Guest Post: Memories of a Conference: eLearning Africa

[This week’s post is from Ravi Murugesan, AuthorAID training coordinator. Thank you, Ravi! –Barbara]

In late May, I was at the eLearning Africa conference in Dar es Salaam, Tanzania. I had a memorable time. Attending the conference and meeting people there broadened my perspective.

I enjoyed my short stay in Tanzania. The sky was often overcast, as you can see in the picture, but the people were warm and helpful.

At the conference, an interesting session was on creation of digital content for and by teachers. The session featured diverse speakers from different African countries.

The audience was introduced to a primary-school English teacher working in a remote part of Uganda that lacks electrical service and so relies on generators. This teacher had bought a laptop computer with his own money and created engaging PowerPoint presentations to teach his students. I was inspired with his drive to use such technology to make learning interesting for his students, despite major barriers.

Outside the conference rooms were the exhibitors’ stands. One stand was that of Emerald Publishing, which kindly hosted a session for AuthorAID.

At this session, I met a number of people interested in AuthorAID. I remember meeting early-career researchers from Gabon, Kenya, Nigeria, Uganda, and Zambia. I explained AuthorAID mentoring to them and said how they could get help with publishing their research. I also met a senior researcher from Uganda and asked him to register as a mentor.

I was delighted to meet potential mentees face-to-face. I hope they sign up soon!