Nomadic groups are highly discriminated against in access to education services, and the 2010 Education For All Global Monitoring Report demanded urgent action to address their education deprivation. Mobile pastoralists, particularly, appear to be falling beyond the remit of migration studies in education, although they are among the most mobile…

The purpose of this report is to provide an overview of the present and future impact of digital learning on teacher education in Sub-Saharan Africa. The focus of the report is student-teachers and teachers, and its central argument is that existing institutional structures will be insufficient to meet the scale of demand for well-prepared,…

Over a period of three years a number of International and African based institutions collaborated to design and create a set of Open Educational Resources (OERs) to support school based teacher education as part of the TESSA project. Writing of the materials drew on case studies, experiences and existing resources from across the region using a…

A canyonesque gulf has long existed between open academia and many external subject communities. Since 2011, we have been developing and piloting the public open scholar role (Coughlan and Perryman 2012)--involving open academics discovering, sharing and discussing open educational resources (OER) with online communities outside formal education…

Africa is known for inadequate access to all sorts of human needs including health, education, food, shelter, transport, security, and energy. Before the emergence of massive open online courses (MOOCs), open access to higher education (HE) was exclusive of Africa. However, as a generally affordable method of post-secondary education delivery,…

Open educational resources and open education practices have the potential to lower costs and increase participation in higher education. One hundred and ten individuals from higher education institutions around the world participated in a survey aimed at identifying the extent to which higher education institutions are currently implementing open…

This paper documents the experience and lessons from implementing an e-learning program aimed at creating multidisciplinary research capacity. It presents a case study of bringing together a multidisciplinary group of professionals on-line to learn the skills needed to be a successful researcher in the context of HIV/AIDS and food security…

Educational provision in developing sub-Saharan Africa states has been severely hindered by the hydra-headed problems of access, cost and quality. Amidst these challenges is the pledge of regional and national education policymakers and development planners to ensure that there is maximum access equitable and qualitative education for all (EFA) in…

These self-instructional resources have their origins in a workshop on the Costs and Financing of Open & Distance Learning which took place from 6-10 August 2007 in Gabarone, Botswana. The workshop was sponsored by the Commonwealth of Learning (COL) with the overall aim of building capacity to plan, negotiate and manage appropriate financial…

Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) have for long been celebrated as the solution to access in education. New innovations like the internet and mobile technologies provide a great opportunity for mass delivery of education information especially in Africa where governments and institutions are struggling to equip the people with much…

This article is based on a report of the same name emanating from research undertaken by a team of South African Institute for Distance Education (SAIDE) researchers for the Association for the Development of Education in Africa (ADEA) under the auspices of the Commonwealth of Learning (COL) during 2003. The article explores the importance of…

Discusses the evolution of the education system in Africa from the 1970s to the present. Looks at the link between schools and local institutions, the value that communities place on education, and the role of the community school regarding adults and out-of-school youth. (JOW)

The author describes his experience in the establishment of Botswana Extension College in Africa. Difficulties of assessing educational needs and experimentation with radio-correspondence courses and various forms of face-to-face group work in village study centers are described with focus on different roles for teachers and for institutions with…

This third publication on the theme of quality in the Commonwealth of Learning Perspectives on Distance Education series widens the discussion beyond external quality assurance processes to a more generic focus on a "culture of quality." It is an extension of the earlier two publications, which came out in 1994 and 1997 and drew…

Based on a meeting of experts convened in Lome, Togo in June, 1989, this digest aims to demonstrate what is understood to be the broad potential of the child-to-child approach, which many people think of as being applicable only to health education. The digest contains three main sections. Section A highlights the original cultural references of…