What participants said about eLearning Africa 2006

Sandra Atieno Aluoch, African Virtual University, Kenya

“We are a Pan-African organisation that works in all the countries in Africa. We currently have 55 centres. The conference provided a great networking opportunity in terms of meeting people, learning what projects are going on on the Continent, and also learning what is going on in terms of the open source environment versus the propriety. It was very interesting to see how other projects are being supported by various funders and to find out about opportunities for potential funding for eLearning. One drawback I found was that some projects were still in the very early stages. So to provide more discussion in next year’s conference, it would be interesting to see where they are a year later. That way we can track the process and compare where they were a year ago and where they are today. I think that would be a great bonus to the conference programme next year.”

Daniel Stern, Uconnect, Uganda

“All those desperate projects, all the people who are motivated to use the Internet to enhance education to really get at the key point … the bottlenecks to development … They have been brought together here; so many good interactions … people bouncing ideas off each other… For me it seems to be one of the most relevant events I have attended in a long long time.”

Jean-Claude Adzalla, Deaf Aid, Kenya

“I think most of us came with a fixed idea of what eLearning is, but the most remarkable thing is that we are going back with more prospects of what eLearning can be. It is really helpful to share experiences with people who have been working in other places, especially when it comes to the African situation. We have different realities from the North to the South, and we got the chance here to meet people who are experimenting with the different solutions for eLearning in the different sectors. It was very interesting to experience this diversity.

What I missed – since I am working with the disabled, with deaf people – is the e-inclusion perspective, though I got good contacts. What I liked most were the presentations about how we can use mobile devices in eLearning. This is something I had never thought about. There was a wonderful presentation from Bangladesh, where they do not have easy access to the Internet yet, but they have lots of TV channels, so they are using mobile technology with TV broadcasting. This was very interesting.

I think there was good quality in all the presentations and was especially impressed by the ones from South Africa and the research aspects they included. Something that has been lacking in eLearning for most of the people is a solution on the spot. You want to have eLearning? So let’s go for it! But then they realise that it needs a lot of planning as well as time for the planning and the implementation phase. You need to be very precise; you need good management, monitoring, and review. eLearning will never replace the traditional way of teaching, but it can surely empower it.”

Michelle Selinger, Cisco Sys., UK

“I think this conference has been a fantastic opportunity for Africa, I think it has revealed a huge demand, a huge interest in eLearning and technologies for education. The commitment of participants has been phenomenal, as well as the interest generated. Just the understanding of what is needed in Africa has really been revealed to the West and so has the importance of partnerships. It’s been tremendous.”

Juliet Stoltenkamp, The University of the Western Cape, South Africa

“I feel physically drained now at the end of the conference, but I have gained so much. I have networked with other people in Africa who were representing their institutions and organisations.

It was also great meeting my South African neighbours face to face –all those people from UCT, the University of Johannesburg, and Stellenbosch whom I have met online. And you actually even meet people from your own institution at the same conference with whom you have never had the opportunity to share, and who realise that what you do is important and vice versa. So I think we should get out of our silos and communicate more – and this is what this conference is about! Networking is not only about handing out cards but the actual online communication that continues afterward. In fact, it was a great conference!”

Dr. Monika Weber-Fahr, Worldbank, USA

“My impressions from the conference: inspired, greatly encouraged, and looking forward to the next couple of years with a lot of excitement. There is a wealth of pioneering and experimentation that has been shared here in the eLearning area, with a lot of emphasis on the type of interactivity that that I think we all need in order to make eLearning more relevant for helping those who are working in development to really master the challenges.

We are clearly beyond the early days of eLearning, where eLearning was all about a CD ROM that you plug somewhere, and where you download something. We are now going into the area where things are customized, useful, and directly available to those who need the knowledge to find out where they can get it from. Partnerships are now emerging where people who are interested in making their platforms available to others, so the future is going to be good. All we need to do is rise to the challenge.”

Leonard Mware Oloo, Knowledge Partners, Kenya

“I think it was a wonderful conference because of the networking – and most people come to conferences for the networking! The presentations were also fantastic. I gained a lot; I got to know what is happening in other countries, which was very important for me. I have made good contacts here.

I was very keen on Mobile Learning and gave two presentations on the topic myself. I also helped facilitate another presentation on Open Education Depositories and chaired a session. So I think I have been very busy, but it has been a very fulfilling moment for me; it has been wonderful. It’s also been a pleasure that our minister, Beth Mugo, came and gave a speech.

Maybe in the next conference we should have special tracks and workshops on Mobile Learning. The mobile phone is going to play a big role in education in Africa. It is the most widespread ICT application, and there are a lot of things happening. I heard about the case of Bangladesh, where they are blending video and SMS, and we are using SMS to support teachers.

I think it is also important to have the private sector involved in the hosting country, mostly through sponsorship. For example, the large mobile operators should certainly be involved.

This conference is great for Africa and we should take it forward!”

Mark Bryant, Director of Learning & Technology, GCF Global Learning®, USA

“Overall, we had a great response. It was good to see all the different organisations come to the booth to find out about the free training that we provide on our website, http://www.gcflearnfree.org. Our goal is to provide learning opportunities to improve computer literacy. One thing we heard over and over was the lack of reliable Internet service and that our program would reach further if we provided a downloadable version of our content. We had users from over 218 countries last year and by providing alternative ways to access our content, we hope that we can reach more.

We have exhausted all of our flyers and met with a lot of people who share our goals. Many were interested in using our material on their university intranet or as a supplement to what they were already teaching. Some even signed up for our online classes. I think we had a great opportunity to network, and it was great to get such a positive response.”

Faith Makoye, University of Dar es Salaam, Tanzania

“The conference was very educational for me. I am involved in an eLearning project in my country, and we are stuck in it. Some of the seminars here have given us insight into a way forward and explained what we should do. This was because we were able to meet people from other countries. One, for example, is from Namibia, where they have the same kind of project going. Thus we got some points to discuss that will be very useful for us when we get back home.”

Titus Tossy, National Computer Centre, Tanzania

“Reviewing the conference, I have to say that it is high time for eLearning in Africa. People like me have been struggling to bring web training into the community – that is why I say it eLearning Africa is just in time!

The organisation was fantastic: having attended more than ten conferences - especially in Africa - this was the best. The people who did the organising work as a team: When you go to one and ask something, you will get the same answer from all the others. This made me very happy. And I talked to many other participants who wanted to know where the organisers come from!

I feel that if these efforts continue, we might uplift African efforts in terms of eLearning. I hope that next year one of the topics will be knowledge management because all the issues talked about here are lacking knowledge management. Maybe I am pulling the strings toward myself now because I am finishing my PhD in Knowledge Management, and I am focussing on the African context. Often the knowledge they have here is not fully exploited, and I think it could be helpful to include this topic in the next conference.”

Newsportal: Statements