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 […]
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Johannes Cronje: an academic leader goes back to the bottom of the education ladder
Johannes Cronje is a keynote speaker at the upcoming eLearning Africa Conference. As the Dean of the Faculty of Informatics and Design at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology, when he began teaching a MOOC he wanted to do it the right way. Not content with assuming traditional teaching methods would translate to an online platform, he went back to school: enrolling himself in […]
A Spider Story: how a study circle becomes an agent of change
Let us begin by telling a story from a fishermen’s study circle in Kenya. CORDIO (Coastal Oceans Research and Development in the Indian Ocean East Africa) is an organization based in Mombasa, Kenya, that focuses on marine ecology and capacity building. This project using study circles is funded by Spider and its focus on education, empowerment and livelihoods strengthens the sustainability of both human […]
Restoring the Vernacular: the 60-year struggle for African languages
How can children reach their full potential, when their early education is taught in a language that they are both uncomfortable and unfamiliar with? In countries with diverse linguistic communities this is the harsh reality for many children growing up as part of a minority group. In Africa, the problem is rendered especially tricky by the prevalence of foreign and colonial languages in education, […]
From free educational resources to MOOCs
A support policy for the development of free educational resources The French Ministry for Higher Education and Research (MESR) has driven and supported a policy for the national-level sharing of digital learning content according to major disciplinary fields. As a part of this policy, the Ministry set up seven Thematic Digital Universities (UNTs) between 2004 and 2007.
Making African voices heard
If you rely on the Western-dominated global media for your picture of Africa, you will receive a very distorted view. We all have our own experiences of stereotypical images, sweeping generalisations and the “famine and war” agenda that characterise so much of the reporting of Africa to the world.
My full name is Obiakor, Vera Ada. I am 42 years old and have been a teacher for 17 years. I teach Further Mathematics and I am the ICT coordinator in my school Government Secondary School, Kubwa. I take pictures as a hobby and have been taking pictures for 6 years. My school is situated in a semi-rural community of Kubwa in FCT Abuja, […]
Physically Active Youth Namibia: in conversation with Nenad Tomić
Nenad Tomić is a life scientist who recently served as a volunteer Academic Officer at P.A.Y. Namibia – Physically Active Youth – teaching natural sciences, mathematics, English and German. The programme, now in its tenth year, is based in the Windhoek township of Katutura, whose name, meaning “the place where we do not want to live”, dates back to the apartheid-era forced resettlement of the black […]
The potential of eLearning for health
Skilled human resources are the backbone of any performing health system. But many developing countries face a human resource crisis due to health workforce shortages, brain drain and lack of adequate training. Increasing health interventions aimed at reducing child and maternal mortality and tackling diseases such as HIV/AIDS, malaria and TB require more and better-trained healthcare personnel. In order to meet the health-related Millennium […]
ICT in the classroom: Namibian teachers share their experience
Education has been a top priority in Namibia for some time now. The government has been directing a lot of resources and expertise into establishing effective systems and policies that will have a positive impact in classrooms and on students. Information and communication technologies have been a very important part of this process, and classrooms are benefiting from better technology and a more learner-centric […]