Education

Distance Education - Distance Learning

The Virtual Institute of Higher Education in Africa (VIHEAF): http://www.viheaf.net

The African Virtual University : Conceived by development experts, the African Virtual University was created in 1997 and incubated as a pilot project in the World Bank offices in Washington. It was founded to address the critical needs for increased access to quality tertiary education in Sub-Saharan Africa. The AVU initiative lead the way in strategies of tapping on the potentials offered by the development of Information Communication and Technology (ICT) to bring educational content from across the globe to African universities and students. http://www.avu.org/

Creating Virtual Learning Communities in Africa: Challenges and Prospects
This paper discusses the growing application of information communications technologies in Africa and other parts of the world. It examines the growing global information technology revolution and how it is transforming educational institutions. It then discusses the state of distance education in Africa, identifying the institutions offering distance education and the nature of the delivery platform used. The prospects and challenges in introducing distance education to Africa tertiary institutions is discussed. Finally, it offers suggestions to overcome the challenges confronting technology-based education in Africa.

Association of African Universities - Zimbabwe membership list : Bindura University of Science Education , Midlands State University , National University of Science and Technology , Solusi University , University of Zimbabwe , Chinhoyi University.

The University of Zimbabwe's Mission Statement: "Enabling our clients and customers to make meaningful contributions to sustainable development in Zimbabwe. To this end we provide high quality education, training and advisory services on a needs oriented basis. We guarantee the above by maintaining excellence in Technical, Learning, Research and Service to the Community". The University of Zimbabwe Libraries provides access to electronic books, or eBooks. eBooks are electronic versions of printed books.We provide access to eBooks using the internet and the World Wide Web rather than via handheld devices: http://www.uz.ac.zw/library/index.html

Africa University's Jokomo/Yamada Library reflects the rapid growth rate of Africa University since 1992 both in physical provision and in the range and volumes of library materials acquired in support of evolving undergraduate and graduate academic programmes. The library, located within the Africa University's campus in Mutare, Zimbabwe, is funded by the United States Agency for International Development through the American Schools and Hospitals Abroad [USAID / ASHA] programme. It is fully air-conditioned and features a computerised network and internet access, electronic book security system and an Archives collection: http://www.africau.edu/Library/

National University of Science and Technology (NUST) is a young and progressive university established by an Act of the Zimbabwe Parliament in 1991. Using English as the language of instruction, NUST provides an invigorating intellectual climate, which fosters an academic community where  both  staff  and students can push back the frontiers of knowledge in science and technology. As such NUST is a center of research, and has ties with universities on the African continent as well as the world. NUST is located in the warm and friendly City of Bulawayo, South West of Zimbabwe: http://www.nust.ac.zw/. The vision of the NUST Library is "to be one of the top class academic Libraries in Zimbabwe, utilizing new and emerging technologies in the provision of service and information to the University community". The library site is accessible at: http://www.nust.ac.zw/library/index.htm

Zimbabwe Open University is one of the leading distance and open learning institutions in Zimbabwe. The ZOU is a multi-disciplinary inter-faculty institution offering degree and non-degree courses through distance teaching and open learning to youth and adult learners. With cutting-edge technology, the Zimbabwe Open University (ZOU) provides knowledge, competencies and dispositions necessary for the development of competitive human resources.

The Southern African Research and Documentation Centre (SARDC) is an independent institution involved in the collection, analysis and dissemination of information on social, political, economic and cultural issues of the southern African region. SARDC is also a regional documentation centre with computerised and comprehensive databases on social, political, economic and cultural issues of the Southern African Development Community (SADC) region with more than 15000 subject files: http://www.sardc.net/Library.htm

Africa's 100 Best Books of the 20th Century (An initiative of the Zimbabwe International Book Fair): To mark the beginning of the 21st century, and encouraged by Professor Ali Mazrui, the Zimbabwe International Book Fair has launched the international compilation of "Africa's 100 Best Books." This project is being organized in collaboration with the African Publishers Network (APNET), the Pan-African Booksellers Association (PABA), African writers' associations, book development councils, and library associations: http://www.columbia.edu/cu/lweb/indiv/africa/cuvl/Afbks.html

The web site for Edward Ndlovu Memorial Trust Library, Gwanda, Zimbabwe provides general information about the library. The trust was founded in 1990 and this public library opened in 1992: http://www.buf.kristianstad.se/farlov/bibl/gwanda/

International Bureau of Education: Zimbabwe (UNESCO, Geneva, Switzerland) - The developments in education: the educational system at the end of the 20th century, 1990-2000, July 2001. (Zimbabwe, National Commission for UNESCO, Ministry of Education, Sport and Culture, Ministry of Higher Education and Technology. 46th Session of the International Conference on Education, Geneva, 5-8 September, 2001) PDF format. Dossiers on Zimbabwe (Reports and statistics).

Kubatana -- The NGO Network Alliance Project (Harare, Zimbabwe) - "An online community for Zimbabwean activists": a clearinghouse website for information about NGO activities in Zimbabwe in all social and economic domains ; plus related links to organisations outside the country. See especially: Education & Training ; Children & Youth.

SAfAIDS: Southern Africa AIDS Information Dissemination Service (Harare, Zimbabwe): "Southern Africa AIDS Information Dissemination Service (SAfAIDS) is a subregional non-governmental organisation that was established in 1994. Its main purpose is to help strengthen capacity to address the socio-economic impact of AIDS and to promote HIV prevention in southern Africa ... SAfAIDS' main role is promoting policy, research, planning and programme development around HIV/AIDS in the southern Africa region. It works with NGOs, PWAs, government bodies, international agencies, research institutes, media organisations, the private sector, labour and others to assist them to explore and implement responses to HIV/AIDS in a development context." http://www.safaids.org.zw/

SABDET: Southern African Book Development Education Trust was founded in 1993 with the objective of advancing education for the public benefit concerning indigenous publishing in Africa as a means of communication and literacy.

African Digital Library (ADL) - the Mission of the ADL is to provide digitised full text resources to learners in Africa via the Internet, thereby contributing to the revitalization of education and life long learning on the continent and alleviation of the digital divide between First and Third world countries. The ADL was created in the spirit of the African Renaissance: http://www.africandl.org.za/

African Virtual University : Conceived by development experts, the African Virtual University was created in 1997 and incubated as a pilot project in the World Bank offices in Washington. It was founded to address the critical needs for increased access to quality tertiary education in Sub-Saharan Africa. The AVU initiative lead the way in strategies of tapping on the potentials offered by the development of Information Communication and Technology (ICT) to bring educational content from across the globe to African universities and students. http://www.avu.org/

African Virtual Library Initiative : AVLI's mission is "to facilitate the provision of bibliographical and other information online services that meet the needs of educational, research and development work in Eastern Africa, with a view to developing linkages with other regional initiatives to create a truly African virtual library." Has a directory of National Initiatives in African countries for digital library projects. Provides consultancy on knowledge management projects. http://www.avli.org/

University of South Africa (UNISA) Online library : Finding international statistics online :

African Libraries and Archives: http://www-sul.stanford.edu/depts/ssrg/africa/libaf.html

South African Libraries and Archives: http://www-sul.stanford.edu/depts/ssrg/africa/rsalibs.html