African Voices on the Digital Revolutio

A new report shows that laptops and mobile phones are now far and away the most popular new learning devices in Africa – while, despite the hype, tablets are still lagging, only being used regularly by 20% of eLearning practitioners.
This is just one of the surprising findings contained in the eLearning Africa Report 2013. Launched today (Thursday) at the Windhoek Safari Conference Centre by the Namibian Minister for ICT, the Honorable Joel Kaapanda, the report offers new insight into the complex uses of technology in African education – from the point of view of Africans themselves.
Providing a unique snapshot of ICT developments across the Continent, the eLearning Africa Report goes beyond statistics and gives a voice to hundreds of Africans involved in eLearning practice at grassroots level. Its aim is to reflect “the stories, views and experiences of African practitioners and their contribution to the broader African eLearning narrative.”

Read more at: http://www.elearning-africa.com/press_releases_html/pr_2013_05_30.html

Ghana Business News » ICT experts asked to help accelerate Africa’s economic development

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) experts in Africa have been tasked to develop workable solutions to address the numerous challenges in the mobile communications sector to accelerate economic development.
Dr Osei Darkwa, President of the Ghana Technology University (GTUC), who made the statement during the Second GTUC Conference in Accra recently, asked the experts to explore opportunities in the mobile communications sector to speed up development.
The conference was on the theme: “Applications of Mobile Communications in Africa: Prospects and Challenges”.

Read more at:  http://www.ghanabusinessnews.com/2013/05/25/ict-experts-asked-to-help-accelerate-africas-economic-development/

NComputing showcases African customer successes in building ICT education infrastructure for students and teachers

Windhoek, Namibia - May 29, 2013
At this year's eLearning Africa conference, NComputing, the leader in accelerating the adoption of desktop virtualisation, today reported on the latest customer successes using its desktop virtualisation solutions to increase access to high quality Information and Communications Technology (ICT) and e-learning in Africa.
NComputing's desktop virtualisation technology helps African schools, colleges and universities overcome the key challenges related to building and sustaining high quality ICT infrastructure, including limited access to electricity, financial resources and shortage of IT skills.

Read more at: http://www.itnewsonline.com/showrwstory.php?storyid=11008

Online Teacher Certification Programs

In order to teach in public schools in the US, you need to have passed a suitable program of study and obtained teacher certification (licensure).
Online teacher certification programs are an excellent way to qualify for a teaching career. This page gives details of the programs and where they can be found.

Read more at: http://onlineanddistancelearning.com/online-teacher-certification-programs

Solar-Powered Hospital in Haiti Yields Sustainable Savings

It’s among the most basic, most critical, and most overlooked resources needed to run a hospital: electricity.
But in Haiti’s Central Plateau, the flow of energy is intermittent at best. Consider that in Mirebalais, located 30 miles north of Port-au-Prince, the power goes out for an average of three hours each day. This poses an enormous challenge to running any hospital; surgeries are jeopardized, neonatal ventilators stall, the cold chain is interrupted, and countless everyday tasks get derailed. As Partners In Health co-founder Paul Farmer noted during a recent lecture at the Harvard School of Public Health, “It’s not great if you’re a surgeon and you have to think about getting the generator going.”

Read more at: http://www.pih.org/blog/solar-powered-hospital-in-haiti-yields-sustainable-savings

ict4ag International Conference, Kigali, Rwanda

Join us in Kigali, Rwanda from 4-8 November 2013 as we look into the future of ICTs for agriculture.
Have your say in how to establish a dynamic and enabling environment where ICTs for agriculture (farming, fisheries and livestock) can flourish. Be part of the debate as we discuss topics such as ICTs and value chains, advocacy and policy development, and assessing the impact of ICTs.

Read more at: http://www.ict4ag.org/en/

Professional Development K-12 teachers

Get free educational video programs with coordinated Web and print materials for the professional development K-12 teachers.

Read more at: http://onlineanddistancelearning.com/professional-development-K-12-teachers

The MOOC Moment

"The MOOC Moment" is a collection of Inside Higher Ed articles -- in print-on-demand format -- about massive open online courses, or MOOCs. The articles aren't today's breaking news, but reflect long-term trends and some of the forward-looking thinking of experts on how MOOCs may change higher education. The goal is to provide these materials (both news articles and opinion essays) in one easy-to-read place. Download the booklet here.
This is the first in a series of such compilations that Inside Higher Ed will be releasing in the months ahead, on a range of topics.

Read more: http://www.insidehighered.com/content/editorial-booklets ;
Inside Higher Ed

African Virtual University reviews strategy

While virtual universities and e-learning are seen as the way to rescue the situation, they are not without their fair share of problems.
In the past week, academicians from across Africa were in Nairobi to discuss the challenges associated with virtual universities and to find solutions, one of which has been found to be the need to redesign and harmonise curriculums.
The meeting was hosted by the African Virtual University (AVU), a pan-African intergovernmental organisation established to enhance the capacities of African universities to increase access to higher education and training through ICT.

Read more at: http://www.nation.co.ke/Features/DN2/Virtual-lessons-for-AVU/-/957860/1863460/-/item/0/-/58td1cz/-/index.html

eLearning Africa calls Round Table of Ministers

International Conference on ICT for Development, Education and Training. An Annual Event for Building eLearning Capacities in Africa.

A round table of ministers and representatives from all across Africa is due to convene at eLearning Africa. The sixth of its kind to date, this yearly meeting offers a chance for governments to draw on the knowledge they have built up collectively over 20 years.
African educators, still challenged with the mammoth task of providing basic education, will take the opportunity to share progress reports and policies. In today’s volatile world, where new technologies have dramatic implications for policy development, such pan-African communication is vital in ensuring geographically distant countries facing similar problems can compare experiences.
Policy and Innovation in Education in Africa is this year’s theme. At a time when governments are getting involved more than ever in the growth of ICTs – with Kenya’s National Master Plan, Namibia’s Vision 2030, and the rise of African hubs – it is all the more vital for ministers to be able to learn from each other.

Read more at: http://www.elearning-africa.com/press_release.php

Africa: Tech Cities - Africa's Next Big Thing?

One is dubbed ‘Africa's Silicon Savannah', taking a cue, of course, from the Silicon Valley high-tech industry on the west coast of the USA. And the other is still in the form of a plot of land acquired by the Ghanaian tech-businessman, Roland Agambire, already being referred as ‘Hope City'. I call them Africa's next big idea. By way of generalisation, I should add, when it comes to science and technology, this type of thinking - ambitious, risk-taking and out of the box - is uncharted territory for Africa.
Africa's Silicon Savanna is (about 60km southeast of the Kenyan capital Nairobi) a US$14.5bn mega project to build the Konza Techno City and was officially launched by President Mwai Kibaki at a groundbreaking ceremony on 23 January 2013. The mission of Konza Techno project is to serve as a world-class IT hub with the goal of creating 100,000 jobs by 2030.

Read more at: http://allafrica.com/stories/201305260214.html

European Commission laments education sector's lack of ICT skills

Many teachers are ill-equipped to teach students IT-related subjects, according to a survey by the European Commission.
The study featured 190,000 responses from 27 European countries and concluded that access to skilled and confident ICT teachers is more important than being able to use the latest equipment.
However, across the countries surveyed, teacher training in ICT is rarely compulsory, meaning many teachers have to use their spare time to develop these skills.
Its findings also suggest that, while the number of computers in schools has doubled since 2006, 20 per cent of secondary-level students claim to have never (or almost never) used a computer in their school lessons.

Read more: http://www.itpro.co.uk/staffing/19662/european-commission-laments-education-sectors-lack-ict-skills#ixzz2UIwR6P6t

Zimbabwe Uses Technology to Improve Data Collection

 A project being implemented under a Global Fund grant will improve Zimbabwe’s health information systems by providing Internet connection infrastructure for 82 urban and rural sites. The Zimbabwe project is just one of many similar projects around the world where modern communications technology is being used to enhance data collection.
The project is part of a Round 8 health systems strengthening grant to Zimbabwe for which the principal recipient (PR) is the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP). The project is designed to improve the availability of timely quality health data, which is critical for planning, implementation and monitoring of health programmes in Zimbabwe.

Read more at: http://africahealthitnews.com/blogs/zimbabwe-uses-technology-to-improve-data-collection/

On the Move: Mobile Learning for Development

Edited by:
Wanjira Kinuthia, Georgia State University
Stewart Marshall, The University of the West Indies

This a recently published book on how some educators have embraced the opportunities afforded by mobile learning in developing and resource challenged contexts.
The book will appeal to elected public/government representatives, public service agencies, community groups, regional development bodies, researchers, educational technologists and others interested in mobile learning. Students on senior undergraduate or postgraduate courses in educational technology, education, development studies, information technology, information systems, business, health, and social work will find this book useful in their studies related to the application of mobiles in learning and development.

More details: http://onlineanddistancelearning.com/mobile-learning-book

May 23, 2013: IJEDICT Weekly News is out

"IJEDICT Weekly News", by Stewart Marshall: a free, online newspaper with a curated selection of articles, blog posts, videos and photos about the use of ICT for education in developing and resource challenged contexts.

Read and subscribe free online at: http://paper.li/f-1325685118

Computer Health and Safety

This web page deals with computer health and safety issues of online learning, in particular the need for a well designed computer workstation (with an ergonomic chair and computer desk) and the need for a healthy work schedule.

Read more at: http://onlineanddistancelearning.com/computer-health-and-safety

Kenya: ICT, AVUs Integral Teaching and Learning Approach

For Africa to compete in the global economies, 12 -15 percent of its workforce need to have access to technical tertiary education. This was the opening remark by Dr. Bakary Diallo, Rector of the African Virtual University (AVU) during the African Virtual University Computer Science and Teacher Education Curriculum Design workshop at the Intercontinental Hotel, in Nairobi.
At the end of this workshop, delegates will have reviewed the AVU continent wide math and science teacher education program, and develop a new applied computer science program. These reviews and reports are meant to cut down the continent's lags in training necessary human resources to much its rosy economic growth prospects.

Read more at: http://allafrica.com/stories/201305210953.html

Tips for learning online: Three things to do, two things not to do, and one "no-no" for learning online

Tips for learning online - Here are three things you should make sure you do, two things you shouldn't do, and one thing that is absolutely forbidden, if you are wanting to learn online.
read more

Tips for learning online: Three things to do, two things not to do, and one "no-no" for learning online

WSIS Forum 2013 - IICD & GKPF session - Neelie Kroes

WSIS Forum 2013 - Thematic Workshop: 'Speed up! Towards a Generation of e-Literacy for All' (organised by IICD and GKPF on May 15th).

Video message from European Commission VP, Mrs Neelie Kroes, talking about the role that digital skills play in Europe's twin challenges of restoring opportunities to all at a time of crisis, and to increase Europe's competitiveness on the world stage. Mrs Kroes discussed how the European Commission's Grand Coalition for Digital Jobs is addressing this important task in collaboration with many different European stakeholders.

See on YouTube: http://youtu.be/2g-8QeWf8Hk

Infographic: What Does an Educational Technologist Do?

See it on Scoop.it, via ICT for Education and Development

About Teaching Online

Find out about the range of Internet technologies available for teaching online and enabling exciting online classroom activities to be developed at all levels.

Read more at: http://onlineanddistancelearning.com/teaching-online

46 Education App Review Sites For Teachers And Students

Katie and I can't cover the entire education app industry by ourselves. Luckily, there are dozens of other sites specifically devoted to education app reviews for teachers and students.

Read more at: http://edudemic.com/2013/05/46-education-app-review-sites-for-teachers-and-students/

GPS solution provides three-minute tsunami alerts

Researchers have shown that, by using global positioning systems (GPS) to measure ground deformation caused by a large underwater earthquake, they can provide accurate warning of the resulting tsunami in just a few minutes after the earthquake onset. For the devastating Japan 2011 event, the team reveals that the analysis of the GPS data and issue of a detailed tsunami alert would have taken no more than three minutes.

Read more at: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/05/130517085819.htm

New malaria test kit gives a boost to elimination efforts worldwide

A new, highly sensitive blood test that quickly detects even the lowest levels of malaria parasites in the body could make a dramatic difference in efforts to tackle the disease.

The simple test, which can be performed by a non-specialist health worker and does not need refrigerating like other tests, requires a sample of blood to be processed and placed in a test tube with a reactive powder then heated. If the malaria-causingPlasmodium parasites are present, the tube glows green. The whole process takes less than an hour.

Read more at: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2013/05/130517102718.htm

Saudi Arabia Religious Police Say Twitter Is the Path to Hell

Hell is other Twitter users -- that's according to the head of Saudi Arabia's religious police force, anyway.

Saudi Arabia has a complicated relationship with social media as its usageskyrockets in the country. However, the Saudi government is worried social media could help the political opposition in the country organize in spread, similar to the ways it has been used throughout the Middle East and elsewhere.

Read more at: http://mashable.com/2013/05/16/saudi-arabia-twitter-hell/

IJEDICT Weekly News

"IJEDICT Weekly News", by Stewart Marshall: A free, online newspaper with a curated selection of articles, blog posts, videos and photos about education and development using ICT.

Read and subscribe free at: http://paper.li/f-1325685118