CTA (2011) A knowledge economy begins at the grass roots eLearning Africa News Portal, December 15
This is an interesting article by staff from the Technical Centre for Agricultural and Rural Cooperation (CTA) about the role of telecentres in building local entrepreneurism and training in adult education for rural populations in Africa. As well as providing a digital communications hub for small or isolated communities, the Telecentres provide information on market prices, trading opportunities through mobile networks, local content in local languages as well as English, and selection of content relevant to local farmers. Examples are provided from Uganda, Rwanda and Botswana.
Barera’s Blog is well worth visiting. This describes how Paul Barera set up his own Telecentre in a rural area of Rwanda, with initial help from the Academy for Educational Development, then turned it into a self-financing operation. He lists the hard-earned lessons he gained from this experience.
Dr. Tony Bates is the author of eleven books in the field of online learning and distance education. He has provided consulting services specializing in training in the planning and management of online learning and distance education, working with over 40 organizations in 25 countries. Tony is a Research Associate with Contact North | Contact Nord, Ontario’s Distance Education & Training Network.
