In order for every African citizen, business, region and country to keep pace and remain competitive with more developed regions of the world, many educational and workplace learning challenges lie ahead. It is clear that technology can be used to meet many of these challenges, particularly in rural Africa, but first we need to identify the specific challenges that lie ahead and examine which technology-enhanced solutions can best solve them. 

It is widely accepted that when considering the effective use of technology in the learning environment, much more than the technology should considered. The objective of this eLearning day is to establish a clear roadmap for eLearning strategies in African countries. 

Attention, therefore, needs to be paid to each of these specific challenges, including the lack of infrastructure from bandwidth to electricity as well as levels of general and IT literacy amongst the populations. We also need to consider whether the political will to achieve the changes needed exists and, where it does, how that is translated into successful implementation and adoption. 

With this in mind, specific solutions need to be sought to address these issues as we attempt to establish a consensus that helps define the next steps in developing implementation strategies, local and generic content, teaching methods and teacher training and adoption of technology for full participation in the knowledge economy by African citizens. 

Issues of change management, engagement on the ground and collective learning need to be considered, particularly in how they relate to large-scale national IT roll-out programmes. If change-management is neglected and ownership at the local level not encouraged, adoption will be limited and the results less effective. 

Of course, there is no one solution that fits every African country but key questions that will need to be addressed through our debates, networking and meetings will include the following:

• Do African countries have both the capacity and the capability to exploit the benefits this technology could offer and how do we encourage citizens to engage with it throughout their lives, in schools, in the workplace and in the home?

• How can government encourage the development of ICT skills both in schools and in the workplace?

• How is change management in schools best encouraged so that individual teachers and their pupils get the most out of the technology they are asked to implement?

• Where budgets are limited, at government, authority and even school level. How can services be developed and made affordable to match the appropriate markets?

• Given the same limited financial resource, is enough affordable content being developed for African countries?

• Trainer development, exciting and motivational learning products, effective online communication and suitable infrastructure and equipment are all vital for eLearning success, but how can we ensure all are applied to meet the specific learning requirements rather than learning being adapted to fit the technology?

• While having the technology in place in schools, colleges and the workplace is important, has enough attention been paid to teacher training and the development of ICT literacy?

• Can content that is appropriate for a specific community be found in the cloud or is local content always preferable?

• It is important to create sustainable educational programmes that remain well supported by the public and private stakeholders as well as the schools and students. Are there too many short-term pilot programmes and not enough long-term thinking relating to this?

• As with all ICT development, effective infrastructure is needed to support technology in the learning environment. As connectivity is limited in many parts of Africa what solutions are available to cope?

• How will mobile technologies impact on the development of relevant eLearning strategies in African countries?

• Web 2.0 brings interactive learning to every internet user in the classroom, workplace or at home. Is this being planned into policy development ready for exploitation? How can Web 2.0 be best used in the African context and what benefits will it bring?

• What impact will open source solutions have on eLearning and do the appropriate standards exist to ensure the privacy and security of students and children, particularly on the mobile platforms?

• How should governments approach the question of the large-scale roll-out of technology opposed to smaller-scale programmes which engage with the local communities?

• As well as the infrastructure necessary to bring connectivity, the right devices are needed to access the content this brings. How can both the public and private providers leverage the best available technology? How  can vendors operate in this environment and make money?

• Who is best positioned to decide the educational merits of programmes like one laptop per child, thin clients or ICT lab structures?