In Africa, the coronavirus pandemic demonstrated the need for e-learning initiatives. However, some constraints still affect the development of those initiatives. One of those constraints is teachers’ low ICT adoption. It is, therefore, crucial to train them on how to use IT tools to share their knowledge. 

The Francophone University Agency (AUF), on Monday, July 25, kicked off a training session to train teachers in e-learning course designing and scripting. The training session is launched in the framework of  Africa Digital Campus, which aims to boost distance learning.  

For Ouidad Tebbaa, Regional Director of the Francophone Universities Association (AUF) in West Africa,  “the AUF aims to train teachers who will constitute a skill pool to be used by the universities of Burkina Faso and Benin.”

 “The project wants to boost the e-learning offer. It will provide the universities with adequate infrastructure and build teachers’ capacities in the e-learning field,” she added.  

For two weeks, 69 teachers from Burkinabe public and private universities will be trained in course scripting and designing. They will become bridges assisting other teachers who are yet to grasp the importance of ICT in education.

 “Digitilizing education requires paradigm shifts. We need to review pedagogical approaches and consider digitalization not as a constraint but as an opportunity,”  explained Jean Marie Dipama, president of the Virtual University of Burkina Faso (UV-BF). 

Throughout 2022, Africa digital campus will organize similar training sessions in other countries. The 2-year program is funded by the European Union to the tune of €2.8 million. It focuses on four key areas, notably developing e-learning, modernizing infrastructure and equipment to allow students and teachers to easily access learning platforms, knowledge sharing as well as awareness-raising to convince decision-makers to support the development of connectivity solutions.  

Thanks to the training sessions organized by the AUF, 121 courses (for seven training programs) will be accessible on the UV-BF’s platform. 

Samira Njoya