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Join us for the latest eLearning Africa Podcast - In Conversation with Mark West. Chatting with Rob Vember, Mark provides a sobering assessment of how the world has fared regarding education during the Covid-19 pandemic. Describing it as a story of “exclusion, heightened inequities, diminished learning, and diminished educational experiences”. West acknowledges the need to look at how educational technologies can improve learning and efficiencies but emphasises the fundamental need for providers of education to look at how they can contribute to the holistic wellbeing of learners. Mark shares Unesco’s ideas on how to better centre society’s most marginalised, advocates for more online public spaces for public education, and emphasises the need for creativity and pedagogical innovation about how to use the strengths of the digital space to improve teaching and learning.
 

In Conversation with Professor Sozinho Francisco Matsinhe. Chatting with Rob Vember, Sozinho argues the challenge now that Africa has been liberated is to liberate the minds of its people, arguing we should see languages as an asset, not as a liability of any kind. 
He calls for linguistic equity and talks about his efforts towards achieving that goal by making “if possible”, possible, during his tenure as Executive Secretary of the African Academy of Languages (ACALAN), the official language agency of the African Union.
In the conversation he discusses misinformation and disinformation around Covid-19. While Communication is part of the problem Sozinho says it takes us to a much broader issue of the interplay between language and development, his main focal area. Find out why “You can’t kill hunger with foods cooked in borrowed pots” or why "You can't lick an empty hand". In addition to the many metaphors he employs, he shares why Mother tongue based education or bilingual education, shouldn’t be seen as a way to solve pedagogical problems.

In Conversation with Barbara Moser-Mercer, professor emerita and founder of InZone, a programme of the University of Geneva which pioneers innovative approaches to higher education in communities affected by conflict and humanitarian crisis. Moser-Mercer is visiting professor at University of Nairobi, engaged in strengthening African solutions that advance higher education in emergencies (HEiE) and currently coordinating the launch phase of the African Higher Education in Emergencies Network (AHEEN). 
Chatting with Rob Vember, the former Fulbright scholar spoke passionately of the importance of a human centred approach to technological advancements, and warned of the risk in pushing for more technology. She explains why she believes the digital divide is so serious, and shares about her work in Africa, specifically talking about Higher education in forced displacement contexts, explaining why it requires a utilitarian approach to education, a stance she would not ordinarily take.

In Conversation with Aida Opoku-Mensah, who recently retired from a two decade long career with the United Nations Economic Commission for Africa. Chatting with Rob Vember, the former Chief of Staff to the Executive Secretary & Special Advisor on SDGs shared her views on the evolution of ICT in Africa over the last 20 years and shares her thoughts on what’s to come. She explains why we’re going to miss the 2030 SDGs deadline and how COVID has exacerbated our challenges in many of the focal areas. She talks through the factors necessary to successfully create an eLearning and online learning experience;  Advocating for a digital currency for the continent and why Africa needs to be ready for crypto, she also tells Rob what’s the first thing she checks when she wakes up in the morning.  

In Conversation with Hon Michael Onyango, Thought Leader on Emerging Technologies and the Future of Work in the Fourth Industrial Revolution. Chatting to Rob Vember, Onyango talks about the influence of his upbringing on his drive to care for Africa’s forgotten bottom millions and why the work needs to start ‘now’. Onyango shares his views on Africa’s infrastructure gap, explains why he thinks the current education system is setup for the industrial age, and motivates for stackable credentials. Onyango also gives Vember a crash course explanation on 5G, blockchain, and cryptocurrency.