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Kenyans to arrive for eLearning African in style

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Written by Lilian Museka
Saturday, 22 May 2010 12:48
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This morning, a big blue truck left Nairobi, Kenya and heading to the South- with 20 members on board from the Rift’s eLearning Consortium. Their final destination will be Lusaka, Zambia, about 1200 miles from home, to attend the 5th eLearning conference to be held between 26th – 28th. The Consortium, consisting of public and private schools, teachers, individuals, ICT service providers and non Governmental Organizations, have pooled resources together, sponsored by Microsoft and International Conferences Workshops and Exhibitions (ICWE) -Africa, rented a truck to attend the conference that will be taking place at Mulungushi International Conference Centre.
“This is a trip of a life time. It is hoped to bring members making the journey together and give them an opportunity to see and appreciate Africa’s diversity and challenges the continent faces in various landscapes and settings throughout their journey,” says Mathew Kituu, an ICT Advisor and one of the organizers of the trip.The trip starts in Nairobi, with the delegation heading to Eldoret, some 300km away to pick up more of their colleagues. The journey will then take the group via Arusha to Morogoro, Tanzania, where they will camp in tents and dine there.

The next stretch takes them to Mbeya, on the Zambian boarder. Before crossing over, they will spend another night in tents out in the wilderness camped at the foot of Loleza peak at the Poroto mountains in South Western Tanzania. The next day, May 24th, the final leg of the journey will see their triumphant entry into Lusaka.

“Some of the teachers on the truck will be making presentations at the conference so we look forward to hearing real life experiences,” says Kituu.
The eLearning Consortium is an offshoot of education initiatives of the SNV Netherlands Development Organization in Kenya. It is a group of public and private schools, teachers, individuals, ICT services providers and NGOs who come together to address eLearning and use of ICT in schools and communities in the North Rift of Kenya.
Meanwhile, a high ranking of Kenyan Ministries of Education and Finance officials will be attending the eLearning round table meeting in Lusaka on 26th of May before the main conference commences on 27th and 28th. Zambia’s president Mr. Rupiah Banda will officially open the event that will be under the patronage of the country’s Education Minister, Ms Dora Siliya.
The conference titled, “Leading for Change in ICTs in education”, is expected to draw over 1,500 participants around the world, and Ministers and senior policy advisers from Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Rwanda, Burkina Faso, Mauritania, Equatorial Guinea and Zambia, who will be seeking to foster capacity development in African education system.
With a multitude of best-practice examples on display, eLearning Africa presents how and where technology-enhanced learning can boost the continent’s economies and development. International experts are expected to provide participants with solutions on how online education and training can be implemented in corporations and organizations successfully and cost effectively.
Education providers, corporations, decision makers from governments and educational institutions, as well as non-governmental and development organizations from Africa and the rest of the world will convene at the annual event.
For the last five years eLearning Africa has spread technology-enhanced learning and training throughout the continent and demonstrated best practice examples of eLearning and technology-enhanced learning. There will be special events on "speed networking" and the "Insaka" sessions which are named after the Bemba word for a meeting place and delegates exchanging knowledge and new ideas.
The conference is sponsored by Microsoft while hosts include Global e-Schools and Communities Initiative (GeSCI), the International Institute for Communication and Development (IICD), and International Conferences, Workshops and Exhibitions GmbH (ICWE).

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