FIFTH REGIONAL CONFERENCE ON INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY IN HIGHER EDUCATION (Organized by HERPNET in collaboration with Moi University, Eldoret, Kenya)

	CONFERENCE NOTICE:
Event :	FIFTH REGIONAL CONFERENCE ON INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY IN HIGHER EDUCATION
Date :	June 14th - June 18th 2010
Arrival :	June 14th June 2010
Venue :	Moi University, Nairobi campus, Nairobi, Kenya
General Theme :	"INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY IN HIGHER EDUCATION: MEETING THE CHALLENGES OF THE 21ST CENTURY"

Click here to download the Conference Brochure (pdf)

ABOUT HERPNET

The Higher Education Research and Policy Network (HERPNET) is an initiative of the Association of African Universities (AAU). It was founded following a research meeting at Human Science Research Council (HSRC), Pretoria in 2000. Since then, the Network has been making efforts to launch itself out, especially in Nigeria. The ultimate is to extend the membership to other African countries.

HERPNET shares the vision of the Association of African Universities that universities in Africa should generate and disseminate knowledge and understanding, foster the values of openness and respect for merit, and enrich the general quality of the social life of their communities through the promotion of research and free enquiry, the open contestation of ideas and through appreciation and tolerance of difference. It further shares the idea that African universities must give priority to effective and positive participation in the global creation, exchange and application of knowledge through a maximum exploitation of the potential of the information and communication revolution. To this end, HERPNET is committed to finding scientific solutions to various problems facing higher education (private/public, university/non-university) in Africa in general and in Nigeria for now. We are also dedicated to creation, preservation, propagation, and promotion of scientific knowledge that would help in transforming institutions of higher education in Africa to internationally recognized ones in a knowledge society.

Our major goal for now is to influence policies on higher education along directions suggested by proven scientific theories and evidences of sound practices. There is going to be division of labour. Policy makers on their own part are expected to generate policy problems requiring scientific investigations and information. Researchers would then devote quality time to finding relevant and timely scientific information on what make higher education tick in various parts of the world and share these with policy makers for possible adaptation at the local level.

Our main activities at least for now include networking workshops, information sharing and engagement in collaborative policy research. The networking workshop (NWW) would henceforth be held annually in any country in Africa that is ready to host us. The information sharing aspect (ISA) will be Internet based and policy on higher education focused. The collaborative research aspect (CRA) will be driven by national needs for higher education policy and its main focus shall be on capacity building for researchers and policy makers with special interest on higher education problems and issues.

ABOUT MOI UNIVERSITY, ELDORET, KENYA

Moi University is located in Eldoret, 310 kilometres northwest of Nairobi, the Capital City of Kenya. It was established as the second university in Kenya by an Act of Parliament, the Moi University Act of 1984. The first cohort of 83 students was admitted in 1984 through a transfer from the Department of Forestry, University of Nairobi. Since then, the University has experienced phenomenal growth from its initial one faculty in 1984, to a total of fifteen (15) Schools and five (5) Directorates in 2009. The University currently operates four campuses, namely: Main, Chepkoilel, Town, and Eldoret West Campus. The university has two (2) constituent colleges, (Kabianga and Narok) and eight (8) Satellite Campuses, (Nairobi, Kitale, Kericho, Southern Nyanza, Central Kenya, Mombasa, Odera Akang'o Northern Kenya campus).

The rural setting and scenery of Moi University provides an excellent quiet atmosphere for intellectual activity and recreation in the growing Western Kenya tourist circuit. The University is situated near Eldoret town, which is a rapidly growing industrial town and a gateway to central Africa. This atmosphere enhances interaction between researchers and the rural community and promotes cost-effective implementation of outreach programmes for sustainable development, such as health education and intervention, Legal Aid Clinics and Fish farming.

Moi University is committed to providing quality education and services that meet the needs of its customers and stakeholders through quality and relevant teaching, research and community service and outreach. The University is committed to a quality work and learning environment that is grounded in intellectual and academic freedom, teamwork, quest for excellence, professionalism, discipline and continuous improvement of its products (programmes/activities) and services so as to achieve client/customer satisfaction. To be able to realize this commitment, the University will continually review its products (programmes/activities) and services to conform to the Quality Management Systems based on the ISO 9001 - 2008 Standards.

BACKGROUND

Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has no doubt become an increasingly influential factor in education in the global world. ICTs have been widely deployed in both developed and developing countries to complement established education practices and to equally develop new ways of learning such as online education (a type of distance education). This has afforded students the opportunity to choose what they are interested in learning. The use of ICT in education lends itself to more student-centred learning settings and often this creates some tensions for some teachers and students. But with the world moving rapidly into digital media and information, the role of ICT in education is becoming more and more important and this importance will continue to grow and develop in the 21^st century.

However, Higher Education (HE) is believed to be confronted by several challenges resulting from the use of ICT. According to Starr (2001), there have been a number of factors impeding the wholesale uptake of ICT in education across all sectors. These have included such factors as a lack of funding to support the purchase of the technology, a lack of training among established teaching practitioners, a lack of motivation and need among teachers to adopt ICT as teaching tools. It is against this background that the Higher Education Research and Policy Network (HERPNET) and Moi University, Eldoret, Kenya invite proposals on the theme, "INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY IN HIGHER EDUCATION: MEETING THE CHALLENGES OF THE 21^ST CENTURY" for possible presentation at the 2010 HERPNET's annual conference.

THEME: INFORMATION AND COMMUNICATION TECHNOLOGY IN HIGHER EDUCATION: MEETING THE CHALLENGES OF THE 21st CENTURY.

SUB-THEMES
The sub-themes of the Conference are:

1. Access and Utilization of ICT in Higher Education
2. ICT and Human Resource Development
3. The Relevance of ICT to Curriculum Design and Implementation
4. The Role of Multi-Media in Higher Education
5. ICT and Research in Higher Education
6. Science and Technological Innovations in Higher Education
7. The challenges of ICT in Higher Education
8. ICT & Higher Education in developing countries
9. ICT in Open and Distance Learning
10. Virtual campuses and the "merchandization" of education