The first E-learning Africa Conference, which is to focus on ICT development in education and training, will be held from 24 to 26 May, in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia.
"One of our main goals is to build a strong African e-learning community by creating an exciting and dynamic annual event, where contacts are made, ideas exchanged and evaluated, and where real collaboration is initiated," says Rebecca Stromeyer, project manager for the event.
The conference is expected to attract 200 delegates who will generate discussion on how to create better education systems and learning experiences in Africa, adds Stromeyer.
The event is supported by the European Commission and sponsored by International Conferences, Workshops and Exhibitions, the Swedish Programme for ICT in Developing Regions, the African Development Bank, Microsoft, the Ford Foundation, the Carnegie Foundation, the MacArthur Foundation, the Rockefeller Foundation, the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, and the Andrew W Mellon Foundation.
Boosting expertise
Sir John Daniel, CEO of the Commonwealth of Learning and honourary member of the conference board, highlights the importance of such an event to help the development of greater African expertise and networks in e-learning and open educational resources.
"This is the time to build up the expertise that will enable Africans to make their own decisions about ICT," says Daniel.
The conference will hold discussions on the benefits and pitfalls of free and open source software (FOSS) in educational systems, Stromeyer notes.
He adds that there will also be debate on open content in terms of copyright, as a new model to create open access to educational content, so it can be shared and developed further in Africa.
"Although Africa is successfully opting towards FOSS ideals as a developmental model, there are heavy issues of security, copyright infringement, local expertise and support, which pose a threat to education in Africa."
Emphasis will be placed on the deployment of ICT into traditional African universities, which will be led by the Open University, of the UK, and the African Virtual University, which networks universities from nine African countries, Stromeyer states.
"Universities from all over Africa will describe how they are successfully adopting various technology solutions to support their educational facilities."
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