The Apereo Africa 2018 conference

The Apereo Africa 2018 conference took place in Potchefstroom, South Africa on the 8th and 9th of May. The event was co-hosted by the North-West University (NWU) and OPENCOLLAB and was followed by an entertaining Tsugi workshop with Dr. Chuck on the 10th.

This year the African community was fortunate to have had four international speakers representing different Apereo products alongside speakers from African Universities, a South African TVET colleges and other private educational institutions.

The presentations during the conference were well balanced between vision and strategy and the practical use of technology in post-secondary education. Both Apereo and the local African institutions focused on the evolution of education along the lines of the NGDLE in support of the next generation student and their need to be taught in an engaging way.

Ian Dolphin’s presentation on the Apereo Foundation, their products, services, and the strategy moving forward in support of the NGDLE, coincidentally overlapped somewhat with that of the keynote speaker, Prof Robert Balfour (DVC Teaching and Learning, NWU), who focused on the NWU’s teaching and learning strategy.  This set the tone for a great conference that supported so much of what they had shared.