Title of Event:

Planning Workshop on Capacity-Building for ICT in Education in Africa

Event Leaders:

• Dr Seong Geun Bae & Michael Trucano, The World Bank Institute, USA
• Cédric Wachholz, UNESCO, France
• Ruwan Salgado, World Links, USA
• Dr Gwang Jo Kim, KERIS, Korea
• Dr Kwon Sung Ho, Hanyang Univ., Korea

Content:

ICT is often perceived as a useful tool to transform education systems and through which students can develop basic competencies and skills needed for a knowledge economy. In sub-Saharan Africa the challenges and constraints involved in either piloting or mainstreaming ICT in education initiatives are numerous, including: the uncoordinated implementation of ICT education and training initiatives; limited Internet connectivity and high costs of ICT products and training services; inadequate provision of ICT education; low levels of science and technology research; and so on. At the same time, there have been some promising developments such as the emergence of highly relevant policies, improving infrastructure, growing coordination among development partners; reduced costs, and an increasing number of public-private partnerships that facilitate linkages.

To discuss the above challenges and opportunities in detail and to formulate responses to some of those challenges, a one-day workshop will be organised as part of the upcoming eLearning Africa (eLA) Conference.

The workshop is designed to maximise the sharing of insights and experiences about the challenges and opportunities that exist in a number of African countries in the area of ICT in education. Needs will be discussed and concrete ways of addressing those needs, especially in relation to capacity-building, will be shared and developed.

The main objectives of the workshop are to:

• Engage African policymakers in an active dialogue on the ICT in education “landscape” in the region;
• Prioritise needs and follow-up actions in the area of building capacity in ICT in education;
• Link education experts and policymakers in Africa to an annual global core course on ICT in education offered by WBI and the Korean government, and identify people who can play a role in moderating learning activities in Africa.

Target Audience:

Approximately 30 education policymakers and ICT in education specialists from Ghana, Tanzania, Rwanda, and Mozambique.

Prerequisite Knowledge:

Extensive experience working on ICT in education issues in one of more of the countries above or in the Africa region in general.

Outcomes:

The workshop will help determine and prioritise the key areas of skills development and capacity-building in ICT in education that will be addressed in the medium-term (3-5 years) by the World Bank, working in partnership with the Korean government. It will also address which approaches might be the most effective – possibilities include training courses, policy forums, technical assistance, pilot projects, etc.