[This article is an abstracted version of the report on the eLearning Africa 2007 conference, which was held during May 28-30, 2007 in Nairobi, Kenya. The complete conference report is available on eLearning Africa’s website at http://www.elearning-africa.com/pdf/report/postreport_eLA2007.pdf.]  

Participants of the second eLearning Africa conference on ICT for Development, Education and Training eLearning included users, newcomers, providers and experts from 88 countries spanning all continents. The conference featured inputs of representatives from major development organisations such as UNESCO-UNEVOC, the Global Development Learning Network (GDLN) and the World Bank; and national and governmental institutions, mainly from Africa but also from Europe, Asia and North America. Bringing together leading experts and practitioners from Africa and beyond, the conference proved an excellent opportunity for networking and sharing experiences in the application of technology throughout the learning cycle - from primary and secondary education to professional development and lifelong learning. Projects and initiatives from all over Africa were presented, and the agenda featured valuable examples of how the latest developments in eLearning are being put to work in the service of learners regardless of their location or level of technology. eLearning at school and in medical and public health education, as well as free and open content and the provision of open education resources for all types of training, featured significantly in this year's agenda.  

Events that took place during the conference included a conference track titled ‘African Showcase’ that highlighted examples of how ICT is being taken up by African institutions, special networking sessions, hands-on workshops and seminars dedicated to building and enhancing existing networks, and summits aimed at bringing together expertise on specific topics. Among others, some of the major themes around which the agenda of the conference was organized were:  

• Unleashing the Capabilities of Universities through Information and Communication Technologies (ICT)

• Empowering Women through ICT with ICT-Based Capacity Building

• Designing and Delivering Online Learning

• eLearning in the School System, Corporations, Governments and the Public Sector

• Policy Issues and Large-scale Take-up of eLearning

• Building ICT Infrastructures to Provide Access and Connectivity in Africa

• Localization, Customization and Content Development

• Open Source, Open Content and eLearning  

HIGHLIGHTS OF THE CONFERENCE  

There were numerous Special Focus sessions led by leading organizations in the field of African eLearning. In its presentation, NEPAD^[1] offered insight into its ‘e-Schools Initiative’. The UNESCO-led convocation discussed its Teacher Training Initiative for Sub-Saharan Africa. The assembly organized by the GDLN featured interviews and a discussion about GDLN as a global network. Special attention was given to Africa GDLN and AADLC^[2].  

The challenge of bringing gender balance into eLearning programmes was highlighted in a series of talks that began with case examples from Makerere University, Uganda; Women's Health and Action Research Centre, Nigeria; and Obafemi Awolowo University, Nigeria. The culmination was a discussion highlighting the work of the Forum for African Women Educationalists and the Africa Gender and Development Evaluators Network, Kenya, amongst others.  

Health featured significantly in this year's agenda, with presentations of various examples of online learning opportunities for health professionals, such as the initiative of the African Medical and Research Foundation to upgrade 22,000 nurses in Kenya supported by Accenture, the Global Healthcare Information Network and the Uganda Chartered HealthNet supported by IDRC. Later on, a session devoted exclusively to showing examples of online courseware designed to heighten awareness of AIDS/HIV featured examples from CompuTainer Pty Ltd., South Africa; HealtheFoundation, The Netherlands; University of the Western Cape, South Africa; and Waters Biomedical Communications, Canada.  

While setting up projects and initiatives in the field of eLearning may be relatively straightforward, the challenge for those attending eLearning Africa lies in finding sustainable models, and this topic was the subject of both a presentation and a lively discussion. Sustainability issues were accentuated through examples of efforts that included a project for dispersed communities in rural Canada, another on the Ethiopian Civil Service College eLearning initiative and yet another on the work of Digital Links International. The ensuing discussion brought together several long-term practitioners who - with input from the audience - strove to identify best practice in creating sustainable initiatives.  

African Showcases were spread throughout the agenda, offering examples of digital courseware and learning materials developed with a focus on African learners. Free and open content and the provision of Open Education Resources for all types of training featured significantly on the agenda. Stimulating food for thought was tabled at the presentation of the Teacher Education in Sub-Saharan Africa programme, aimed at supporting teacher training throughout the Continent and UNESCO’s Open Learning Platform.  

Finding ways to support learners in rural Africa also continues to be a crucial challenge that brings together several concerns, not the least of which is how to operate successful telecentres in areas where access to infrastructure is very problematic. Mobile technology brings new hope to rural learning initiatives, as does re-thinking the value of traditional media like radio. Examples of projects highlighting developments in this field were presented.  

Universities continue to lead the way in Africa in the implementation of Information and Communication Technologies, and there were several sessions devoted to exploring how this is being realised. African cases that illustrate challenges in this area included those put forward by some of the participating universities. UbuntuNet and the efforts being made throughout Africa to link research networks attracted quite some attention to the general topic of connectivity. This discussion was enhanced through examples of experience, such as those made by the African Virtual University and LinkNet Zambia.  

Using an innovative format called the World Cafe, a significant number of participants took part in sessions designed to promote network-training practitioners’ exploration and discussion of ideas and issues relevant to their work. These meetings exposed attendees to both new and existing networking initiatives, such as those built around the ItrainOnline Partnership - a network formed around a portal on ICT4D training resources.  

The general topic of introducing eLearning into school systems proved to be very popular, with events devoted to teacher training, effective partnerships for African Schools and successful strategies for implementing ICT in schools. ‘Harambees’ or networking get-togethers were a new addition this year and the response from participants to set up and lead these informal sessions was overwhelming. ‘Harambees’ that took place covered some of the following subjects:

• Choosing and setting up an LMS in African schools and universities

• Dialogue on strategies and courses of action that could result in eLearning projects and/or networks for accessibility to educational content

• How not to succeed In ICT projects

• Discussing a PPP to look at the issue of e-content

• ICTs and rural development

• Teacher training initiatives

• Developing Africa's business leaders’ use of eLearning

• Online mentoring for Africa

• Using eLearning to support Maths teaching in Africa

• Practical project assessment

Continuing eLearning Africa's policy of highlighting innovative and appropriate technical developments, this year's demonstration sessions were well attended and included demonstrations of low-cost videoconferencing tools; the MEEIT^[3] package aimed at nomadic children in India; and the HIV education programme shown by the HealtheFoundation, The Netherlands.