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- First International Conference on Building Research Capacity in Africa
Organised by UNESCO Bamako Cluster Office and the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientific Research
From the 9th to the 11th of November 2009, the UNESCO Bamako Cluster Office organised the First International Conference on Building Research Capacity in Africa (ICBRECA). The theme of the conference was: "Promoting Research in African Universities through Regional and International Research and Knowledge Networks and the Use of ICTs." The conference was followed by a workshop from the 13th to the 14th of November 2009. The workshop was designed as a "Training Workshop on Developement and Use of Virtual Facilities for Quality Teaching and Research." Both the conference and workshop were help at the Azalai Hotel Salam, Bamako, Mali.
The Obafemi Awolowo University iLab team made a submission to the workshop. The team was however invited to present both at the conference and at the workshop due to their percieved relevance of the iLab team's presentation to both the conference and the workshop. The OAU iLab team's submission was titled: "Implementing Remote Laboratories with the iLab Architecture: Three Case Studies from Obafemi Awolowo University, Nigeria". The OAU iLab team was represented at the conference and workshop by Messers Kayode Ayodele and Olawale Akinwale.
The conference and workshop drew presentations and attendees from Mali, Nigeria, Cameroun, Senegal, Burkina Faso, The Gambia, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Iran, France and England. All presentations focused on the use of ICTs for the improvement of research in the African universities and the delivery of curricula.
The presentation of the OAU iLab team was a highlight of the conference and workshop with many attendees and participants expressing their interest in the development of iLabs at their universities. During the discussions session which followed the presentation at the conference and during the workshop, lots of questions were posed as to the relevance of iLabs and fields in which iLabs can be developed. Indeed, there were even some suggestions as to how ilabSims can be employed in the teaching of linguistics.
With all the interest shown by the participants of the conference and workshop, we only wait to see the fuition of the seeds sown.
The conference and the workshop were organised by the UNESCO Bamako Cluster Office in collaboration with:
1. The Government of Mali
2. The International Telecommunications Union
3. UNESCO Regional Bureau for Education in Africa (BREDA)
4. The National Universities Commision of Nigeria
5. The Association for the Development of Education in Africa (ADEA) - Working Group on Higher Education
6. The Global University Network of Innovations (GUNI) - Africa Region
7. The Association of African Universities
You can find the presentation made here.
  
 
- 2009 iLab Africa Group Conference
The 2009 Africa Group conference of the iLab global team help at the Obafemi Awolowo University from the 10th to the 14th of July, 2009.
- Trip to MIT (Sept 2008)
 
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