In the past, there has, perhaps, been too little discussion about our understanding of what learning is, how children learn, how adults learn and the relationship between the new technologies and how they enable learning, particularly in an African context. We welcome insights from a range of perspectives on this theme.

A 1.1. 21st Century Learning in Africa
Many people refer to the new learning paradigm as 21st century learning. Some argue that many frameworks of 21st century learning, as expressed in government policy, are modelled on experiences in developed countries. How is this different from other learning paradigms and does this mean we discard ‘traditional’ learning methods altogether?

A 1.2. ‘Edutainment’ and Gaming
‘Edutainment’ and gaming is increasingly gaining a foothold in the African educational context. Some have argued that there appears to be enormous value to be gained from gaming in the educational space and that, by their nature, games are excellent at creating intrinsic motivation through fantasy, control, challenge, curiosity and competition.  How and to what extent are computer games and ‘edutainment’ being considered and applied in African educational institutions?

A 1.3. Learning with Technologies: PC Labs to Mobile Phones
What is our concept of the learning process and how does technology relate to it, both inside and outside the classroom? How should we use new devices for learning? Should today’s learning be self-directed or facilitated?

A 1.4. Learning among Africa’s Generation Y
Youth and identity feature largely in the learning with technologies space. What is the experience of African youth? Here we welcome insights from young Africans.

A 2.1. CTPD Frameworks
CPTD frameworks are being reformed in a number of African countries.  What conceptual models underpin these frameworks?  

A 2.2. Innovative Teaching Methods?
How are patterns of teaching and learning changing in the face of ICT integration both in and out of the classroom?

Debating Outcomes-Based Curriculum Frameworks
Outcomes-based education is currently favoured internationally to promote curriculum reform in a number of countries, including South Africa, New Zealand, Canada. However, some have also criticised it harshly. As many African governments embark upon curriculum reform programmes, what can we learn from the OBE frameworks applied to date?

A 4.1. Education Quality Frameworks and Standards
What models of education quality apply in Africa and how are quality standards considered?

A 4.2. Assessment Frameworks in Africa
Many competency frameworks in Africa are modelled on models developed elsewhere. What are the conceptual considerations that inform these models?

IPR Regimes in Education
Many national intellectual property regimes (IPR) create exceptions and limitations on IP in education. There has been a call for the creation of minimum treaty standards for IP in education which would facilitate cross-border sharing of education resources. How far has this call been taken up? What progress has been made?

B 1.1. ICTs in Schools Systems: What’s the latest?
Much is already known and documented on the experience of ICT integration in African schools. What are the new developments in this sector? What Education Management Information Systems (EMIS) have been put in place in African school systems?

B 1.2. Building Collaborative University Networks
Universities in general form a critical component of a country’s national system of innovation and its intellectual backbone. However, often the capacity of African universities to lead research and learning enabled by technologies is inadequate. Many lack access to infrastructure, affordable and sufficient bandwidth, as well as the human resource capacity to exploit the technology. Building collaborative university networks is one response to these challenges. How far have we come with building such networks?

B 1.3. Literacy & Adult Basic Education
Africa suffers a high rate of functional illiteracy among adults. What role is technology playing to combat this challenge?

B 1.4. Technical Vocational Education & Training
TVET institutions and polytechnics in Africa are lagging behind because of the lack of knowledge and expertise in the use of these new technologies in the area of technical and vocational training, and the absence of institutional and country policies on the integration of ICTS into TVET. What is the current status of interventions on integrating ICTs and eLearning in TVET institutions?

B 1.5. Pre-Service Teacher Development
Often many of the interventions in ICTs and teacher development focus on in-service teacher professional development and training. What progress are we making with pre-service teacher development and the use of ICTs in pre-service teaching practice?  

B 1.6. In-Service Teacher Development
What professional development programmes for teachers already in service are currently under way? How are these assessed and accredited?  

B 2.1. Health Care Delivery Systems
ICTs have been able to support effective delivery of health care in communities and in health care institutions. How have ICTs enabled awareness-raising and information-sharing in the fight against the HIV AIDS pandemic and other diseases? How have ICTs supported and enhanced access to health care for African communities?

B 2.2. Health Care Professional Development
ICTs have also been shown to enable African health care workers to enhance their knowledge and skills. What are the examples of good practice in the use of ICTs in health care professional development and training?

There are a host of exciting innovations, showing that ICTs can empower poor farmers in Africa, particularly women. Let us hear about these initiatives and the progress that is being made in Africa’s agricultural sector.

B 4.1. Professional Development in the Public Sector
The use of ICTs and eLearning to promote skills and knowledge development for government employees and politicians can have a significant impact on enhancing government capacity for effective service delivery and governance. What programs and initiatives are currently under way in the use of eLearning in developing the capacity of governments and the public service?

B 4.2. Building Public Sector Service Delivery Platforms
What have been the effects of ICT integration in public service delivery on improving the administration, governance and service delivery by governments in Africa and elsewhere?

Enhancing Security Delivery through ICTs
How are ICTs being used to enhance training, raise awareness and improve security in Africa and elsewhere?

B 6.1. eLearning in the Corporate Sector
The corporate sector in Africa has gained valuable experience in using eLearning and ICTs to provide training, develop skills and improve workforce performance. What eLearning platforms are companies using to enhance skill development and improved company performance?

B 6.2. Building SSME Capacity through ICTs
How can eLearning support ‘subsistence’, small, and medium businesses? We would like to hear examples of eLearning models aimed at this sector.

B 7.1. Reaching Marginalised and Excluded Communities
What programmes and projects are currently under way to reach the poorest communities and the socially excluded?

B 7.2. Promoting Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment through ICTs
To what extent are ICT policies and eEducation policies integrating gender equality and women’s empowerment considerations in Africa and elsewhere? Is there really equitable access to ICTs in education institutions between girls and boys, women and men? What strategies have been adopted to promote such equitable access and what have been their effects? Enhancing the technical capabilities of women: What programmes, projects and strategies have been adopted?

B 7.3. ICTs and Special Needs Education
ICT integration is particularly important in enabling and improving access to learning for people with disabilities. Tell us how this is progressing, particularly in Africa.

ICT Pilots - Design & Implementation
There has been much debate about whether we should call for the end of ICT pilots. Others argue that pilots remain important as test-beds of models that could work. If so, what are examples of good pilot design and implementation?

C 2.1. Large Scale Planning Models
Many African countries are at a stage where they are planning large scale ICT programmes in education, health and the public sector. What planning models apply to conditions in which delivery is a problem?

C 2.2. Experiences with Large Scale Implementation
Some countries have already proceeded with large scale implementation. What can we learn from this experience? What ‘mistakes’ should we not repeat?

The availability of locally relevant, high quality, digital content in both the curriculum and extra-curriculum domains, is a shifting terrain.

Content Management System Design
eLearning system design raises a host of planning and conceptual considerations especially in the context of resource limitations. What approaches and systems are currently being applied to content development, distribution and management? More importantly, how do these foster optimal use and production of local content?

C 4.1. Moving Beyond Donor Dependency in Africa
The financial sustainability of eLearning programmes in Africa is a crucial goal for many organisations, enabling a shift away from donor dependency. Effective resource mobilisation strategies and partnership development are important to achieve this goal. What workable resource mobilisation strategies have been tried?

C 4.2. Total Cost of Ownership Models
A host of Total Cost of Ownership Models have been developed. Some of them are very complex, whilst others are considerably less so. Please tell us about your experience with models that are workable in varying contexts.

Multi-Stakeholder Partnership Models
How are multi-stakeholder partnerships in eLearning being managed in the face of competing interests?

C 6.1. Research, Monitoring and Evaluation Frameworks
The research framework and agenda for ICTs in education in the developing world is considered by some to be too limited and fraught with conceptual loopholes. There remains a paucity of research in this area. What progress are we making with research in this area? Where is the evidence-based research? How is Monitoring and Evaluation being integrated in eLearning programmes?

C 6.2. Findings from M&E Research
There have been a number of M&E processes under way. What are their findings and what are we learning from these?

The dearth of capacity in education in Africa is well documented. This theme focuses on frameworks and strategies for expanding the qualified teacher corps; for building effective leadership in Africa, and for building the technical skills base to support and sustain eLearning systems. What progress are we making in these cases?

Designing Policy as a Living Process
What models of policymaking have been adopted in Africa? What are the gaps in these processes? What are the lessons?

Practical Experiences with Open Source Solutions in Education
What is the status of Open Source for eLearning in Africa? What new Open Source solutions have been tried in African education systems?

What Progress with OERs in Africa?
How far have we come with developing African learning object repositories? What progress has been made with building the continent’s open education resource base?

The struggle for affordable universal sustainable ICT access in education remains very far from being resolved. Africa has experienced almost two decades of experiments with demonstration projects and pilots to test access models and a few large scale initiatives to boost low cost bandwidth access.

How replicable and scalable are these solutions? What progress has been made?

D 3.1. 1:1 Computing Models
From One Laptop Per Child to Classmate to Asus and others: How far have we come with applying these models in Africa and elsewhere? What problems and difficulties have been experienced?

D 3.2. Multi-User Computing Models
A host of new multi-user computing models have emerged over the past two years. How have they been applied and what are their effects on learning and teaching in Africa and elsewhere?

D 3.3. Low Cost Connectivity Solutions
What progress is Africa making with widespread access to affordable bandwidth?

D 3.4. Mobile Solutions
Mobile solutions in an African education context have been gathering pace. Let us hear of new developments in this arena.

D 4.1. African Responses to eWaste Management
Promoting responsible eWaste management in Africa has been a challenging issue, which has been championed by several organisations. Here is an opportunity to talk about current eWaste campaigns and what can be done to support them.

D 4.2. Practical Solutions in Green IT
There are numerous practical ways in which we can all promote responsible environmentally friendly production and use of ICTs in education. How can we help to promote greater responsibility?

Alternative Energy Solutions to Support eLearning
Most institutions targeted for access to ICTs, have been selected because of their ready access to grid electricity. A number of power models for small-scale ICT installations in locations that are not served by the electricity grid, have also been explored in Africa. Here grid extension has not been an economically viable option, given the prohibitive costs involved in projects further than three to five km from the grid. There are many examples of small-scale, ‘stand alone’ power systems, including generator sets powered by diesel, solar PV systems, small wind systems, and micro-hydro systems. What progress has been made and how can the roll-out of these solutions be supported on a large scale?