Message-ID: <v01550104af1eec331bd3@[207.38.252.147]> Date: Wed, 5 Feb 1997 21:33:43 -0500 From: Max Freund <mailto:mfreund@INTERPORT.NET> Subject: Distance Education Conference in Ghana To: mailto:DEVEL-L@AMERICAN.EDU
Greetings all.The Ghana Distance Education Project, an initiative jointly sponsored by the Voluntary Workcamps Association of Ghana and Operation Crossroads Africa, is planning a conference on issues of distance education and telecommunications in Sub-Saharan Africa. The conference will be held in Accra, Ghana, and is tentatively scheduled for December 10-14, 1997.
We would like to float our idea to all people working in these and other related areas, and solicit your feedback and assistance in planning the conference. We especially welcome advice and help from others who have planned international conferences of this sort, and from people who would like to participate in the planning and execution of the conference.
Some of the conference's goals could be:
* To create an awareness of computer literacy needs at the community and grassroots level;
* To promote electronic networking for development in Africa;
* To explore possibilities and barriers to developing national/international goals for infusing computer literacy into primary, secondary, and tertiary education in Africa;
* To create a demonstration effect on public opinion in terms of what information technology can offer for national and international development;
* To increase awareness of how the computer and electronic connectivity can reorient youth groups toward the economy and labor market of the 21st century; and
* To strengthen the capacity of grassroots organizations and low incomecommunities to initiate, choose, plan and manage their own self help projects through computer technology and information systems.
Areas of work in planning the conference include:
- Theme/goals: What are the conference's organizing principles and goals? How can it complement other conferences and meetings planned over the coming year and contribute to the effort to advance telecommunications and distance education in Africa? What should the conference's primary theme (and sub-themes) be?
- Budget and finance: including fee scale, travel assistance, and external fundraising.
- Marketing and Outreach: Who will the conference be targeted to? How big an event are we envisioning? How can we spread the word and get presenters and participants to come? How can we ensure that people from Africa know about and participate in the conference?
- Logistics: venue, accomodation, social events, etc.
- Content: Who will review the potential presenters' proposals? How should we go about screening participants?
If you would like to contribute to this effort, please reply to me or to any of the following people:
Prof. Osei Darkwa University of Illinois-Chicago mailto:darkwa@tigger.cc.uic.edu
Cecil Washington Operation Crossroads Africa UC Berkeley/Antioch Univ. mailto:crw@loop.com
Bill Owen Reston Enterprises, Ghana mailto:owen@ncs.com.gh
Thank you!
Max Freund (Volunteer, Ghana Distance Education Project)