IIOE Activity Series for Francophone Africa was launched
2022.07.20
On 19 July 2022, the International Institute of Online Education (IIOE) forum for Francophone Africa was successfully held, which officially launched the IIOE Activity series for Francophone Africa. With the theme of "Towards the Digital Transformation of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education", the forum was jointly organised by the International Centre for Higher Education Innovation under the auspices of UNESCO (UNESCO-ICHEI) and Cadi Ayyad University (UCA) in Morocco, in partnership with the UNESCO Priority Africa and External Relations Sector. Gaston Berger University in Senegal, the Virtual University of Senegal (UVS) and the Virtual University of Côte d'Ivoire (UVCI) were major contributors. The activity series will take the form of online teacher training and conferences, which is also the first regional activity series organised by UNESCO-ICHEI. More than 60 representatives from higher education institutions (HEIs), governments and UNESCO from 10 countries participated in the forum.
Group photo of participants
Mr. Yue Du, Director of the Division for Cooperation, Intersectoral Follow-up and Partnerships for Africa, UNESCO, delivered an opening speech. He praised IIOE's active role in using new technologies to promote paradigm shift in higher education development, build quality educational resources, and promote educational innovation in Africa. Professor Moulay Lhassan HBID, President of UCA, noted that the partnership between UCA and UNESCO-ICHEI is highly compatible with the Moroccan government's vision of higher education reform and digital transformation, as well as UCA's internationalisation and digitisation strategy. He emphasized that IIOE has built an essential platform for promoting cooperation and exchange between UCA and sub-Saharan African universities, and expressed willingness to cooperate with other IIOE partner institutions on an ongoing basis.
Mr. DU Yue (UNESCO) and Professor Moulay Lhassan HBID (Cadi Ayyad University, Morocco) delivered opening remarks
Representatives from IIOE partner institutions shared their experiences of digital transformation of teaching and learning in their respective countries and institutions. Professor Fatima-Zohra Iflahen, Vice-President of UCA, highlighted the university's strategy of internalisation and digitalisation based on local needs in Morocco and Africa, which are highly consistent with the work of UNESCO-ICHEI. Prof. Moussa LO, coordinator of the Virtual University of Senegal, proposed to build joint accreditation programs with UNESCO-ICHEI and to conduct exchanges on quality assurance in online higher education. Dr. Clement LOBO, Deputy Director of techno-pedagogy, Virtual University of Côte d'Ivoire, expressed his wish to cooperate with UNESCO-ICHEI to build micro-certification courses, promote the localisation of the IIOE Quality Assurance 2.0 framework, and lead the digital transformation of public universities in Côte d'Ivoire.
Representatives from Cadi Ayyad University (UCA) in Morocco, Gaston Berger University in Senegal, the Virtual University of Senegal (UVS) and the Virtual University of Côte d'Ivoire (UVCI) participated in panel discussions
The online training programme "Design and Production of Educational Videos", developed collaboratively by UNESCO-ICHEI and UCA, was also launched at the forum. This is the first training programme co-developed by UNESCO-ICHEI with partner HEI in Francophone Africa. The training will be launched in September 2022, providing teachers in Francophone Africa a valuable opportunity to improve pedagogical skills, and to share knowledge and quality educational resources.
Blaid Bougadir, Vice President of Cadi Ayyad University (UCA), Morocco, and Said Machwate, Head of the Centre for Pedagogical Innovation of UCA presented the training program
In addition, the winners of the video course competition of the first IIOE Online Courses Competition were announced at the forum. After its launch in January 2022, more than 207 teachers and university staff from 45 countries around the world have participated in the competition. 6 teachers from Morocco, Egypt and Benin won prizes in the African section of the competition.
In his concluding remarks, Professor Ming Li, Director of UNESCO-ICHEI, emphasised that digital capacity building of university teachers is an urgent task to promote digital transformation of higher education teaching and learning in the post-pandemic era. UNESCO-ICHEI will carry out pilot projects in selected project countries, leveraging the IIOE platform in collaboration with global experts and partner HEIs, to meet the local needs of the project countries and promote digital capacity building of teachers. He also called on all stakeholders to work together for digital transformation of teaching and learning and to bridge the digital divide.
Professor Ming Li, Director of UNESCO-ICHEI delivered closing remarks
This Activity series will offer ideal opportunities for IIOE partner HEIs in Francophone Africa to exchange knowledge in the field of digital transformation of higher education teaching and learning, share digital educational resources, and strengthen teachers' digital capacity, in contribution to building quality, equitable and inclusive higher education.
On 19 July 2022, the International Institute of Online Education (IIOE) forum for Francophone Africa was successfully held, which officially launched the IIOE Activity series for Francophone Africa. With the theme of "Towards the Digital Transformation of Teaching and Learning in Higher Education", the forum was jointly organised by the International Centre for Higher Education Innovation under t
