MOOCs4Africa Shares Its Expertise with African Centers of Excellence
© EPFL 2019
In the context of the ACE Impact Project, Dimitris Noukakis, Director MOOCs for Africa at EPFL, made an inspiring presentation on the advantages of adopting and accessing to ICT tools, new pedagogies, online journals, digital networking platforms, to creating high quality teaching in the continent.
His intervention motivated African universities to reflect on whether they were “building modern learning environments.” Today’s universities prevalent and ubiquitous access to digital tools and digital content, call for new pedagogical approaches that require to revise the way we invest in infrastructure.
When re-designing learning using online tools, faculty must remember that the use of ICT tools always depends on the context – therefore teachers must learn new skills and be able to develop a repertoire of online learning activities.
- What can African universities do to reshape education and benefit from ICT?
- Move towards active learning and rethink pedagogical methods.
- Learn how to design digital content through ICT and Learning Management Systems.
- Leverage the wealth of relevant content available online by learning how to find it and localize it.
- Train the faculty members and teachers in pedagogy and the use of digital tools for education.
- Hire qualified personnel to support the pedagogical transformation.
- Create the right learning environment – improve infrastructure and build quality classrooms.
A bright future awaits the next generation of higher education institutions, which will be characterized by less brick and mortar, offer continuous professional development and have the technology to reach out to underserved communities.