The African Virtual University (AVU) by Kuzvinetsa Peter Dzvimbo, Rector, African Virtual University

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Digital inclusion

TheAfricanVirtualUniversity,apan-Africaneducationalnetwork,has42learningcen- tresin18countries.TheAVUsupportsAfricanhighereducationusingopen,distance ande-learning(ODeL).AVU’sInternetbasedmodeliscosteffective,flexible,scalable, affordableandsustainableandworksinbothlowandhightechnologyenvironments. AfricaneducationalfacilitiesuseaVSATnetworkforcosteffectiveInternetaccesstothe system.TheAVU’sWeb-baseddigitallibrarygivesAfricansfreeaccesstotheworld’svir- tualcollectionsofscholarlyinformation.

Kuzvinetsa Peter Dzvimbo, a Zimbabwean national, is the Rector of the African Virtual University. Before joining the African Virtual University, he worked for the World Bank in Washington DC as a SeniorEducationSpecialist,asthefirstViceChancelloroftheZimbabweOpenUniversityandasthePro ViceChancellorattheUniversityofZimbabwe(UZ)wherehewasalsoresponsiblefortheUniversity CollegeofDistanceEducation.DuringMrDzvimbo’slongcareerineducation,hehastaughtattheRand Afrikaans University, Johannesburg South Africa, at the University of the Witwatersrand in JohannesburgandwasDeanoftheFacultyofEducationattheUniversityofZimbabwe,amongothers. MrDzvimbohaslongbeeninvolvedindistanceeducation,notonlyattheschoolwherehehastaught, butattheSchoolofBasicStudiesatAhmaduBelloUniversity,inNigeria,astheheadofaunitthatpro- duceddistanceteachingandopenlearningmaterialsforprimaryschoolteachersinZimbabwe–the famousZINTECproject.MrDzvimbohasworkedasaconsultantfororganisationssuchasUNICEF, UNESCO,USAID,AED,SIDAandtheNetherlandsGovernmentinMozambique,SouthAfrica,Tanzania, Uganda,Namibia,KenyaandZimbabwe.Hehasalsopublishedextensivelyabouteducationalreform, teachereducation,distanceeducation,educationalmanagementandhighereducation. HeearnedhisBAandaDiplomainEducationattheUniversityofSierraLeone,FourahBayCollege (FBC),andobtainedanMEdinAdministrationandPlanningfromAhmaduBelloUniversityinNigeria. He has a PhD in Educational Policy Studies with distributed minors in Curriculum Studies and EducationalAdministrationfromtheUniversityofWisconsin–Madison,US.

The African Virtual University is a Our broad vision is that of an Africa Fourth: research based teaching and pan-African educational network that draws on the talent of its entire learning is essential to innovation. established in 1997 as a World Bank people to build world-class institu- Our aim is to be able to take this project to serve the countries of sub- tions that underpin a vibrant demo- knowledgeandmakeitrelevanttoour SaharanAfrica. cratic well-governed and prosperous townsandvillagesaswedevelopcom- society. munitiesofpracticeacrossAfrica. Since 2002 the AVU has become an Intergovernmental Organisation based First: the future must provide stu- This is why the AVU envisions an in Nairobi, Kenya. It is an innovative dentswithgreateraccesstoaffordable African higher education scene in educational organisation established and relevant education and training whichOpen,Distanceande-Learning toservethehighereducationalneeds andwemustcreatetheinfrastructure (ODeL)willplayanincreasinglysub- ofAfricancountries. and the culture to allow students to stantialpart. study anytime, anywhere and on any The AVU currently has a presence in device; TheAVUintendstobethepivotofa 42 established learning centres in 18 continental network of higher educa- countriesinAfrica. Second:ourinstitutionsmustbemore tion institutions, all engaged in self-reliant.Weneedtobecreativein enhancing their capacity to utilise TheAVUenvisionsanAfricanhigher stretching those public resources as high quality, innovative, ODeL sys- education landscape that amplifies faraswecanandfindwaystobemore temsandmethodologies. Open, Distance and e-Learning efficient; (ODeL) by the innovative use of AsadoptedintheCOMEDAFII(sec- Information and Communication Third: curriculum reform is urgent. ond meeting of the Conference of Technologies (ICT) and blended Weneedtodevelopthetypesofskills Ministers of Education of African modes of delivery to significantly inourstudentsthatwillnotonlyallow Union) declaration, the AVU is com- increase equitable access to relevant, themtocompeteontheglobalstage, mitted to playing a central role in affordable, cost effective and flexible butalsotocontributestraightawayto enhancingthecapacityofAfricanuni- tertiaryeducationandtraining. Africaninstitutionsandsocieties; versities in ODeL to dramatically

14 Digital inclusion

Improvingconnectivity Digitallibrariesandlearner –theVSAToption support

Short for Very Small Aperture The digital library at Terminal,theVSATsystemuses http://library.avu.org constitutes a an earthbound station used in major component of the learner sup- satellite communications of portsystem.Itservesasagatewayto data/videoandvoicesignals. theworld’svirtualcollectionsofschol- arly information contained in vast AVSATconsistsoftwoparts,a databases of text and journals in transceiver that is placed out- FrenchandEnglishlanguages. doors in direct line of sight to thesatelliteandadevicethatis The collection targets the “open placed indoors to interface the access” resources that are within the transceiver with the end-user’s publicdomain,makingitpossiblefor communicationdevice,suchasa the majority of African students to PC. The transceiver receives or gainunrestrictedaccesstothecollec- sends a signal to a satellite tion.Asaresult, theAVUhasbeenable transponder in the sky. The to provide access to digital resources satellite sends and receives sig- freeofchargetoAfricanstudents. Figure 1: AVU is able to cater for the needs of different nalsfromagroundstationthat kinds of students on the African continent. actsasahubforthesystem. Inadditiontothedigitallibrary,AVU facilitatesaccesstotheacademicpro- increase access to higher education Eachend-userisconnectedtothehub gramme’s core textbooks, handouts, and training in Africa. The AVU viathesatellite,formingastartopolo- CD-ROMsandvideosthatsupplement already has experience in the limits gy. the library. This combination of andpossibilitiesoftheuseofelectron- resourcesmakesitpossibleforlearners ic learning, which has been accepted toaccesstheblendofsupportresources bytheCOMEDAFasaviabledelivery WhyVSAT? thatbestcoverstheircoursework. methodologyinAfricanhighereduca- tionandtraining. The VSAT system is the most cost- effectivewaytoaccesstheInternetin SustainabilityoftheAVU Africa. There are, for the most part, Reasonsforaparadigmshift two ways of accessing the international Internet backbone in Africa-Satellite Q TheAVUnetwork The AVU came up with a model that (VSAT)andFibre(submarine)cable. was cost effective, flexible, scalable, The AVU’s network consists of 42 affordableandsustainable.Themodel “The future must established Learning Centres located thatweadoptedwilltakeintoaccount atuniversitiesin18Africancountries contexts in which there are both low provide students with withadditionalcentresinthepipeline. andhighlevelsoftechnology.Ineach greater access to A partnership agreement signed with case,therewillbesomeuseofinfor- eachoftheseinstitutionsallowsthem mationandcommunicationtechnolo- affordable and relevant to benefit from AVU resources. gies. education and OutsideofAfrica,theAVUalsoworks inpartnershipwithrenownedinterna- VSAT systems are the current choice training.” tional universities in Australia, oftechnologytoaccessbandwidthfor CanadaandtheUS. the African institutions, hence our involvement in the negotiations with Fibrecableiscurrentlyavailableonly The AVU partners with institutions bandwidth providers for the institu- alongthewesterncoastofAfrica,from and business entities to fully support tionsinournetwork. Morocco to South Africa, and along the technology options that the AVU thenortherncoasttoEgypt. provides to deliver its academic programmes. Alliances have been estab- TheAVUlearning This leaves the inland states and the architecture interior of Africa accessible only by satellite.Furthermore,itisstillcheap- “Our broad vision is The AVU has adopted a learning er,eveninmostcountrieswithafibre that of an Africa that architecture that takes into account cablenetwork,toconnectbysatellite thedifferentpedagogicalandtechno- thanbyfibre.Then,too,everysquare draws on the talent of logicalcontextsinAfrica. inch of the African continent is cov- its entire people to eredbysatellites. Our learning architecture can allow build world-class forsituationsbothwherethereisalow Therefore, VSAT technology is the institutions that leveloftechnologyandthoseinwhich choice at the moment although AVU thetechnologicallevelsareveryhigh. will closely monitor emerging tech- underpin a vibrant nologies on the continent or perhaps democratic Inthisway,weareabletocaterforthe until such a time that marine fibre needsofdifferentkindsofinstitutions cablesystemsbecomemoreaffordable well-governed and andstudentsontheAfricancontinent. toAfricaninstitutions. prosperous society.”

15 Digital inclusion

“The AVU adds value to ThroughitsAVU CapacityEnhancement Program (ACEP) the AVU will work www.connect-world.com African institutions by with and support institutions, in and enhancing their capacity outsideitsnetwork,toprovideeduca- to provide open and dis- tion and training, open and distance education.Thiswillhelpthemtocre- VISIT the online tance education with a ate an enabling environment to dra- version of focus on electronic maticallyincreaseaccesstotheirown demanddrivenprogrammes. The decision learning.” TheACEPhasasitsoverarchinggoal, makers’ forum for lishedwiththeHewlettPackard(HP) to enhance the institutional capacity ICT driven company, Microsoft Inc., GSI of its AVU Partner Institutions to development. Globecomm, Intelsat, Netsat, etc., to design, deliver and manage Open, supportourtechnologyinfrastructure Distance and e-Learning (ODeL) andlearningandteachingplatforms. Programs. ThesustainabilityoftheAVUdepends REVIEW Q Partnersindevelopment uponitsabilitytofacilitatethedevel- opment of the ODeL programs that past issues, The AVU's mission and vision are in higher education institutions need to upcoming events line with Africa's development goals widely implement their own ‘In and our contributing andglobaldevelopmentobjectives,as Country’programmes. defined by the Millennium authors from DevelopmentGoals(MDGs). Byfinancingthecostofdevelopingthe programme materials, the AVU around the globe. Furthercollaborativerelationshipsare becomes both a developmental and being developed, negotiated or financialpartnerfortheimplementa- strengthened. These include those in tion of these programmes in African theareasofgrantsorprojectsfunding. tertiaryinstitutions. SIGN UP The African Development Bank, the to receive Canadian International Development TheAVUintendstobegintogenerate Agency,AustralianAidandtheUnited income for the programmes in this Connect-World Kingdom’sDepartmentforInternational mannerandthroughprojectfunding. e-Letter, Developmentarecurrentlyfundingthe TheAVUsupportsactivitiesinAfrican AVU. universities by engaging in Business- a fortnightly to-Businessactivitiesthatbothgener- ate income and provide them with a selection of: Addedvalueforinstitutions service. ofhigherlearning The AVU hopes also to generate a Q the most important modest income from fees, especially ICT events all over TheAVUaddsvaluetoAfricaninstitu- from short courses linked to degree the world; tions by enhancing their capacity to anddiplomaprogrammes provide open and distance education with a focus on electronic learning. The AVU has also set up a Research andInnovationFacility(RIF)intend- Q the latest articles ed to enhance basic and applied from some of the researchinODeL.Weintendtocom- mission research in ODeL and use world’s top-level projectandpublicationfundstogen- decision makers; eratesomeincomeaswell.

In the early years, we will look for Q what is coming external resources to fund these activities,but,eventuallywehopeto in the next establish a commercial wing to the Connect-World AVU RIF for income generation pur- poses.J issues.

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Figure 2: The AVU’s mission and vision are in line with Africa’s development objectives.