eLA Program line-up to be released soon: Canadian speakers expected
 Berlin/Nairobi. There was a phenomenal response in the 2007 call for papers for the second eLearning Africa conference, which will take place from May 28 to 30 in Nairobi, Kenya. The annual event is rapidly becoming the preeminent eLearning capacity-building event for the entire African continent and a forum for all stakeholders engaged in the planning and implementation of technology-supported learning and training.
More than 300 proposals from 46 countries have reached the conference organizers. Rebecca Stromeyer, co-organizer of eLearning Africa, is optimistic that a finalized first version of the agenda will be ready by the end of March. Remarkably, 36 of the 300 proposals were received from Canada this year, from a highly diversified spectrum of organizations and individuals who are now waiting with bated breath and already expressing much interest in the eLA event and important ICT4D themes.
“Overall, we received numerous proposals of excellent quality from a wide range of public institutions, higher education organizations, and development organizations as well as from the corporate training sector”, says Stromeyer. “The organizing committee has now evaluated the proposals, and at the moment we can say that participants can look forward to an extensive and substantial agenda featuring presentations from major players in the African education and development sector.”
The Kenyan government will organize a high-level summit for policy makers and industry leaders within the conference at which the building of ICT infrastructures and capacities for African educational systems will be addressed. The UNESCO invites participants to an “African Summit for Technical and Vocational Education and Training”, which will highlight the great relevance of this educational sector for mass education in developing countries.
Consistent with the 2007 conference’s motto “Building Infrastructures and Capacities to Reach out to the Whole of Africa“, the event will reach out beyond the conference centre and will feature large-scale lectures in Kenyan universities that address both fundamentals as well as R&D topics in technology-enhanced education and training. In addition, there will be two break-out workshops devoted to the needs in rural areas and regional institutions: one in Mombasa on the Indian Ocean and one in Kisumu on Lake Victoria.
Regularly updated information on the conference and the programme can be found at www.elearning-africa.com.
eLearning Africa 2007 is taking place under the patronage of the Hon. Prof. George Saitoti, Minister for Education, Kenya. The event is supported by the European Commission, the United Nations International Center for Technical and Vocational Education and Training UNEVOC, as well as by BiBB, the German Federal Institute for Vocational Education and Training
 Newsportal: Focus on Canada
|
eLearning Special
