Learning Resources
This page is regularly updated to share new and exciting sources of knowledge, tools and information on language and literacy in Africa.
If you have a learning resource to tell us about, please contact the Webmaster.
The Filāḥa Texts Project
The purpose of the Filāḥa Texts Project is to publicise and elucidate the written works collectively known as the Kutub al-Filāḥa or ‘Books of Husbandry’ compiled by Arab, especially Andalusi, agronomists mainly between the 10th and 14th centuries (see Authors & Works) <http://filaha.org/authors_works.html> . These systematic and detailed manuals of agriculture, horticulture and animal husbandry have been sadly neglected and remain largely unknown in the Anglophone world – apart from some of the Yemeni works they have never been translated into English. Learn more here: http://filaha.org/
Xiha: Multilingual Social Network
Xiha connects the people of the world through a multilingual, cross-cultural exchange. Simultaneous, real-time translation allows Xiha citizens to share travel tips, pictures, music, videos, games, knowledge and perspectives. By transcending language barriers, Xiha allows users to make new friends from around the globe, rather than merely reconnecting with high school acquaintances. XIHA members live in over 200 countries and speak more than 60 languages. Users can create blogs and homepages – or link to other social media- to share their personal experiences. Check it out:http://www.xihalife.com/
Organizational Profile: Living Tongues
Living Tongues is a non-profit dedicated to documenting the world’s endangered languages. We collaborate with Nat Geo in The Enduring Voices Project, focusing on Language Hotspots.http://www.livingtongues.org
UN Launches eLearning Initiative
A new UN eLearning initiative, launched on December 6th in Berlin, will offer developing countries opportunities to draw upon a rich array of training and capacity-building resources. Sixteen UN agencies, meeting at a forum organised by the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) during Online Educa Berlin, agreed to establish UNeLearn – a UN-wide network on technology-supported learning to share information and expertise, and to collaborate on the sustained deployment of eLearning.
SA Writers’ College
Contact admin@sawriterscollege.co.za (a national, online writing school for career training and for creative writing enthusiasts. All courses offer at least five months of one-on-one training under a top South African writer.)
Tel: 021 433-2879; enroll at www.sawriterscollege.co.za
Literacy Software for Bantu languages launched
Contributed by Member: Leila Schroeder (Kenya)
Participants from two Bantu languages in Tanzania have produced literacy primers while testing prototype software during a two-week workshop. The Bantu Literacy Tool, a new computer program, was developed to help Bantu communities design primers. As a result of the workshop, the Vwanji people now have a 40-lesson primer and the Malila people have a 45-lesson primer.
Just published: Educational governance at local levels: policy paper and evaluation guidelines
How can educational governance at local levels enable the empowerment of excluded groups?
Two new publications from UNESCO address this and other related questions. More
- Educational governance at local levels: policy paper and evaluation guidelines (PDF – 667 KB)
- Just published: Educational governance at local levels: policy paper and evaluation guidelines
Literacy.org is a gateway to electronic resources and tools for the national and international youth and adult literacy communities. Check out their collection of publications on Africa.
Interested in learning more about the open source movement? Want to better integrate technology into the work of your organization? Check out the Tactical Technology Collective, where the aim is to de-mystify technology for non-profits:
http://tacticaltech.org/
Check out the Communications Initiative, an international development resource depository and network, for a wealth of learning resources from research studies, project evaluations and more on literacy, ICT for Development, education and more. The Communications Initiative is “…a space to share, debate and advance effective communication for development progress”:
http://www.comminit.com
The Practitioner Research and Evaluation Skills Training (PREST) series is published by the Commonwealth of Learning in collaboration with the International Research Foundation for Open Learning. The PREST training resources provide practitioners working in open and distance learning (ODL) with convenient access to basic knowledge on how to conduct research and evaluation in their everyday work. Download PREST materials for free here.
Stanford University has compiled an extensive list of resources on African Languages / Linguistics
http://www-sul.stanford.edu/africa/lang.html
Opening Access to Education, by sharing high quality courses and training material is now considered as a necessity by major Universities and International Organizations, such as the OECD or UNESCO… Learn more about resources available to you which are free and open on the internet: click here.
COL Launches QUALITY ASSURANCE MICRO-SITE
The COL Quality Assurance micro-site has been designed to provide a single, convenient access point to existing resources in quality assurance in open and distance learning (ODL). We hope that it will be of particular use to institutions, researchers and governments seeking to establish benchmarks for quality provision and to all those who are interested in devising effective systems for the review and evaluation of ODL programmes. Visit here to learn more: http://www.col.org/resources/micrositeQA/Pages/default.aspx
