E-Learning Team Members

E-Learning Initiative

About the Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program e-Learning Initiative

The Coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) caused disruptions in the higher education industry. The challenges higher education institutions faced provided an opportunity to rethink the models of higher education instructional delivery, research production, and dissemination. These models have started shaping how universities deliver public service and engagement, innovation and entrepreneurship, and generally the business model of the academic front.

The Initiative is meant to address this disruption. USIU-Africa together with Arizona State University (ASU) came together under Mastercard Foundation to develop and support the Scholars Program eLearning Initiative. The initiative focuses on online instruction for partner universities to be implemented through instructional design, online pedagogy, content development, and acquisition for online teaching.

The Initiative’s first phase is projected to benefit around 95,000 higher education students though indirectly through improved pedagogy. Through the Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program, the lead universities will come up with innovations for scaling the existing eLearning platforms to strengthen online teaching. The Program seeks to draw tertiary institutions’ attention to online learning through strengthening supportive infrastructure at the institution’s level.

This project will:

Build capacity to support institutional change and policy focused on e-Learning through workshops and other activities;
Help institutions build internal expertise in e-Learning by providing advanced certification of faculty and instructors at Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program partner institutions through training, content development support, and mentoring;
Create system-level support and expertise through a distributed center of excellence that will guide participating institutions on the evolution of their e-Learning resource centers and also provide continuous support services to participating institutions;
Assess and measure the progress of e-Learning readiness and adoption.

Participating Institutions include:

Read the Press Release for the Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program e-Learning Initiative.

E-Learning Team Members

The Team Profiles

	Prof. Munyae M. Mulinge, Chair of the Advisory Committee Prof. Munyae M. Mulinge is currently a Professor of Sociology, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, at USIU-Africa. He holds a BA (First Class Honors) in Sociology and an MA in Urban and Regional Planning, both from the University of Nairobi, Kenya; an MBA from the University of the Northwest, South Africa and a PhD in Sociology from the University of Iowa, USA. Prof. Mulinge joined USIU-Africa in January 2009. He has served the University in various capacities including being Dean, School of Humanities and Social Sciences, Associate DVC, Academic Affairs and DVC, Academic and Student Affairs. Prior to joining USIU-Africa, Prof. Mulinge had taught Sociology in various colleges and universities in the United States, Botswana, and Kenya. He has conducted research in varied areas, including Higher Education (focusing on governance and the quality of postgraduate training), job satisfaction and organizational attachment, corruption and economic mismanagement, ethnicity and HIV/AIDS, leading to the authorship and publication of many research works with internationally acclaimed journals and publishing houses
	Prof. Amos Njuguna, Advisory Committee Member Prof. Amos Njuguna serves as the Deputy Vice Chancellor of Academics - Transformative Teaching, Learning, and Research (TTLR) and oversees the Academics Division, which includes six Schools, the Library, and Quality Assurance. A professor of finance, he brings a wealth of academic expertise and a dedication to research and education. With a Doctorate in Business Administration from Nelson Mandela University and a Master of Business Administration from Egerton University, he holds dual professional qualifications as a Certified Public Accountant in Kenya (CPAK) and a Certified Secretary (CS), demonstrating his proficiency in financial and corporate governance matters. As a fellow of the East Africa Social Science Translation Collaborative at the University of California, Berkeley, Prof. Njuguna has engaged in cutting-edge research and cross-cultural collaborations, enriching his global perspective. Prof. Njuguna has held significant leadership roles, including Chairperson of the Network of Impact Evaluation Researchers in Africa (NIERA), showcasing his commitment to impactful research in the region. His tenure at the United States International University began in 2007 and has been marked by notable achievements. As Associate Dean of the Chandaria School of Business from 2013 to 2016 and subsequently as Dean of the School of Graduate Studies, Research, and Extension from September 2017 to August 2023, he played a pivotal role in shaping the future of business education and overseeing the growth and development of the School.
	Dr. Paul Okanda, Advisory Committee Member Paul Okanda graduated with a PhD in Computer Science from Lancaster University’s School of Computing and Communications in 2006 after which he worked as a Researcher on a number of European Union (EU) funded research projects involving a number of Universities and industrial players all over Europe. He was previously Associate Dean at USIU-Africa’s School of Science & Technology (SST) and Director, ICT at USIU-Africa. He has published a number of journals and peer reviewed papers presented at International Conferences. He is also a principal author of two books; “OpenPING: A Principled Approach to Construction of flexible Distributed Virtual Environments using Structural Reflection” and “An adaptive Framework for run-time Group-based Communication”. He is currently an Associate Professor of Computer Science & Technology at United States International University-Africa (USIU-Africa). His research interests include Distributed Systems, High Performance Computing (HPC), Artificial Intelligence, e-Learning, Machine Learning, Big Data, Data Analytics, Cloud Computing & Virtualization, Middleware and Sensor Networks.
	Prof. Philip Machoka, Advisory Committee Member Philip Machoka is an Assistant Professor of Information Systems and currently the e-Learning Director at USIU Online..
	Eannes Ongus, Advisory Committee Member Mr. Eannes Ongus is the Director, Advancement & Partnership, which oversees departments of Resource Mobilization (Development), Alumni Relations, Partnerships & External Linkages and Mastercard Foundation Initiatives at USIU-Africa. Previously, he served as Chief Manager, Development, leading the university’s resource mobilization/fundraising efforts with a focus on grants, annual and capital campaigns, partnership development and alternative funding models for financing the university’s infrastructural projects. Mr. Ongus also leads the university’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiatives/commitments to Education, Sustainability and Governance. Previously, he served, as Director - Fundraising, Grants and Partnership and Diversity Education Institute (DEI) contact for Africa, was Fundraising and External Relations Officer at USIU-Africa, Finance and Administration unit at United Nations High Commission for Refugees (UNHCR- Kakuma). Mr. Ongus holds a BSc. Information Systems and Technology from USIU-Africa and a Master’s Degree in Leadership and Management from York St. John University, United Kingdom. His work centres around change management, leadership development, resource mobilization, community empowerment/ development, and he regularly donates his time, finances and skills to support community health, social and educational programs.
	Dr. Peter Kigwilu, Advisory Committee Member Dr. Peter Kigwilu holds a PhD in Curriculum Studies and Instruction from the Catholic University of Eastern Africa, a Masters in Curriculum Studies and a Bachelor of Education both from the University of Nairobi. He has worked as an educator for 23 years, with 15 years at university level. He currently is the Director of Quality Assurance and Accreditation Liaison Officer at United States International University-Africa. Dr. Kigwilu is a quality assurance and curriculum development resource person for the Commission for University Education (Kenya) and the National Council for Higher Education (Namibia). He is also an educational assessment consultant with the Kenya National Examinations Council. Dr. Kigwilu is a founding member of the Coordination Centre for Networking of International TVET Research in sub-Saharan Africa (CONVET), and a member of the Kenya Universities Quality Assurance Network (KuQAN), the Association for Faculty Enrichment in Learning and Teaching (AFELT) and the East Africa Quality Assurance Network (EAQAN). He is also an Editorial Board Member of the KEMI Journal of Educational Leadership and Management. Dr. Kigwilu is an accomplished educator, researcher and quality assurance practitioner. He has published widely in referred journals, book chapters and university-level modules in the field of education. He has also supervised a dozen Doctorate and Masters students and currently serves as an external examiner for graduate research in two universities.
	Everlyne Anyal Musa, Program Director, e-Learning Initiative, and Secretary to the Advisory Committee Everlyn is the Program Director, Mastercard Foundation Scholars Program e-Learning Initiative at USIU-Africa. She has over 25 years of experience in managing Education and Scholarship programs for individual and organizational capacities' development. She draws various departments, teams, partners and stakeholders together for demonstrated commitment to deliver sustained positive impact through strategy setting, resource and work-plan management, progress monitoring and reporting, stakeholders management and leading teams to reach, mobilize, recruit and strengthen capacities for transformational change and impact. Looking forward to consolidating many years of experience in higher education and leadership development through scholarship opportunities, African diaspora Scholars engagement and online learning as pathways to achieve quality, equity and resilience in education provision to enable all learners, especially the disadvantaged, to develop skills relevant for the current workplace and societal needs. Everlyn holds an MBA (Strategic Management) from the University of Nairobi and a BA (Literature and Linguistics) from Kenyatta University. Everlyn’s earlier professional engagements include leading the Carnegie African Diaspora Fellowship Program – CADFP and mobilized African born Diaspora scholars and the Ford Foundation International Fellowships Program – IFP in Kenya focusing on scholarship as a track to social change, inclusion and leadership development. She has published in the area of Higher Education and Leadership and has attended and facilitated many local and international conferences on Higher Education.
	Catherine Machyo Catherine Machyo is an accomplished educationist and expert curriculum developer with a Master of Education (MEd) in Curriculum Development. With a deep passion for fostering educational excellence and innovation, Catherine has dedicated her career to designing, implementing, and evaluating educational programs that meet the needs of diverse learners. Her extensive experience in the field and strong background in educational research and program evaluation has seen her work with various institutions in developing and designing both face to face and online curricula, among them online programs at USIU-Africa. Her proficiency in e-Learning design is exemplified by her ability to create engaging and interactive online learning experiences using various e-Learning tools. Her interest in educational research and program evaluation has seen her conduct research in varied aspects of education.
	Collins Kibiwott, Associate Instructional Designer Collins has over 10 years of experience in educational technology, specializing in various learning management systems and e-learning solutions. He excels at identifying core course objectives and translating them into actionable instructional strategies for online delivery. As a performance strategist and agent of change, Collins brings extensive knowledge in strategic planning, project management, and change management. He is skilled in using content authoring tools such as Articulate Studio 360 and Adobe Captivate, as well as software development in Python, Java, SQL, and JavaScript. Additionally, he is proficient in developing interactive web applications with HTML5, CSS, and PHP. Collins holds an MBA in Business Strategic Management From USIU-Africa, and has earned numerous certifications, including the Quality Matters (QM) Masterclass for Teaching Online from Arizona State University, Microsoft Certified Solutions Associate (MCSA) in Server Infrastructure, Launchpad Masterclass Certification, IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL) Foundation 2011 Service Management, IBM Big Data Specialist, IBM Business Intelligence Analyst, IBM Predictive Analytics Specialist, and IBM Cloud Application Developer.
	Denis Mutegi, Associate Instructional Designer Denis is an experienced e-learning developer and ICT professional with a Bachelor of Science in Computer Science from Karatina University. He has extensive expertise in developing comprehensive e-learning projects and has served in various capacities, including independent consultant, e-learning developer for UC Global Programs Kenya and Health IT Kenya, and lead instructional designer for OCTOPUS ICT Solutions Limited. His roles have involved content analysis, development, management of learning management systems (LMS), providing technical and learner support, and conducting training sessions. Denis is dedicated to delivering high-quality e-learning solutions and fostering effective learning environments.
	Erick Kinungi, Associate Instructional Designer Erick Kinungi holds a Bachelor of Arts in Film Technology from Kenyatta University and a Diploma in Web and Graphics Design from Nairobits Digital Design School. Currently, he is enrolled in a Master's program in Digital Communication at USIU-Africa. With over 5 years of experience in Information Technology, Erick has excelled as a Multimedia/Web specialist, providing robust support in various ICT-related capacities. He exhibits a strong passion for online pedagogy and strives for excellence in implementing effective communication practices in online learning environments.
	Mary Kamau, Associate Instructional Designer Mary Kamau is a seasoned educator currently serving as an Associate Instructional Designer at USIU-Africa. She holds both a Master's degree and a Bachelor's degree in Mathematics Education from Kenyatta University, providing her with a strong academic foundation in education. Additionally, she has a diploma in Information Technology, which enables her to seamlessly integrate technology into her teaching methodologies. Mary is currently pursuing a Ph.D. in Mathematics Education at Kenyatta University. With over two decades of teaching experience spanning both secondary and tertiary levels, she has developed a deep understanding of pedagogical approaches tailored to diverse student populations. Committed to professional development, Mary has completed training in the Master Class for Teaching Online. Her diverse educational background, continuous pursuit of advanced qualifications, and dedication to professional development make her a valuable asset to USIU Africa's instructional design team. Her blend of academic expertise, technological proficiency, and extensive teaching experience enables her to contribute meaningfully to the institution's mission of fostering excellence in education.