African Virtual University

The African Virtual University (AVU) was initially launched in Washington in 1997 as a World Bank project. It was later transferred to Nairobi, Kenya in 2002. Five African Governments, Kenya, Senegal, Mauritania, Mali and Cote d'Ivoire signed a Charter establishing the AVU as an Inter-Governmental Organization. The AVU has its headquarters in Nairobi, Kenya and a Regional office in Dakar, Senegal, to service its partner institutions in Francophone and Anglophone West Africa. The AVU has Host Country Agreements with the governments of Kenya and Senegal and the AVU has diplomatic status in these countries.

The AVU has acquired, over the 10 years of its existence, the largest network of Open Distance and e-Learning (ODeL) institutions in Africa. Its greatest asset is its ability to work across borders and language groups in Anglophone, Francophone and Lusophone Africa.

As noted at the e-Learning Africa News Portal, the African Virtual University (AVU) in partnership with the African Development Bank (AfDB) is launching Open Distance and eLearning Centres (ODeL) in ten African countries over the next five months. The first launch took place at the University of Zambia in October with subsequent launches in Ethiopia, Kenya, Madagascar, Mozambique, Senegal, Somalia, Tanzania, Uganda and Zimbabwe, the effort continuing until early 2010.

The African Virtual University web site is at http://www.avu.org/home.asp

More details

The AVU Learning Architecture is in form of a continuum that emphasizes that using only high end technological contexts to support Open Distance and e-Learning programs in Africa is ineffective. Instead, a mix of delivery methods that includes both low end and high end delivery technologies are required.

The AVU Architecture includes the use of mixed modes of delivery, such as video conferencing, use of the internet, CD-Rom, video and audio cassettes and print based materials and mobile learning. A typical AVU remote class which meets at a Learning Centre (LC) has 25-50 learners who either view a lecture on a large screen or work online on computers that have been provided to Learning Centers throughout Africa. The learners interact with tutors and other students via e-mail, using WebCT and through the telephone. Some of the programs that the AVU runs which utilize this blended mode include the Computer Science degree and Diploma programs. Short courses that include Certificate programs in Journalism, Business English and IT also use similar modes.

A 2009 International Review of Research in Open and Distance Learning (IRRODL) piece states that technical problems for AVU have at times complicated course delivery, due to the poor quality of synchronous online communication.

In the case of the AVU, when the Internet connection was good, courses consisted of synchronous lectures delivered from Canada... Given frequent instances of Internet disconnections or power outage, the synchronous version of the delivery was backed up by a WebCT site, where students could find course materials they missed... given the combination of students’ awfully poor typing skills and the novelty of the subject matter, even short interactions with distant tutors would take disproportionate amounts of time and be subjected to numerous distortions.

AVU and OER

The AVU mission is “To facilitate the use of effective Open Distance and eLearning Methodologies in African Tertiary Education Institutions”. In line with this mission, the AVU sought to have a collaborative and coordinated strategy for the creation, organization, dissemination and utilization of OERs in order to resolve a problem that has affected learning, teaching, research and collaborative intellectual activities on the continent for many years.

The OER Movement at the AVU first gained momentum after the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and AVU collaboratively conducted a pilot project in 2005, aimed at increasing the use of OpenCourseWare (OCW) materials in African institutions of higher learning. A conceptual framework and architecture, the “AVU OER Architecture”, was configured to support the creation, organization, dissemination and utilization of OERs. A strategy for collaborative partnerships for African higher education and training institutions was also developed. The strategy recognized the importance of raising awareness in order for those in the continent to familiarize with OERs. The scale and scope of existing OERs present a huge challenge to learners, educators and researchers in the developing world. OERs are not just about digitized information, but about developing methodological approaches and mechanisms that manage and ascribe meaning to them.