing the server from here.

Tried accessing WebCT today, seems to work well, I don't lose out on connection but still a bit slow compared to Laucala but much better than Thurs & Friday.

We were scheduled this morning to sit in for the GE202 tutorial but there was no students in sight including the operator. One of the staff members here made a few calls to get someone to switch on the audio system so that we can at least listen in. Having problems with connection. Not sure if we will be able to do any observations today... It will have to be Monday I guess!

We were so honoured to be invited to Ueantabo's birthday party which was held at the Parliament House Restaraunt. We were in the presence of the Australian and NZ high commissioners plus other high profile people here in Tarawa, Kiribati. It was a lot of fun, lots of speeches and dancing and of course lots of food but couldn't get ourselves to the dance floor because we were so occupied with eating lobsters!!

We would especially like to wish a very happy 52nd Birthday to Ueantabo. We were not aware that we would be arriving to such a grand event in you life!! We wish you many happy returns and God bless you and your family!!!

We were definitely in for a surprise after the CSF21 session this morning. The staff prepared a special morning tea to celebrate Ueantabo's 52nd birthday and we were so honoured to be invited. Each section in Kiribati campus; Finance, Technology and the ocean side of the campus. performed an array of song & dance items. We were in for a surprise for the first item where we were especially garlanded with head garlands so we got some terrific pics on this and took some video shots as well. You can check out Roly & Jenny enthusiatically participating in a dance item!! We got gifts too. They are very hospitable and thoughtful, the staff here. They decided to give each of us a lovely crafted Kiribati fan so it could help us get accumstomed to the hot weather!! Thank you very much Kiribati Campus staff!! A very unforgettable experience indeed!!!

The first session that we sat in for was for the course CSF21: 9-10am. Jenny and I as part of our research together with Ash and Robert are evaluating the use of audiograhics for audio tutorials. There are 28 students enrolled for this course in Kiribati campus.

There are some students doing this course on a full-time basis (mainly recent school leavers) and some part-time (working full-time of course!). 5 students were present for this session. There was a bit of delay in the beginning, with the tutor arriving 5 mins late and waiting around for more students to be tuned in. 3 campuses were tuned in at the beginning; Kiribati, Tonga and Vanuatu. 15 minutes into the session, Lautoka Campus came in followed by Labasa then towards the end Solomon Campus. Lautoka and Labasa campus did not have the tutorial topic file on their system and this was exchanged over email during the session through communication with the use of the Click to Meet chat facility. Kiribati Campus lost connection to the Click to Meet facility 30 minutes into the session and the audio was the only means of communication till the end of the session.

Large part of the session was devoted to providing answers to a multiple choice tutorial exercise (about 80 questions) and only about 3 minutes was devoted to question and answer towards the end of the session. There were no questions from students from the other campuses. Jenny attempted to ask a question over the system but this was not possible because they can't seem to hear us from the other side. Couldn't use the Click to Meet chat facility either because we lost our connection to that as well.

Had a bit of a chat with the 5 students after the session and here was what we found:
CSF21 delivers lectures through the videobroadcast mode
It has print components; I&A, Study Guide and Lab Manual and Textbook
There is a scheduled audio tutorial
Kiribati Campus has a local tutor who conducts the lab sessions every week.
It uses Class Share to access lecture notes and tutorial exercises
It uses WebCT so students are able to submit their assignments and participate in the discussion forum. The students here mentioned that they don't actively participate in the discussion forum.
They did not get any face to face orientation in WebCT except by referring to the guide in
the I&A. They would very much prefer to have a proper orientation in the use of WebCT.
They did not indicate any suggestions to improve the way audio tutorials are delivered. They did mention however that they find the videobroadcast lectures more useful than the audio tutorial sessions.

Here is a picture taken this morning. This is the view from our lodge. Can you guess what is floating in the sea? Be very precise! The first person who gives us the precise correct answer, well, we will have a little goodie for you when we get back!! Over to you...

Our first dinner, a great gourmet meal!! Can you guess what we are having?

Once arriving at the campus, we had a brief chat with Ueantabo in his office. He gave us some information about Kiribati Campus as follows:

Enrolment nos. stand at about a 1000 students. Headcount nos. about 450 students
Most students are of the female gender.
The popular courses are in the Foundation, CS and Accounting fields.
There are 2 computer labs, with relatively old model computers. Ueantabo expressed the need to upgrade this facility. In addition there is a audio satellite room, videobroadcast room, science lab, library, offices and a classroom.
The classrooms in the nearby school is used to conduct classes given that the campus space is very limited.

More later...

Mauri Kiribati!! We finally arrived here in Tarawa, Kiribati and could instantly feel the change in the climate...Kiribati is very hot!! Big change from chilly Fiji!! Dr. Ueantabo Mckenzie, USP Campus Director, Kiribati & Matana Anterea, who is the Program Assistant here in Kiribati were waiting for us at the Bonriki International Airport. After dropping off our bags at the lodge where we are staying, we then went off to the Campus. We met the staff here and Matana took us around the campus. We will surely be getting pics. to you on this.. and it was off to lunch with Uenatabo at a sleek Chinese restaraunt, bit of shopping of food supplies then it was back to the lodge. We are just so tired!! having had to wake up at 4am. So it was then off to a much needed rest at the lodge. more later of course...

Why are we blogging? We'd like to share our experiences (as we experience it..) of our visit to Kiribati USP Campus.

Our visit:
(1) is part of a research to evaluate the use of audiographics with the audio system for DFL courses; and
(2) orientation - to get to see what they experience on the other side. I think as the central support people of DFL courses, you wouldn't know what the students are facing until you visit the campuses.You will get the true picture and will definitely help when we develop courses.

I must confess that it wasn't until this planned visit that I realised how very little I know about Kiribati except maybe that it consists of atoll islands, limited land size, toddy, their vibrant dancing.. that's about it!! Jenny provided an url on some information on Kiribati.
Some basic facts:

• consists of 33 low-lying coral reefs and atolls, about 20 Approximate of which are permanently inhabited. Its total land area measures around 811 square kilometres (around 313 square miles).
• Islanders, called I-Kiribati, are predominantly of Micronesian origin.
• population of Kiribati est. at 96,335 in 2002, giving the country a population density of 119 persons per sq km (308 per sq mi).
• About one-third of Kiribati’s people live on Tarawa, especially in and around the administrative center of Bairiki.
• English is the official language of Kiribati, and many I-Kiribati speak it in addition to their native language, Gilbertese, an Austronesian language.

We will definitely tell you more once we arrive in Kiribati. Stay tuned....