News
ICT for Education Solutions: in Africa, by Africans
Africa is experiencing a technological surge and it is having a dramatic effect on education throughout the Continent.
Tech hubs are blossoming, new mobile devices and apps are being designed and produced in Africa, by Africans, and Africa’s eLearning market is now the fastest-growing in the world.
With self-paced eLearning revenues forecast to double to US$512.7m by 2016, it is clear that sales to Africa are experiencing a sharp upturn.
However, Africa is not just an end user of new products: the engines driving this growth are also powering industry and innovation as well as supporting African businesses.
And with fewer than 1000 days left to the target date for the Millennium Development Goals, such African-born initiatives are also helping to accelerate the worldwide action against poverty.
With a record number of proposals submitted and more attendees expected than ever before, eLearning Africa 2013 is certainly feeling the effect of the technology boom.
The conference, which is the Continent’s leading forum for the technology-assisted learning industry, will be bringing together a wide range of perspectives on ICT for development, education and training in Windhoek, Namibia, May 29th-31st.
Now in its eighth year, eLearning Africa will be celebrating the rise of Made in Africa solutions. The conference will also be preceded by the annual eLearning Africa round table meeting of education and ICT ministers from across Africa.
“This year our focus will be on innovation and we are all really proud that some of the most exciting and innovative new solutions in education have been pioneered and developed in Africa”, said Rebecca Stromeyer, founder of eLearning Africa and executive director of ICWE.
This local innovation reveals itself in many forms. Expert speakers at the conference will talk on such diverse issues as African MOOCs, eLearning in refugee contexts, technology’s role in preserving oral traditions and imaginative solutions to lack of broadband access.
The overarching themes of the conference, Tradition, Change and Innovation, set up a tension which these speakers will explore in many different and fascinating ways.
Erin Hayba, associate community services officer at UNHCR, will show the results of his work in the Dadaab refugee camp, Kenya, where the installation of solar-powered ICTs in 39 schools, and an innovative community-based maintenance and sustainability programme, have overcome the traditionally problematic language barriers in the camp and improved the prospects of 80,000 young people.
Mignon Hardie of the FunDza Literacy Trust, South Africa will be talking about the impact of mobile networks on literacy and literature. Her organisation’s creative writing platform shares quality teen fiction among young South Africans and encourages them to share stories – creating their own African content.
National Reading Culture (NRC), an online investment platform targeting Nigerians has collapsed, resulting in the loss of billions of Naira for investors.
The website unexpectedly shut down, blocking users from withdrawing their funds and locking in their investments.
Just like all other investment scams, victims were lured with promises of doubling their money in few weeks.
When National Reading Culture eventually crashed, the operators vanished with users’ funds, leaving investors devastated.
How the Platform WorkedTask-Based Earning:
According findings, National Reading Culture lured users with promises of making money by completing simple daily tasks like reading articles, clicking links, or inviting friends.
They also offered investment tiers to earn higher daily profits, where users had to deposit their own money into the platform.
Evidence showed the website previously operated as a Chinese job search platform before rebranding into an “earning” scheme.
The Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF) has signed a memorandum of understanding (MoU) with Rand Mutual Assurance (RMA) to collaborate on digital transformation aimed at strengthening worker protection systems and support economic growth.
According to RMA, the agreement was concluded during a visit by its delegation to Abuja.
The partnership will focus on institutional capability development, modernising operating models, improving service delivery and sharing knowledge between the two organisations.
Through the partnership, RMA and NSITF will collaborate to strengthen institutional capability, modernise operating models, accelerate digital transformation and improve services for workers and employers.
The organisations will also explore opportunities for knowledge exchange and the adoption of best practices in social security administration.
RMA said the agreement forms part of its broader engagement with governments, regulators and social security institutions across Africa to support improvements in governance, operational resilience and service delivery.
“Our partnership with NSITF reflects much more than the signing of an agreement,” said Mandla Shezi, group chief executive officer of RMA. “This partnership is not simply about sharing knowledge. It is about co-creating the next generation of African social security systems.”
He added: “By combining our respective strengths, we can help build institutions that are more resilient, more responsive and better equipped to protect workers while supporting national development.”
Shezi said the future of social security depends on integrated systems where prevention, insurance, healthcare, rehabilitation, technology, investment management and institutional capability work together.
Microsoft has announced plans to cut about 4,800 jobs, representing roughly 2.1 percent of its global workforce, with Xbox, its gaming division, expected to bear the largest share of the layoffs.
The company said more than 1,600 positions at Xbox would be eliminated immediately, while another 1,600 jobs would be phased out over the next year as part of a major restructuring of the gaming business.
In a memo to employees, Amy Coleman, executive vice president, Microsoft, said the company was streamlining its operations to focus on areas that deliver greater value to customers in a rapidly changing technology industry.
Asha Sharma, chief executive officer, Xbox, described the move as “the most significant restructure in Xbox history,” saying the changes are intended to position the gaming business for long-term growth rather than downsizing.
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