IAU’s quarterly journal Higher Education Policy, vol. 20, no. 1 — "Africa"
This issue, the first one under editorship of Professor Jeroen Huisman, focuses on educational development in the recent decades of South African higher education; the need for e-learning on the African continent and widening participation in Zimbabwe and argues for changes in resource allocation to the higher education institutions; reflects on the idea of an African university; addresses information and communication policies and strategies in South Africa.
An article by Loo Seng Piew, the winner of the 2006 International Association of Universities Palgrave Higher Education Policy Research Prize addresses the two cultures of science.
http://www.unesco.org/iau/scientificpub/index.html
The Place of E-Learning in Africa’s Institutions of Higher Learning
Fredrick Muyia Nafukho
College of Education and Health Professions, University of Arkansas, 100 Graduate Education Building, Fayetteville, AR 72701, USA. E-mail: [email protected]
High Educ Policy 20: 19-43; doi:10.1057/palgrave.hep.8300141
Abstract
The paper seeks to accomplish four objectives. The first is to examine the need for e-learning in Africa’s institutions of higher learning. The second is to discuss the policy, institutional, pedagogical, copyright, and quality assurance issues that need to be addressed. The third is to critically examine the advantages and disadvantages of e-learning in African universities. The fourth is to provide a practical partnership model for design and successful delivery of e-learning programmes. To achieve these objectives, a critical analysis of relevant literature and case studies was conducted. The literature search included computerized search of accessible and available material on e-learning in Africa and world over, manual search of existing literature, and communication with key subject matter experts to locate published and unpublished studies. The results of the study show that e-learning has a future in Africa’s universities and that there is need to build e-learning programmes based on genuine partnerships from other successful partners within and without Africa.
