The AVU Teacher Education Initiative : An African Response to the Challenges of Teacher Development and ICT Opportunities

This paper is an explication of how the African Virtual University (AVU) has implemented a Teacher Education Program. The project is meant to train teachers in mathematics, science and the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) across the school curriculum. The program will make use of different Open, Distance and Electronic Learning (ODeL) methodologies to deliver content to teachers in ten Eastern African countries. The focus of the paper is on a case study description of what we consider to be an innovative multi country project because of the intended extensive use of ICTs and various ODeL methodologies using VSAT technologies. Specifically, the paper assesses the key challenges of teacher development that confront Africa today, traces and outlines the origins of the African Virtual University, its vision, mission and paradigm shift from brokering overseas content to capacity enhancement in ODeL in African institutions.