COMESA e-learning Workshop

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Felix Patrick
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1 COMESA e-learning Workshop Lusaka - Zambia Presented by N. Jugmohunsing Assistant Secretary Ministry of Information and Communication Technology October 2008

2 The aims of the workshop were to Introduce Member States to the installed platform; Give Member States a chance to share their e-learning experiences and the progress of e-learning in their countries; Shares ideas on how the platform can be fully utilized by the whole of the COMESA region and beyond; and Discuss the operationalization, utilization, sustainability and ways of promoting the installed platform..

3 Mauritius ICT Strategic Plan Vision & Targets Strategies Projects E-Learning players in Mauritius Scope of e-learning in Mauritius E-Learning in Mauritius (Private Sector perspective)

4 e-learning e-learning is a key strategy for maximising human Capital in the knowledge economy. Aims for promoting e-learning: To empower an educated nation as well as to give a second chance to those who, because of one reason or another, have earlier missed the boat. To allow the culture of self-learning to take hold. To expand the ICT Industry in the country. Partnerships with ICT Multinationals Government of Mauritius would initiate the teachers training in partnership with private sectors like Microsoft (Partners in learning Grants Program) and Cisco system (Network Academy). The education program would employ an elearning model, using a combination of web based and instructor- led training along with a hands on lab environment to teach students how to design, build and maintain computer networks.

5 e-learning players in Mauritius University of Mauritius >uom.ac.mu University of Technology, Mauritius > utm.intnet.mu Private Organisations FRCI in collaboration with Skillsoft > frci.net Global Learning with S. Manipal University, India > globalsmu.com SGS Global certification partner > sgs.mu LBIS Management courses > lbis.org Ebene SSS Boys Secondary institution > ebs3.org and a few more who have just started. On the whole the delivery methods come in many variations and mainly through blended learning (on-line & face to face) but the private sector entities are taking the lead with more innovation.

6 Scope of e-learning in Mauritius Taking ICT courses through the e-learning mode itself. IC3 course conducted by the Government. Aim: An adequate pool of IT manpower who is at least computer proficient, computer professionals or IT specialists is essential for the take off of this sector. The Plan provides for the training of a total of 400,000 persons over a period of four years on the Internet and Computer Core Certification (IC3). The IC3 which was developed by Certiport Incorporation (USA) is the first globally accepted, standardsbased, validated certification program for basic computing skills. The e-learning platform can add value to programmes where government is involved such as: In the 2 nd Phase of the IC3 Course Re-skilling Training because of rapid shift in the economy. In niche areas (Medical tourism, marine resources, knowledge oriented service) NEPAD e-schools initiative Pan-African Tele-education initiative which involves 53 States & Government of Africa. Scope for other training exists in Mauritius

8 Reasons for the increasing use of e-learning in the very near future: Availability of high bandwidth connectivity (with SAFE Cable and international Gateways) Communication at near global parity in quality and tariff Setting up of dedicated IT habitats including the Cyber City Government support to training programmes (refund / sponsored schemes, special fund under the Empowerment Programme)

9 e-learning in Mauritius Some interesting examples 1. FRCI in collaboration with Skillsoft is the first provider of Blended Learning solutions in Mauritius and is providing some focussed courses. Online access to course contents & up to 6000 different courses and fully digitalised books E-Commerce Finance and business Team Building XML & UML Linux Sales and Planning Management Human Resources Microsoft CIW & WEB Leadership skills Personal development Customer service Oracle CompTia Adobe Novell CISCO Lotus ECDL / ICDL & Java 2. SGS Global Certification partner offers an e-learning platform demonstrating true initiatives and innovation courses. ISO 9001:2000 ISO OHSAS HACCP FSC 3. Ebene SSS Boys A State Secondary School whose students constituted a team and develop the e-learning package which provides for all the subjects that the school teaches. This platform has a bright future for secondary level studies.

10 . The following five key areas were identified as the starting points to e-learning: Teaching and learning; Training; Collaboration / Sharing of knowledge; Capacity Building; and Sensitization campaigns. The following avenues were identified with regards to capacity building: Instructional Design Workshop; E-Tutoring/moderating workshop; Course Design using Open Source Software; Collaborative writing (e.g WIKI Educator) Multimedia Content creation; and Digitisation of learning / teaching materials.

11 Contact details: Tel: (230) NICTSP is available at

ICT Initiatives and Research Capacity in Mauritius. Mr. Jayprakash HEERALAUL National Computer Board Mauritius

ICT Initiatives and Research Capacity in Mauritius Mr. Jayprakash HEERALAUL National Computer Board Mauritius Agenda Mauritius National Computer Board Brief ICT Status Some important ICT Initiatives ICT