ADC holds a community of practice in Lokossa
The Africa Digital Campus (ADC) project partners organised a "Community of Practice" meeting on E-Learning in Lokossa on Wednesday, March 29, 2023. The workshop brought together teachers from the Institut National Supérieur de Technologie Industrielle (INSTI) of Lokossa who are involved in the project.
The workshop was an excellent opportunity to exchange experiences and create a sustainable community of practice focused on E-Learning in Benin. The ultimate goal was to support the implementation of distance learning within the university and nationwide.
At the workshop, participants engaged in plenary presentations and shared examples to explore the concept of learning and practice communities. They then worked individually and in small groups to define their own "E-Learning" community in Benin.
Ultimately, the participants expressed their desire to continue the momentum through online discussion forums, weekly webinars, and future meetings to share their experiences.
One teacher mentioned, "The community of practice we established today will enable me to seek advice from peers and address pedagogical and educational challenges." Another teacher expressed excitement about "learning from my community of practice and utilising the expertise of my peers to enhance my online teaching design and delivery." Another participant echoed the importance of community involvement for professional success.
The Africa Digital Campus (ADC) project involves approximately 65 teacher-researchers from the Institut National Supérieur de Technologie Industrielle (INSTI) at the National University of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (UNSTIM) in Lokossa, Benin. These educators actively contribute to developing online training modules, enriching the Institute's curriculum offerings (formerly known as the IUT of Lokossa).
The partners of the Africa Digital Campus (ADC) project organised on Wednesday, 1 March 2023, at the Virtual University of Burkina Faso (UV-BF) in Ouagadougou meeting “Community of Practice” on E-Learning. This workshop, addressed to the UV-BF teachers involved in the project, aimed to create a community of learning and practice in Burkina Faso to support the deployment of distance learning in higher education.
A day for community building
Following the series of training sessions held between July and September 2022 on the scripting, design and implementation of courses and on the evaluation of learning, thirty teacher-researchers from the Virtual University of Burkina Faso met again on Wednesday, 1 March 2023, at the University’s offices in Ouagadougou for a day of exchanges and experience sharing. This meeting aimed to create a sustainable community of practice on E-Learning in Burkina Faso to support the deployment of distance learning at the Universities in the country and beyond
Towards an African Digital Education Community
The participants first discussed the notion of communities of learning and practice through alternating plenary presentations and examples. They then worked individually and in groups to define their “E-Learning” community in Burkina Faso. Finally, they debated the perspectives and success factors of an African digital education community.
One participant said: “I will now be able to benefit from the experiences of my e-learning colleagues to improve my performance in my online courses”. Another agreed that “there is a strong need to create a community of practice to boost digital education. Alone, it is difficult, but together, there is no reason we can’t succeed!”
ADC, an innovative project for teachers and students
About 70 teacher-researchers from the Virtual University of Burkina Faso are involved in the Africa Digital Campus (ADC) project. They produce online training modules to enrich the UV-BF training courses in Bachelor’s degrees (Mathematics, Physics, Geomatics, Software Engineering) and Master’s degrees (Health and Telemedicine, Cybersecurity, Training and Education Technology).
Led by the French Institute of Research for Development (IRD) and the West and Central African Research and Education Network (WACREN), in partnership with the University Agency of the Francophonie (AUF), with funds from the European Union (EU) delegated to the French Development Agency (AFD), the Africa Digital Campus (ADC) project aims to :
– to provide access to students from West and Central African universities, including the Virtual University of Burkina Faso, to a quality online training offer;
– to strengthen the use of online training on a local scale.
The two-year project aims to pool resources and promote knowledge exchange between the various stakeholders.