SURVEY OF ICT AND EDUCATION IN AFRICA - infoDev

nnThe reports for Libya, Morocco, Sudan, and Tunisia all cite the development of virtual or open universitieswith the one in Sudan being specifically focused on teacher training. The Moroccan Virtual Campusworks with Moroccan universities to enhance access for students.The University of Mauritius has established a centre for lifelong learning that includes a centre fordistance education and another one for innovative learning technology.Content DevelopmentAt this juncture it appears that less attention is being paid to the development of digital learning materials inhigher education than to the schools sub-sector. This is perhaps not surprising, given that the lecturer in theuniversity classroom has always had far more independent control over content than the teacher in a schoolclassroom. Most of the effort to enhance access to content in universities is focused on gaining access toaffordable, high-speed Internet connectivity for faculty and students rather than on developing materials atthe institutional level, or through collaborative partnerships among universities or countries. Egypt,however, has an ICT project that designs e-learning courses and has established a digital library that servesall universities.Another interesting development is the COL-led Virtual University for Small States of the Commonwealth(VUSSC) project that aims to create post-secondary skills-related courses in areas such as tourism entrepreneurship,professional development, disaster management and a range of technical and vocational subjects. 11These courses are being created under Creative Commons copyright using WikiEducator, which enables thematerials to be readily adapted to the specific context of each country and used in the offering of creditbearingqualifications in the countries’ post-secondary institutions. The participating African countries areBotswana, Comoros, The Gambia, Lesotho, Namibia, Seychelles, Sierra Leone, and Swaziland. Staff fromselected universities in those countries are being trained to develop content for inclusion in the database.www.infodev.org ICT Activities and Initiatives in Higher Education in Africa 15