The overall theme of the conference is eLearning and Sustainability, a topic that sets the stage for lively dialogue on how eLearning can help Africa’s development to move onto a sustainable path. eLearning Africa 2012 is
inviting practitioners and academics engaged in an African context to submit their proposals about this important topic, which will be explored under
five themes:

- sustainable communities;
- appropriate and sustainable technologies;
- sustainable change management;
- sustainable resources and
- sustainable economy, culture and society.

The deadline for receipt of all suggestions for sessions, presentations,workshops and discussions is Monday, January 9th, 2012.

eLearning Africa is a must for anyone involved in or wanting to find out more about ICT for development, education and training in Africa. As the largest gathering of eLearning and ICT-supported education and training
professionals in Africa, participants are able to develop multinational, cross-industry contacts and enhance their knowledge, expertise and abilities. eLearning Africa is accompanied by an exhibition area which serves as a central meeting and networking point within the conference, and provides participants with the opportunity to find out about the latest ICT products, services and initiatives.

eLA in a nutshell
eLearning Africa, 7th International Conference on ICT for Development,
Education and Training
May 23 – 25, 2012
Palais des Congrès de Cotonou, Cotonou, Benin
Organisers: ICWE GmbH, www.icwe.net, Government of the Republic of Benin
Contact: ICWE GmbH, Ms Katharina Goetze,
info@elearning-africa.com, www.eLearning-africa.com,
Tel.: +49 (0)30 310 18 18-0

ICTs are useful in all spheres of life: in governance, in education (both formal and informal) and in all sectors of economic development, including business, banking, agriculture and the health sector. Learning about how these technologies can be incorporated into all sectors of the economy is a key aim of eLearning Africa, and thus the conference is a gathering of various stakeholders, be they educators and academics, manufacturers, marketers, service providers, legislators and policymakers…Suite

Source: elearning-africa.com

Two gadgets that began shipping last week represent assaults from Google on the dominant model of computing, in which we use a cursor and a keyboard to manipulate boxes and windows on a virtual desktop. Samsung makes the hardware for both: the Series 5 Chromebook notebook, the first computer with the browser-only ChromeOS, and the Galaxy Tab 10.1 tablet, whose operating system is the latest version of Honeycomb, the tablet edition of Google’s Android mobile operating system.

These products have arrived at a pivotal moment for computing. Steve Jobs popularized the phrase “post-PC era” to describe what’s supposed to come next, with the iPad displacing the window-driven, desktop-focused experience that the word “computer” conjures up. Now Google too is offering alternatives to that experience, taking on traditional computing with a pincer movement of tablets and Chromebooks. That the two are advancing together may be either an accident or a deliberate attempt to establish distinct post-PC categories—all we know for sure that Google likes to experiment publicly.

The Galaxy Tab

The Galaxy Tab 10.1 is a close match for—some might say it mimics—that proven PC-skewering weapon the iPad 2. The tablet that I reviewed is a special edition, with Android logos on the back, that was handed out to developers and lent to journalists at the Google I/O conference last month. You can buy it without the decoration for $500 with 16 gigabytes of storage or $600 with 32 GB. It’s WiFi-only for now, but a version with a cellular data plan is due out soon.

The Galaxy Tab’s similarity to the iPad 2 highlights the fact that in the tablet world, hardware is scarcely relevant. A responsive, glossy, color-rich touch screen, eight-hour-plus battery life, and front and rear cameras are all table stakes by now. The Galaxy Tab 10.1 is actually slightly slimmer than the iPad 2 (by 0.2 millimeters) and lighter (by 35 grams), thanks to the plastic back it has, instead of an aluminum one. It’s also more widescreen, with a 16:10 aspect ratio.

Google’s post-PC vision—like Apple’s—is all in the software, but this is where the similarity ends. Jobs’s claims about the first iPad’s “magic” were dismissed by those who saw the device as nothing more than a “giant iPhone,” and the iPad 2 can still be accurately described that way. When you turn it on, you are greeted with a grid of every app you ever installed. Customization doesn’t go beyond the ability to group the icons into folders and move six to privileged spots on a dock at the base of the screen.

The Galaxy Tab’s Honeycomb 3.1, however, seems to be gunning to replace the desktop experience with something that looks to be suspiciously like another one, albeit without a mouse. You can clutter your five desktops with app shortcuts to your heart’s content. You can add “widgets” (cut-down, interactive versions of regular apps) to that clutter to do things like provide a permanent view of your e-mail inbox or music player. This latest release of Honeycomb allows you to resize your widgets, an option that makes it possible to create a desktop-PC feel by putting, for example, a calendar and an e-mail inbox side by side.

Honeycomb even comes with a very Windows-like system tray—a place where running apps can be seen and notifications pop up—in the bottom right corner. But it all adds up to a less slick experience than an iPad—there’s much more to tinker with, and you invariably leave things untidy. The Galaxy Tab 10.1 requires a steeper learning curve than the iPad 2.

The Chromebook

The second part of Google’s post-PC vision requires is even trickier to master.

I used the “stable” version of Chrome OS that comes with Samsung’s Series 5 Chromebook on Google’s prototype the Cr-48 notebook, released last year, which has much the same hardware. The Samsung Series 5 will set you back $430 with 16 GB of storage and Wi-Fi only, or $500 for the same with 3G added (yes, it has less storage than you can get with the Galaxy Tab).

Learning how a Chromebook works is pleasant enough at first, as you adjust to a computer that takes just eight seconds to switch on from cold, and one second to wake from sleep (a state it can maintain for over a weekwhen starting with a full charge). The machine may be physically lightweight and have stripped-down functionality, but unlike some netbooks, it provides snappy access to even complex Web pages and handles full-screen Flash video just fine. Its settings menu is delightfully spare and really highlights the fun of junking a lot of stuff you always assumed had to be there in an OS.

But you soon hit the post-PC limitation of this vision: not being able to store files on your computer or do anything while offline. Users are encouraged to “install” Web apps from the Chrome Web store, but that essentially means adding a bookmark. File storage is intended to be via online services like Google Docs or Google’s beta cloud Music locker. (Google has said some of its services will work offline by later this year.)

Two recent additions to Chrome OS help, enabling you to view files that are on a USB drive and play music or video from a connected device, but both feel very primitive. When you can’t get Wi-Fi, or use 3G if your Chromebook has it, this vision of post-PC computing feels post-apocalyptic: everything digital you (digitally) own is gone, and your only chance of getting it back is to reinvent the Internet from scratch.

When you look at them together, it’s clear that each of Google’s two takes on a world beyond the PC demands considerably more of users than the simple, singular vision promoted by Apple. You’re expected to take a more active role in managing the complexity (Honeycomb) or the limitations (Chrome OS) of your device.

A deficiency the pair have in common is a lack of decent apps: the Chrome OS and Android tablet app stores are pitifully bare. Google claims that both are about to be saved by waves of innovative apps from third-party developers, but it’s an argument that feels persuasive only for tablets. Android phones had a few delinquent early years while their app ecosystem got started. But the Galaxy Tab’s groundwork of a richly featured if somewhat complex OS has been laid, and it just needs more app developers to come and build. The foundations of Chrome OS, however, are not so complete. Here Google is relying on developers to create powerful Web apps that work offline even before its own apps do so, or the OS feels like a finished product.

The two claws of Google’s pincer movement against traditional PCs may each offer more features – and complexity – than the iPad, but only one, Android Honeycomb, feels capable of doing as much damage as Jobs’ magical giant iPhone.

Source: Technologyreview.com

Presenting his paper on “New Technologies in Restricted Environment”, Gerald Henzinger, a lecturer at the Catholic University of Mozambique, said students are rushing to use mobile phone learning.

“The only challenge is that logistics do not match the exponential growth of students’ demand.“

A sustainable project in teacher training that began in 2003 is supported by student fees for distance learning.

“Mobile learning at our Distance Learning Center (CED) focuses on SMS. Our students often are school teachers in very remote areas who have restricted or no access to electricity and the Internet. We use bulk SMS – short messages that can be sent to many students at the same time – as well as interactive SMS services. These help students communicate with our staff about the subject matter or on administrative issues.”

Dr Niall Winters of the London Knowledge Laboratory said the development of mobile phone learning in Africa is being encouraged by a huge demand for distance education.

Digital storytelling

Arndt Bubenzer and Dennis Joseph Mazali presented the lessons learnt from iCall, interactive storytelling delivered via mobile phone. In terms of scale, it was noted that users in the differing fields of formal education, community affairs and work-based learning required different approaches.

Working in community affairs meant designing a system for users of low-level phones. Such solutions were determined to scale relatively easily. Replication however, would require system design and implementation skills. The development of user-generated story content on behavioural change was highlighted as a means of making stories relevant to listeners.

Studying mathematics

Riitta Vänskä, senior manager of Mobile and Learning Solutions in sustainability operations at Nokia said students and teachers have used text messages and social media to exchange hints on topics and lessons, using Wikipedia and blogs.

Presenting her paper on “Nokia’s Investment in Education for All: Mobile Learning Solutions for Formal and Informal Learning”, she said, “Children in South Africa are addicted to studying mathematics through mobile phones’, describing it as “cheap, efficient and very exciting“.

“Children study mathematics very effectively through the use of mobile phones. They really compete each other. There are hints for every subject and topic“.

Students often have to share a mobile phone, so to improve supply, Nokia donated ten extra phones to each school. Using their own phones to send text messages and exchange ideas at low cost the young students had taken advantage of the low cost in South Africa of sending messages, only around 20 Rand a year.

“We hope that in the future all children will have equal access to education through mobile phone learning, Nokia has played a significant role in spreading mobile learning in Africa. We are collaborating with Pearson Foundation as content partner. Mobile phone learning is a really valuable investment.”

Promoting equity and equality

Vinod Ganjoo of U.S. based Harbinger Knowledge Products said mobile technologies are delivering equity and quality in the provision of education to young people.

He said mobile technologies have improved education opportunities for the poor communities, through blended learning and rapid interactivity.

“These new technologies have provided flexible and cheap learning channels for many students in classrooms and outside classrooms.“

According to industry estimates, there are more than 500 million mobile phone subscribers in Africa now, up from 246 million in 2008.

Source: eLearning-africa.com

The experts presented papers in a session entitled “African Experiences with Web 2.0 Integration Classroom Practice”, pinpointing an urgent need for learning institutions in Africa to build strong networks with the developed world using Web 2.0 practice.
Web 2.0 and social media include Wikipedia, Blogs, Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and other interactive ICT tools providing an attractive, integrated, cheap and collaborative learning environment.

Delivering her paper on “Making Web 2.0 Technologies work for Higher Learning Institutions in Africa”, a librarian and lecturer at Sokoine University of Tanzania, Dr Edda Tandi Lwoga, said, “The use of Web 2.0 in Africa is still at infancy stage. In order to improve the quality of education, African universities should take advantage of innovative and emerging technologies and consider the learning preferences of the Net generation or digital natives”.

According to Dr Lwoga, Web 2.0 supports constructivist approaches to learning with great potential to socialise online learning, by providing technologies that foster interactive, collaborative, and participative roles of instructors and learners.
She said, “The new technology can not only improve teaching and learning processes in universities and schools, but deliver vocational training and lifelong learning and help marginalised groups like street children and disabled young people.”

Skyping for improved library services

Dr Nkisheng Mphahlele, information librarian at Tshwane University of Technology, South Africa, said that Web 2.0 will improve library services.

She said Skype and blogs can enhance learning and access to library information resources in institutions of higher learning.
Pointing the dearth of information on Africa’s development she said: “Most of the information in Africa remains unrecorded, thus cannot be captured. Tools like Skype address oral, visual and written at the same time.

“As more individuals and institutions are having access to the Internet, there are many resources available at no extra cost that can be effectively used to enhance learning at institutions, in a format that can best address the needs of the African student.”

Web 2.0 for the poorest rural schools

Expressing similar views on the role of Web 2.0, the Chief Executive of eKhaya ICT of South Africa, Ronald Wertlen, said that the open source software platform and the social network awareNet had tremendously improved education bringing social media to some of the poorest schools in South Africa, allowing offline use and making use of the Internet at times when the cost is reduced.
Wertlen said that awareNet was addressing the question of personal self-worth in an innovative digital manner: “Many young black Africans grow up in a culture where personal self-respect is squashed by gross disrespect for human life in the very context of their environment. Sub-standard services in terms of health, policing, education etc. and subsequent high mortality rates, as well as dismantled cultural traditions, teach youths that intrinsic motivation is worthless since the self itself is worthless. As against that, awareNet teaches youths that their voice can be heard and that there is someone listening. “

This expression is channelled into wiki-style projects that explore cultural and historical heritage of the youths, in addition to allowing free-flowing conversations. “AwareNet attempts to minimise the requisite involvement of teachers, so that learners’ motivation is not bridled. It attempts to heighten receptivity of otherwise dysfunctional schools to an innovative idea through the great strength of social media.”

Alex Lindsay, an ICT expert from the U.S based Pixel Corps said that there was a need to integrate local customs and culture when using Web 2.0 in order to attain practical benefits to students and teachers. He said his organisation has been conducting weekly training workshops for application of Web 2.0 technologies to suit the prevailing environment for learning.

Source: eLearning-africa.com

The awards, according to the Information and Communication Service of the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) are co-organised by the Economic Commission for Africa (ECA) and the Government of Finland in collaboration with the eLearning Africa Scholarship Trust, the organizer of the eLearning Africa annual event. The awards are given in recognition of initiatives aimed at exploiting information and communication technologies (ICTs) for education and training in Africa.

In remarks read by his representative at the ceremony, ECA’s Executive Secretary and UN Under-Secretary-General, Mr Abdoulie Janneh said, “today we see signs that more and more ICT applications are being integrated in all sectors in Africa including in government, education, health and in the economic sectors.”

He, however, noted that whilst the adoption of ICTs in education in Africa is on the increase, “it is a fact that the continent still falls behind, which is why these awards are so important.” He added, “It is indeed necessary for the youth in Africa to gain acquainted with the 21st century skills in order to increase the competitive advantages of Africa.”

The following projects won this year’s 2011 awards in the ‘ICT in Education’ category:

The Speaking Book: This project aims to make education about critical issues accessible to all regardless of literacy or education level. This ‘world first’ is created by South Africans for Africans and focuses on rural, vulnerable and excluded people living in disadvantaged regions of Sub-Saharan Africa and communities around the world. Improving health care is a top priority for Africa and through the Speaking Books (www.sadag.co.za, www.booksofhope.com), access to essential medical information for low literacy, rural, and vulnerable Africans is improved.

Dr Math, South Africa – Dr. Math (www.csir.co.za) is a mobile tutoring service that provides access to credible, personal, on-demand tutoring in the subject of Mathematics.

eLimika e-learning programme, KENYA ? eLimika (www.elimika.ac.ke), which is a Kiswahili word for “get educated”, is the vehicle through which Kenya Institute of Education (KIE) delivers its courses.

Formation partout et à tout moment!, ANGOLA (www.academia-aberta.com) is the training platform of the Open Academy of Angola 2 and provides a distance training space and collaborative working environment.

Source: Press Release

Opening Africa’s leading conference on ICT-supported education, eLearning Africa, in Dar es Salaam on May 25, Dr Bilal said, “We are now witnessing increasing investments in ICT on our Continent, the enthusiasm of the youth in adapting new technologies and bridging the geographical barriers brought by fast changing converging technologies. These initiatives attest to the fact that Africa is now moving from being a spectator to a participatory role in the development of technologies.”

This was demonstrated on Wednesday at the eLearning Africa conference in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. 25 ministers and deputy ministers and more than 50 high-level government officials from from 21 countries* throughout Africa convened at the eLearning Africa Ministerial Round Table to discuss the future role of ICTs in African education. During the conference, 322 speakers from 57 countries have been discussing and demonstrating best practices in 65 parallel sessions, presenting new ways of learning on the Continent and in other parts of the world. An accompanying exhibition shows a wide range of innovative technologies for learning. The conference has attracted more than 1,700 participants from all over the world.

In line with the central conference theme, “Youth, Skills and Employability”, Vice President Dr Bilal pointed out that young people in Africa make up 37 per cent of the working age population and 60 per cent of the unemployed. But whilst remarkable achievements have been noted in terms of access and expansion of infrastructure for schools, colleges, vocational training institutions and polytechnics, the rapid increase of student enrolment has posed a number of challenges, such as a shortage of qualified teachers and limited access to library and Internet facilities. Dr Bilal said that to address these challenges, it was imperative for African governments to invest in ICT in schools, colleges and job-related training programmes.

Dr Shukuru Kawambwa, Tanzania’s Minister of Education and Vocational Training, highlighted his Government’s drive to improve standards. He pointed out that the country’s newest university, in the capital Dodoma, only started four years ago and is now accommodating 20,000 students. He said, “My hope and vision is to see Dodoma University spearheading ICT in education.”

Michael Trucano, Senior ICT and Education Policy Specialist at the World Bank, embarked on a tour of innovative uses of ICTs around the world, from novels published on mobile phones in Japan to Uruguay, which is the first country in the world to provide every single student with a computer. Mr Trucano said that the effectiveness of ICT-supported learning could not always be measured but he was optimistic that soon “all the world?s content will fit in the palm“.

The Tanzanian publisher and political commentator Jenerali Ulimwengu made a case for modern pedagogy, including a more ‘democratic’ teacher-student interaction. He stressed the importance of local content and local
languages: Education and training, especially in complex fields such as science and IT, can be made more effective if students are enabled to learn in their mother tongue. ICT can provide easier access to knowledge: “All learning requires technology, all technology requires learning“, he added.

In another first for eLearning Africa, the conference was addressed by a senior NATO Lieutenant General, Karlheinz Viereck, who is responsible for Joint Force Training at the world’s largest military alliance. At a special session on improving cooperation and crisis response, he spoke about the need for “global training” for emergencies and said that NATO was keen to develop joint initiatives with the African Union.

The conference concluded on Friday with the eLearning Africa Debate about the potential of Open Educational Resources.

*Tanzania, Malawi, Niger, Nigeria, Mali, Burundi, Kenya, South Africa, Angola, Mozambique, Benin, Senegal, Namibia, Ethiopia, Congo, Djibouti, Rwanda, Sierra Leone, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Liberia.

Source: Press Release

e-Taalim has been involved in providing expertise information, latest news, trends and initiatives in the field of eLearning to bridge the digital divide and close the content gap between the African/Arab countries and the developed countries. Since its inception, the readers base of e-Taalim has been growing exponentially and today, it has readers from academia and from different industries, verticals and domains covering around 200 countries. Not just academic institutions, even the private companies, NGOs and Government Organizations associate with e-Taalim and look for its expert guidance and consulting in implementation, execution and management of ICT and media for learning and training.

To provide better support and service to the associate organizations and the readers of e-Taalim, who look for reliable, quality and cost effective solutions and services in the field of ICT and eLearning, e-Taalim has partnered with a UK based company, AEL Data, an IT and ITES ( IT Enabled Services ) company specialized in providing end-to-end content related technological solutions and services such as Digitization, ePublishing, eLearning, Web Application Development, Mobile Application and Content Development.

“I myself a regular reader of e-Taalim, and I’m very much impressed with the idea of creating an African/Arab e-learning community. We are very excited to associate with e-Taalim in its noble initiative and contribute our global expertise and experience to the knowledge development in the Middle East and Africa, particularly in Tunisia.” said Mohammed Sadiq M.S, Sr. Vice President – AEL Data.

About AEL Data

AEL Data is a UK based multinational IT and ITES company specialized in Digitization, ePublishing, eLearning, Web application development, Mobile application and content development. It has been offering end-to-end content related solutions and services to almost all the world famous colleges, universities, business enterprises, government organisations and NGOs.

AEL Data has 3 state-of-the-art development and production centers in India, which employees over 600 professionals having different skillsets, experience and educational backgrounds. It also has sales offices in US, Canada, UAE, Malaysia and Singapore. All of our development and delivery centers are ISO 9001:2008 and 27001:2005 certified for its quality and information security management processes.

Website: www.aeldata.com

We all recognise the transformative potential of technology in education, but so often new initiatives fall short of their potential to deliver. Professor Mereku’s presentation The Congruence Between the Intended, Implemented and Attained ICT Curricula in Sub-Saharan Africa will provide conference participants with a valuable opportunity to learn about the integration of ICT into teaching and learning in institutions across Africa. What are the common challenges faced across countries? What are those specific to national contexts? How can we learn from the experience of others and incorporate the benefits of their hard-learnt lessons into our practice?
Professor Mereku will share knowledge from across six countries, with 117 institutions participating in the research that was undertaken with the Education Research Network for West and Central Africa (ERNWACA). In addition, the presentation will provide a useful introduction to the wider PanAfrican Research Agenda on the pedagogical integration of ICT (www.observatoiretic.org).This initiative exists in order to undertake research and publish information regarding the state of technology in African educational contexts. In institutions that have access to ICT, what is being done with them, and how are they being used to enhance the quality of teaching and learning?

Professor Mereku’s research is highly relevant because it touches a central issue across the conference: the question of how to operate in a way that ensures effective integration of ICT into education. As we all know, effective integration is very different from effective deployment! Over the last fifteen years a broad tendency within the ICT and education sector has been to focus on getting technology into classrooms at the expense of focusing on how it is used once it is there. Put simply, deployment of technological infrastructure has been prioritised over effective integration.

There are understandable reasons for this: Every intervention has limited resources. Perhaps 80 percent of the time, energy and expertise within an initiative will be spent on ensuring that deployment takes place effectively. That leaves 20 percent of time, energy and resources for the issue of effective utilisation and integration of that technology.Of course both aspects are vital, and deployment has to precede integration, but the issue is one of weighting and prioritisation. A radical realignment of both project planning and budgetary allocation is required in many contexts, with sufficient resources made available for ongoing training and support.
As many conference participants will agree, overemphasising deployment means that teachers are unlikely to receive full training, will not be confident with the new technology and are therefore more likely to view it as best approached within the confines of a discreet subject. Compartmentalising and introducing technology into educational institutions in a manner that slots into pre-existing curricula structures as an additional subject has significant limitations. In persisting with the model of teaching ICT as a single subject it is only possible to scratch the surface of the educational potential of technology.

At eLearning Africa, we will discuss with Professor Mereku why it happens so often. In my personal experience, the main reason is because pursuing another route requires additional effort and energy. The training of teachers is too often viewed as a brief, box-ticking exercise that accompanies deployment: driven from the top-down, with little regard for actual teacher needs.
Asking teachers to adapt to new technology is a big challenge. Teachers should be recognised as lifelong learners– in order to keep growing and developing in the use of technology in education,they need to keep receiving the training required to help that happen. They also need to be remunerated for that training. Providing financial incentive is an important aspect of sustaining motivation for teachers’ participation in training programmes that are undertaken in addition to their normal workload.

It has been suggested by certain technology enthusiasts that the role of the teacher is increasingly obsolete. Reflecting on Professor Mereku’s research, it seems that nothing could be further from the truth. Teachers remain vital guides within the learning process. The ways in which teaching is undertaken needs to undergo a fundamental shift. Technology has a vital assistive role to play in the process of change away from outdated didactic approaches. But this recognition should never be confused with the flawed notion that technology replaces teachers.Indeed, the opposite is true: realising the transformative potential of technology in education requires well motivated teachers who have been trained in a manner that equips them to be effective teachers for the 21st century.
It is worth remembering the stark reality that the average primary school class in sub-Saharan Africa has 44 pupils. In many countries this is much higher, with 67 pupils per teacher in Malawi, 69 in Rwanda, and 90 in the Central African Republic. The lack of properly trained teachers is an urgent crisis:In several countries, including Ghana and Nigeria, only half of primary school teachers have received proper training.

Realising the transformative potential of ICT in education is dependent on effective integration, and effective integration is dependent on effective teacher training.

There is an important role for critical self-assessment in this regard. Do the initiatives that we are involved with prioritise integration over deployment and recognise the significance of ongoing teacher training?

The research stream at eLearning Africa, exemplified by Professor Mereku’s groundbreaking research, is full of such examples: Innovative projects where technology is being driven by educational priorities. Make sure you join the eLA research stream: to learn, participate and shape the conversation.

Source: elearning-africa.com

Laura Czerniewicz and Cheryl Brown’s ground-breaking research has focused on understanding how and why students make use of technology, both for learning and personal use. In particular, they have examined the contrasting experiences of ICTs amongst university students in South Africa, assessing the intricate relationship between access and use and the varied meanings that technology holds for students affecting their patterns of usage. The two focal issues for the presentation are both hot topics for the eLearning Africa community: the influence of the African ‘digital native’ and the ongoing mobile phone revolution across the Continent.

If you have been interacting with the eLA community for a few years you won’t have missed the conversation about the growing number of African students identified as ‘digital natives’. The term refers to those individuals that have grown up using 21st century digital technologies and are fully comfortable and confident in using them in flexible ways to meet their own learning purposes.

It is a useful term for reflecting the reality of those students for whom digital literacy has meant the integration of technology across the education process. But it is a catchphrase, and like any catchphrase it has the tendency to promote generalisations and ignore internal disparities.

Cheryl and Laura’s presentation engages critically with this issue, highlighting the implications of the fact that in universities in South Africa, an equally significant group of ‘digital strangers’ coexist alongside the growing number of ‘digital natives’.
Only 15 percent of young people in South Africa ever get the opportunity to attend university: this is the first divide in the straightforward lack of access to education. On arrival at university, students will encounter the reality of a second divide, an intra-national digital divide, with ‘digital natives’ and ‘digital strangers’ expected to engage in learning within the same classroom.
Traditionally, there has always been a lot of concern about the digital divide that exists between Africa and the ‘developed’ world. This remains a significant challenge, but it is now accompanied by the reality of these equally damaging intra-national divides – in this context experienced in the classroom dynamics of a university in South Africa.

The presence of an intra-national divide, exhibited within the classroom, poses the substantive challenge of how to build the appropriate pedagogical and technical bridges to facilitate effective learning for both groups of students. The presentation will profile evidence-based strategies for utilising ICTs in a way that enables equitable and appropriate access for both ‘digital natives’ and ‘digital strangers’.

Foremost amongst these strategies is the role of the mobile phone, with Laura and Cheryl arguing that it plays a central role in defining and shaping the digital capabilities and habits of South African students. They suggest that it provides a powerful catalyst, enabling those university students previously marginalised from ICT use and labelled as ‘digital strangers’ to begin to make meaningful use of technology for the purpose of education.

The mobile phone is now virtually ubiquitous across South Africa, with 93 subscriptions per 100 inhabitants. It is clear that this is having a fundamental effect on all manner of communications and interactions across the nation and, indeed, the entire Continent. However, it remains a significant challenge to progress beyond generic observations and decipher the specific implications and impacts for education.

Longitudinal research studies represent a valuable resource in this context, providing empirical analysis that cuts through the rhetoric and enthusiastic assumptions. One thing is clear: the debate surrounding mobile learning is maturing fast. The vague optimism and speculative talk regarding future possibilities for learning has been replaced by demand for evidence of impact and an increasing focus on learning outcomes.

This shift is a welcome one. Indeed, it is vital if the education potential of mobile learning is to be more fully exploited. We must learn to distinguish between initiatives which facilitate educational transformation and those that masquerade as such but in reality serve more as innovative attempts from mobile providers to increase market share.

These themes all feed back into the overall purpose of introducing a research stream into eLA. The conference has always been a creative space where a diverse community of people share ideas, challenge one another and learn together. The research stream builds on this, remaining practical and applicable, serving to sharpen thinking and practice by engaging with top-quality research experience in the field of eLearning in Africa – enabling us to better answer the key questions of what does and does not work and how we can better assess effectiveness.

Source: eLearning-africa.com