Mauritian to host eLearning Africa 2017

ITRealms:

The organisers of eLearning Africa, have confirmed that the Government of Mauritius has agreed to host this year’s conference in September, reports ITRealms. 

The conference will be held under the patronage of the Minister of Technology, Communication and Innovation, Hon. Mr Yogida Sawmynaden and the Minister of Education, Human Resources, Tertiary Education and Scientific Research, Hon. Mrs Leela Devi Dookun-Luchoomun. It will take place in Port Louis, the capital of Mauritius, from the 27th to the 29th of September. 

eLearning Africa, which this year is being co-organised by ICWE GmbH, the German company which originally created the event, and the Mauritian Government, has played a major role in promoting technology assisted learning in Africa. Rebecca Stromeyer, CEO of ICWE, said:

“This year will mark the twelfth anniversary of eLearning Africa. The conference has been remarkably successful. It doesn’t just bring people from all over Africa together to discuss, share experience and learn. It also brings experts, entrepreneurs and investors in education from all over the world to Africa. In doing so, it has helped to create a host of new partnerships, to bring about some major investment deals and to inform political decision-making in all sorts of ways.

“I am delighted that this year the event will take place in Mauritius. The Government of Mauritius is committed to using technology to open up a range of new opportunities in education. It is investing heavily in technology-assisted learning and training. Mauritius is a wealthy and stable country with highly developed tourism and financial sectors. The Government is keen to encourage innovation and promote tech start-ups. So, it’s an exciting time to be coming to this beautiful African island and I’m sure that everyone who attends eLearning Africa 2017 will really profit from the experience.” 

Ms Stromeyer added that the theme of this year’s conference – ‘Learning in Context’ – is a very important one for African educators.

“Too often in the past, people from outside have ignored the local context in Africa. But anyone who understands Africa knows how important context is. There are around 3,000 languages spoken across the continent and there is a vast amount of traditional knowledge, which we need to preserve. Technology offers us the opportunity to overcome obstacles and to make the most of diversity. Africa is going to be one of the most successful and prosperous places on the planet, so all of us – Africans and non-Africans - need to understand context and how it shapes education.

“We need to ask how we can localise content to maximise opportunity and how we can apply or adapt technology to meet local conditions and needs.”

In recent years, eLearning Africa has been attended by over 1500 participants from more than 80 different countries. It is accompanied by a ministerial round table, which is attended by Ministers of Education, Science, Technology, Information and Communications from all over Africa and beyond.

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Experts seek leapfrogging on Shackles of Convention

ITRealms:

International experts will at a major education conference of the African Union in Ethopia next month, call for African leaders to leapfrog the shackles of convention, ITRealms reports.


The call ITRealms gathered is to be made at this year’s Africa’s leading conference on technology and learning, eLearning Africa, co-organized by the African Union (AU) and co-hosted by the Government of Ethiopia, in order to ensure that African economic growth is sustained by adequately trained young people.  


A major focus of the conference ITRealms learnt will be on the role technology-assisted learning can play in helping to develop the skills vital for the future of Africa, by equipping young Africans with entrepreneurial expertise, supporting capacity development in key sectors such as health, and assisting a new generation of entrepreneurs to develop innovative solutions in the education technology sector.


In a statement as gathered by ITRealms, co-organizer of the event and Chief Executive officer of ICWE GmbH, Rebecca Stromeyer, expressed enthusiasm on the success of the event noting that, she anticipates a challenging, interesting and important eLearning Africa series this year.


Also, an education expert and speaker at the event, Shai Reshef, has argued that, with the numbers of potential students in Africa vastly outpacing currently available facilities, there is a critical need for smarter online resources to empower young people and provide the engine for continuing economic growth, ITRealms reports.


ITRealms gathered that the eLearning Africa is the continent’s largest and most influential conference on technology-assisted learning and training, which brings together over 1,500 people from nearly 100 countries every year, providing a unique forum for dialogue, networking and the exchange of ideas.


This year’s conference as ITRealms learnt would feature world leading experts on education and technology, and keynote speakers as will include Mark Surman, Executive Director of the Mozilla Foundation, makers of Firefox and Shai Reshef, the founder and President of the University of the People.

Daniel Nsolibe/GEE


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