Week 7- eLearning Africa

From looking at the eLearning Africa web-site it seems that one of the main issues affecting distance learning is problems with the technology “going down”. This is discussed in an interview with the CEO of Fronter, the company which provides the technology for the eLearning programme found here.

If the technology were to be unreliable, and not work effectively, obviously the project would not work, in that students would not be able to effectively get an education. One way in which this is prevented is by providing tools which, although they are taken from schemes in Europe, they have been thoroughly researched to be adapted to be useful for the African ways of learning. In addition, back ups are provided so that students are able to have offline materials they can access when they aren’t able to have access to the Internet for one reason or another.

I personally get the impression that the project has been thoroughly researched in order to allow people with a range of different situations to get the most out of the technology through cultural democratisation. For example, solving the problem of a lack of teachers by taking successful training from other countries and applying it to the situation in Africa, therefore meaning that the chances of the students getting an education are drastically increased, as well as an education which is relevant to their individual situation and needs which they would not be able to receive in such a high quality if it weren’t for online methods. Students are also able to actively participate in discussion of their education so Steve Jones concept of a cybersociety, where people are able to share thought and information instantaneously across vast distances, has here resulted in the technodeterminist, cyber-utopian view that people will get a better education as a result.

http://www.elearning-africa.com/newsportal/english/index.php [Accessed 05/03/09]