By Sharon Kyatusiimire
Scholars from across Africa have called on African governments and development partners to increase investment in e-learning technology to enable more people benefit from online education.
The call was made during a panel discussion on the topic “Why Online Education in Africa Must Draw on African and Cross-Border Research” at the ongoing 3rd International CoMMPASS Conference taking place at Uganda Christian University (UCU), in Mukono, Uganda.
Speaking during the session, Miguel Crespo from ISCTE, Portugal, highlighted the need for greater inclusion of African perspectives in the design of online learning platforms. In his presentation on “E-learning in Africa: Inclusion, Development and the Strategic Role of the Portuguese Language,” Crespo noted that many e-learning courses fail to consider key African realities such as language diversity, digital accessibility and inclusivity.
He observed that this oversight leaves out a significant portion of the population that would otherwise benefit from online education.
“E-learning is good because of its inclusivity, accessibility and affordability. However, most online courses do not take into consideration the African context. There is need for governments and development partners to invest more in technology in order to support more learners,” he said.
The CoMMPASS project, now in its third year, is an online learning platform aimed at empowering African journalists and journalism students to report on migration and mobility with accuracy, ethics and impact.
During the same discussion, Issa Boro from Sankara University in Burkina Faso noted that there is a growing gap between newsroom expectations and classroom training in journalism, which is making ethical journalism increasingly difficult to practice.
“We need to look at each other as partners and collaborators, not competitors. The classroom should be feeding the newsroom, but things are different now. There is need for more programs like CoMMPASS to bridge that gap if journalism standards are to be upheld,” he said.
Mulatu Alemayehu from Ethiopia pointed out the lack of specialization in journalism training, particularly in reporting on important but less attractive issues such as migration. He emphasized that courses like CoMMPASS can help address this gap.
Professor Levi Obonyo, from Daystar University in Kenya said that journalism training in Africa has been transplanted from the West, something that continues to deny it an opportunity to reflect local realities.
Other panel discussions on Day One of the conference included “How to Take Online Teaching and Its Recognition Further,” where experts examined the advantages and challenges of online learning and how they can be addressed. Another panel focused on “Online Courses for Continuing Professional Development for Journalists: What Are the Results of the CoMMPASS Experience?”
The conference is being held under the broader theme: “Media, Migration and Mobility: Re-Imagining the African Narrative.” Discussions will continue until Friday, February 6th, when the conference closes.
Comments are closed