The 2017 edition of the eLearning Africa conference on technology-assisted learning and training will take place in Mauritius in September.
Each year eLearning Africa brings together over 1,500 experts, decision makers, practitioners, researchers, entrepreneurs and stakeholders from over 90 countries to discuss, debate, inform, share experiences and plan action.
The three-day conference will this year take place in Mauritius on September 27-29, and is being co-organised by ICWE, the German company that originally created the event, and the Mauritian Government.
Rebecca Stromeyer, chief executive officer (CEO) of ICWE, said eLearning Africa had played a major role in promoting technology-assisted learning in Africa.
“It doesn’t just bring people from all over Africa together to discuss, share experience and learn. It also brings experts, entrepreneurs and investors in education from all over the world to Africa. In doing so, it has helped to create a host of new partnerships, to bring about some major investment deals and to inform political decision-making in all sorts of ways,” she said.
Stromeyer said she was delighted the event would take place in Mauritius, as the Government of Mauritius was committed to using technology to open up a range of new opportunities in education.
“It is investing heavily in technology-assisted learning and training. Mauritius is a wealthy and stable country with highly developed tourism and financial sectors. The government is keen to encourage innovation and promote tech startups,” she said.
The theme of this year’s conference is ‘Learning in Context’, which Stromeyer said was a very important one for African educators.
“Too often in the past, people from outside have ignored the local context in Africa. But anyone who understands Africa knows how important context is. There are around 3,000 languages spoken across the continent and there is a vast amount of traditional knowledge, which we need to preserve,” she said.
“Technology offers us the opportunity to overcome obstacles and to make the most of diversity. Africa is going to be one of the most successful and prosperous places on the planet, so all of us – Africans and non-Africans – need to understand context and how it shapes education.”
