According to 2012 estimates, internet penetration in Africa has reached 15.6%. Though the actual number of people on whom the internet has an impact is undoubtedly much higher, this statistic does demonstrate a significant infrastructural disparity between Africa and other continents. Currently, this connectivity gap is being filled by other media – if the astonishing growth rate in the African mobile market is anything […]
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Empowering the disabled through eLearning
Gladys Rotich’s remarkable story serves as an inspiration to disabled students in Africa. Blind since the age of four following an illness, her path to university meant overcoming adversity. Now at the age of 28, Rotich is a lecturer and administrator at Mount Kenya University’s Eldoret Campus and pursuing her PhD. But things were by no means easy as a blind student, Gladys told […]
The underlying inequality of MOOCs
Anybody who has been paying any small amount of attention to educational headlines in the past few years will be well rehearsed in the proposed benefits of MOOCs. A cursory online search will provide you with endless news articles, blog posts, TED talks and accompanying comments that cite the reasons why MOOCs, enabling global access to Ivy League-standard education, are the biggest thing to shake up […]
Technology Enhances Learning and Life
Technology vendors Dell and Microsoft have been working to deliver classroom technology for remote regions and, in particular, into schools that have not previously had access to any form of computing technology. Mamoeketsi School in Lesotho is profoundly aware of the importance of technology in educating and empowering young people. The school is located in Lesotho, near Maseru. HIV/AIDS affects a third of the […]
“Don’t Be Afraid to Fail”
An Interview with Darlyne Komukama, Founder of Shakai Media eLearning Africa: Please tell us about your personal journey: what was your most influential formative educational experience as you were growing up? Darlyne Komukama: I have always loved to read, as far back as I can remember, I have had some sort of literary fiction in my hands and this all started with the very first […]
eLearning and Knowledge Management in an African University Context
By Professor Kingo Mchombu, As the world moves gradually into the knowledge-based society predicted by Peter Drucker in the early 1970s, one of the challenges for developing countries in Africa, Asia and Latin America is how to create building blocks and vehicles to manage and quicken the transition process. One such building block is Namibia’s Vision 2030, which envisions Namibia becoming a knowledge-based society by […]
OERs and MOOCs: Old Wine in New Skins?
There has been a growing buzz about the concepts of Open Educational Resources (OER) and Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) and how they will transform education around the world. OER has been the subject of increased attention globally, with many donor-funded projects (most often led by universities) providing space to experiment with different models of openness and research the educational effect that these might […]
“No country can make progress on the basis of a borrowed language”
Professor Kwesi Kwaa Prah is the founder of the Centre for Advanced Studies of African Society (CASAS), a civil society, Pan-African organisation which focuses on African development through the lens of cultural, social, historical, political and economic research. Currently, through the CASAS Harmonization and Standardization of African Languages Project, Professor Prah and CASAS are working towards improving African literacy rates. By forming standardised groupings […]
Comics for peace – Shujaaz and the Kenyan elections
On March 4, 2013, Kenya successfully and peacefully held a historic election, the first one after the inauguration of the ambitious democracy-protecting Constitution of Kenya 2010. In the run up to the elections, multi-media communications company, Well Told Story (WTS), was approached by the Independent Elections & Boundaries Commission (IEBC) and the Kenyan Ministry of Education to create a campaign that would engage school […]
How Technologies Can Help with Investing in Girls’ Education
Because of the many educational barriers faced by a typical girl child in Africa, it seems that promoting girl child education using technology in Africa is currently more of a fantasy than a day-to-day reality. Over the past few years, it has become evident to many governments that while it is important to educate boys, it is equally vital to invest in the education […]