The Conference program for 2011 is now online and features contributions from 260 speakers from 49 countries, including representatives from global organisations such as UNEP, UNESCO/UNEVOC, and the World Bank, as well as from national educational institutions across Africa.

Six sessions will focus exclusively on the central conference themes, which are youth, skills, and employability. One, called "Wazup? Youth Voices on Life, Love, and eLearning" will be owned by young African people themselves. They will exchange their views on becoming "digital", what this means for their relationships and communities, and their engagement with an often "clueless" older generation.

Ten other youth sessions will cover very specific topics as varied as youth entrepreneurship, statistical literacy, applying performing arts to youth employability, and the empowerment of young deaf people. This year's TVET Summit will focus on skills development for young people and adult learners through technology-supported strategies.

Teacher training ranks very high on this year's agenda, and covers topics as varied as "Delivering Science Videos by Mobile Phones to Classrooms in Tanzania" and "Confronting Technophobia among Teachers". Lessons learnt from Asia - in particular, Vietnam, Singapore, and South Korea - will be discussed.

Presentations targeting the health, finance, and farming sectors include "How the SMS Saves Lives in Medical Emergencies in Malawi", "eLearning for the Airwaves - Developing Skills for Agricultural Broadcasters", and "ICTs in Mozambique's Banking Sector".

There will be innovative conference formats such as the 'Umoja' sessions, which are named after the Kiswahili word for "unity". They are designed for sharing knowledge and ideas around specific projects or visions.

Open educational resources (OERs), a tremendously popular issue in Africa's eLearning scene, will be at the heart of this year's conference, with a large number of sessions exploring their use. Despite this trend, eLearning Africa's Debate, a very lively parliamentary-style discussion, will dig deeper and address a provocative motion that states, "This house believes that the OER movement is fundamentally flawed because it is based on the false assumption that educational institutions are willing to share resources freely and openly."


In a bid to nurture original African research, the newly established research stream will focus on innovative and rigorous eLearning research across the Continent. Participants will be able to engage with research initiatives in order to learn from their experiences, consider critical perspectives, and be better equipped to tackle future challenges.

Now in its sixth year, eLearning Africa has established itself as the key event about ICT for development, education, and training on the African continent. Its mission is to bring together people who are actively engaged in education and the implementation of learning technologies in schools, universities, corporate training programs, as well as in education in the public sector.