6 March 2015 1 pm (GMT +2)

During 2015 we will convene several peer assist sessions. The peer assist process offers simple yet effective steps to a group of peers address a challenge brought by a colleague. We identify and question assumptions, then share knowledge and insights which can facilitate the development of innovative and context sensitive solutions.

Our first request for assistance came from educational technologist Stephen Kigundu from Walter Sisulu University in South Africa. His challenge is about how to improve staff uptake and usage of an LMS in a higher educational institution. We had a great online peer assist via Adobe Connect with Stephen on Tuesday 27 January and an additional follow-up session will take place on 6 March at 1 pm. This will also be a one hour Adobe Connect session and more details will be announced as we are getting closer. After the session Stephen summarised some of the points raised and used this to create a shared Google Doc – a collaborative and editable Action Document which will create the basis for the followup session on 6 March. If you wish to participate and get access to this document then please drop us a mail at [email protected]. Your input will be much appreciated, either asynchronously in the Google Doc or as Peer Assistant during the live session on 6 March. In case you missed this session and you are curious about the process you are most welcome to view the Adobe Connect recording here and see peer assist resources we have made available in our Facebook Group

As an additional resource we had Jolanda Morkel to create this Sketch Note of the outcome of the peer-assist session:

If you have a case, proposal or situation, where you would find input from peers useful, please contact us on [email protected].

This message is an announcement of an extension of the deadline for submissions to the Transform 2015 Research Colloquium which will take place from 6 – 10 April 2015 with the theme of  “Transforming Pedagogical Practices  in African Higher Education with blended and online learning”.

We will consider papers of up to 5000 words which are submitted online by 12 February 2015 by 1) emerging researchers based in Africa and from the African diaspora (as sole or first author) with research experience of at most five years post PhD on 31st December 2014; and 2) established researchers based in Africa and from the African diaspora.

Approximately two thirds of the papers in the colloquium will be from emerging researchers. In selecting presentations we will consider the relevance to the colloquium call, the quality of the proposal, the originality of the research and relevance to African contexts.

On Friday 5th December we had the great pleasure of hosting a live session from Online Educa in Berlin featuring  Marilynne Coopasami, Lecturer, Durban University of Technology, South Africa; Aida Opoku-Mensah, Special Adviser: Post – 2015 Development Agenda, United Nations Economic Commission for Africa (UNECA), Ethiopia; and Charles Y. Senkondo, Executive Director, Tanzania Global Learning Agency (TaGLA). Marilynne, Charles and Aida reported to colleagues across Africa and the world about their Online Educa highlights, insights and what to bring home for the African e-learning contexts. This was an exciting and enlightening discussion which brought an African perspective on the conference. In case you missed out on this event the recording of this webinar is available here.

Webinar participants are invited to continue the conversation in the Facebook event page after the webinar.

Online Educa Berlin is one of the world’s leading conferences on technology supported learning and training for the corporate, education and public service sectors. This year e/merge Africa and the eLearning Africa Report are convening a short webinar to share some of the innovative solutions, new thinking and bring home ideas with colleagues across Africa.

ELearn Africa webinar – sharing highlights of @OEBconference pic.twitter.com/8RFzd1svmS

— Mari Pete (@Mari_Pete) December 5, 2014

Marilynne Coopasami

Aida Opoku-Mensah

Charles Senkondo