Experts on Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) in Africa have challenged African universities and other learning institutions to adopt Web 2.0 technologies and use social media for teaching. At eLearning Africa 2011, they agreed that institutions can reduce running costs, mobilise learning resources and expand research capacity with social media.

Microsoft has been involved in eLearning and ICT for development in Africa in a variety of ways for many years, be it in ‘Training the trainer’ workshops for teachers, in eGovernment initiatives or in the development of new technologies. Here, Mark Matunga, Education Manager for Microsoft East & Southern Africa (ESA) speaks about the significant progress that has been made in Africa, persisting barriers […]

          Free and Open Source Software (FOSS) is taking off in East Africa, according to Emanuel Feruzi, Managing Director of the Tanzania-based IT company Tri Labs. ‘Techies’, students and also businesses are beginning to show an interest in these solutions. FOSS allows users to adapt the software’s source code to meet specific needs – without the licence costs which come […]

  One of the hot topics at eLearning Africa this year is certain to be the educational implications of the rise of social media. There will undoubtedly be a great deal of ideas, innovation and speculation regarding the future of the sector. If you want to combine this energy with some substantive analysis regarding the social realities of eLearning across Africa, then you should […]

      Intellectual property is an idea aimed at protecting and encouraging creativity and innovation in order to stimulate progress and economic development. In Africa, according to Karl Elvis Nsumbu Mba, the founder and president of the Youth Forum of Gabon, despite the existence of the African Intellectual Property Organization (OAPI), intellectual property rights are difficult to assert and utilise in a commercial […]

Africa is endowed with natural resources including minerals, tourism and agricultural products but the potential is its people. eLearning Africa podcaster Andrea Marshall asked the Executive Secretary of the African Capacity Building Foundation (ACBF), Dr Frannie Léautier how the organisation uses ICTs to improve skills and employability, eLA’s central theme of 2011, and whether African governments are doing enough in this regard and how […]

In September 2010, IBM signed a landmark deal with Bharti Airtel to provide Airtel with Information Technology services in sixteen countries. IBM CEO Sam Palmisano flew to Kenya to sign the deal and to demonstrate his personal commitment to the economic future of Africa. Since that historic day, IBM has already begun fulfilling the promise of bringing its Smarter Planet agenda to Africa. IBM […]

  Allan Kakinda, 23, graduated from Makerere University, Uganda, in 2010. Interested in digital technologies from an early age, he now works with the International Education and Resource Network (iEARN). iEARN is a platform enabling students and teachers to collaborate online on projects dealing with real-life problems worldwide. Allan spoke to eLA about his work and explained why he thinks technologies can make a […]

  Kenya Literature Bureau (KLB) is one of the largest publishing houses in East Africa. In 2009 , the state corporation broke new ground by launching eBooks on the local market ahead of any of the other players in the business. eLearning Africa had the opportunity to talk with Eve Obara, KLB’s Chief Executive Officer, about the recent changes in educational publishing, the boom […]

  He is a man with a mission: Tarkan Maner, President and CEO of Wyse Technology, the global provider of cloud client computing hardware, software and solutions. It is his true conviction that cloud client solutions democratise technology. Unlike ‘fat’ PCs which are expensive and require a lot of maintenance, Wyse’s thin, zero or cloud devices do not store data – all files and […]