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 a 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. The aim of this meeting was to create a sustainable community of practice on E-Learning in Burkina Faso, to support the deployment of distance learning at the University in the country and beyond.
Towards an African Digital Education Community
Through an alternation of plenary presentations and examples, the participants first discussed the notion of communities of learning and practice. They then worked individually and then in groups to define their own “E-Learning” community in Burkina Faso. Finally, they debated the perspectives and success factors of an African digital education community.
At the end of the day, 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 why 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 are involved in the production of online training modules to enrich the training courses offered by the UV-BF in Bachelor’s degree (Mathematics, Physics, Geomatics, Software Engineering) and Master’s degree (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 the exchange of knowledge between the various stakeholders.
For more information on this project: Africa Digital Campus