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Dear G1:1<br><br>
I am back from Nairobi where I participated to the second edition of
eLearning Africa
(<a href="http://www.elearning-africa.com/" eudora="autourl">
http://www.elearning-africa.com/</a>). This is not properly said a
research conference, more something midway between business, innovation
and science in the line of the now classical On-line Educa Berlin in
Europe
(<a href="http://www.online-educa.com/" eudora="autourl">
http://www.online-educa.com/</a>). During this conference Rosamund
Sutherland from Bristol and myself organized a series of events with the
objective to build a bridge between EU and African research on TEL (with
the support of a "tool" we developed within the Kaleidoscope
framework
<<a href="http://www.noe-kaleidoscope.org/group/kalafrica/en/" eudora="autourl">
http://www.noe-kaleidoscope.org/group/kalafrica/en/</a>>).<br><br>
What's the lesson learned?... that the technology pushes.<br><br>
Our workshop and presentations met a lot of expectations but were also
the occasion to express difficulties faced by researchers on TEL: access
to knowledge, access to publishing and sharing research and need for
*concrete* results. In contrast to that, there was also a stand with
cheap laptops (the OLPC and an Intel machine), and a lot of interest and
motivation raised by technological offer (either hard or soft). From this
perspective, what we were doing seemed to weight much less than whatever
is offered by technology. In the end, it is clear that there was more
than a thousand participants because the technology pushes (and the
business as well) not because of an educational pull. In this context,
educational research seems to have very little to propose. What is not
indeed what we think. We did already express this opinion in a collective
paper (remember:
<<a href="http://www.g1on1.org/openletter.php" eudora="autourl">
http://www.g1on1.org/openletter.php</a>>)<br><br>
So what?<br><br>
A "learning centered" approach will be successful only if there
is a joint effort to make tangible our research results, and to enhance
our capacity to communicate them. The principles we state in the <i>G1:1
open letter</i> are good, but this is too a high level expression of
"good" willing which will stay without effect if we don't
organize there implementation. This implementation should go with a deep
involvement of the community of African researchers on TEL. This could be
our focus for a concrete action.<br>
It is for such an action that we are approaching you today.<br><br>
For a Kaleidoscope / G1:1 initiative in Ghana in 2008<br><br>
We propose to organize a research pre-session jointly to eLearning Africa
to be held next year in Ghana. The objective would be to present (i)
precise states of the art of the research on scenarii of use of
technology to enhance learning, (i) clear cases demonstrating successful
implementation of these results.<br>
The format could be six talks along two morning sessions. Then afternoons
would be devoted to interacting workshop where are discussed research
projects or PhDs carried out in Africa. This would be prepared and
followed up by collaborations supported by Kalafrica. The morning
sessions may be broadcasted if we can establish a partnership with the
world bank (ie using the support of the Global Development Learning
Network, URL below).<br>
This research pre-session could be echoed by an event with the conference
programme to be held after.<br><br>
So, now, some questions and invitations to commitment
<dl>
<dd>- would you be interested in participating in this research
pre-session
<dd>- could you nominate a research project, result or case that could be
used
<dd>- would you accept to provide a specific expert support to a PhD
student or a researcher from an African team, especially...
<dl>
<dd>- to write a scientific communication or publication about
his/her/their work and results
<dd>- to shape and write a proposal in the search for funding
</dl>
<dd>- would you have time and interest in contributing to kalafrica...
<dl>
<dd>- by offering content
<dd>- by contributing to an editorial board to build an open access
series within TeLearn (telearn.org)
<dd>- by joining the kalafrica group to support the development of a
systematic academic cooperation and search for the needed funds<br>
<br>
<br>
<br>
<br><br>
</dl>
</dl>
<a href="http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/GDLNCHILD/0,,menuPK:841931~pagePK:64233373~piPK:64234192~theSitePK:841731,00.html" eudora="autourl">
http://web.worldbank.org/WBSITE/EXTERNAL/GDLNCHILD/0,,menuPK:841931~pagePK:64233373~piPK:64234192~theSitePK:841731,00.html</a>
<br><br>
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