Welcome to the African Digital University Network
The ADUN consists mainly of African higher education scholars as well as other practitioners who are interested in the various facets of technology integration in the HE curriculum.
The network engages with the nature of the contemporary university with an emphasis on the digital aspects of teaching and learning.
It aims to contribute to the field of African educational technology theory and practices through scholarship and innovation.
Scholarship
To advance scholarship within the field of educational technology
Innovation
To innovatively broaden the field of African educational technology theory and practice
Network
To interact with peers and academics representing, or who are interested in, African perspectives related to educational technologies in the HE curriculum
Upcoming Webinars
ADUN Series: AI & Ubuntu
Ubuntu & Artificial Intelligence
with Zuleika Suliman — Lecturer & PhD Candidate in English Studies, UNISA
This session examines how AI-mediated technologies shape academic voice, language and knowledge production in the Global South — interrogating the exclusion of multilingual and indigenous ways of knowing, through decolonial and Ubuntu-informed perspectives.
The formation of the African Digital University Network originated in three phases.
The first phase commenced with the inaugural meeting of the network at the first ADUN Colloquium at Stellenbosch in April 2018. The purpose of this first colloquium was three-fold:
- To determine the interest in the establishment of such an African-centred network
- To identify some of the general opportunities and challenges higher educational institutions are currently engaged with
- To explore possible ways forward with the network
The second phase was used to further our network through visits to some of our colleagues in universities in Namibia and Kenya.
The final phase is the discussions which came out of the Colloquium 2020, which will set the stage for jointly determining our future actions.
Key ADUN Administrators
Dr Sonja Strydom
(Stellenbosch University)
ADUN Owner
Sonja is a Deputy-Director (Academic Development and Research) at SU’s Centre for Learning Technologies.
Ms Magriet de Villiers
(Stellenbosch University)
ADUN Convenor
Magriet is the Learning Technologies Advisor at SU’s Centre for Learning Technologies.
African Higher Education in Emergencies Network (AHEEN)
AHEEN RDP Pathways project and the transformation of digital pedagogy
Three years ago AHEEN (African Higher Education in Emergencies — www.aheen.net) launched a very ambitious RDP Pathways (Refugee and Displaced Persons) project across our six member universities in Eastern Africa (Kenya, Somalia, Burundi and South Sudan) and Southern Africa (South Africa). ADUN, in collaboration with MDF Training and Consultancy — an international training and consulting organisation that supports development, education, capacity building, and organisational strengthening — was tasked with leading the digital pedagogy training for lecturers teaching on programmes identified to support RDP students where they are, and with a particular pedagogical sensitivity to their humanitarian contexts. The training was also delivered to the remarkable RLOs (Refugee-Led Organisations) doing tremendous and innovative work in supporting the RDP students participating in the project within their local contexts.
The training programme consisted of interactive webinars, an online course, and subsequently an interactive online resource that anyone involved in teaching and learning support in this space would be able to benefit from. The training was built around the concept of transformation. To teach or design learning effectively in digitally mediated environments for RDP students, educators need to go through four transformations — the heart, the head, the hands, and the emotions:
- Transforming your understanding of the digital RDP context (Heart)
- Transforming your digital RDP pedagogy knowledge (Head)
- Transforming your digital RDP pedagogy skills (Hands)
- Transforming your social-emotional learning / teaching approach (Emotions)
The two-year process of developing and implementing new pedagogical knowledge within this emerging area of higher education was very gratifying — indeed transformative for all participants, but even more so for the ADUN creators. Thinking and working in the RDP space takes practitioners out of their comfort zone and invites creativity and innovation in keeping the success of RDP students front and centre. One also realises that the transformative thinking and practice we advocate for has just as much validity in our own more “traditional” institutions, and many of the resources developed through the project could be fruitfully applied to universities everywhere — but especially in our African higher education contexts.
Explore AHEEN’s RDP Digital Teaching workshops — a four-part series on transformative digital teaching for refugee and displaced-person contexts.
Or browse the full set of frameworks, guides and research, including the CHANCE framework, teaching guides, and the augmented webinar series.
Featured AHEEN Tool
Digital RDP Teaching Assistant
Explore transformative digital teaching for refugee and displaced persons — in French, Swahili, Afrikaans, Somali, or your own language.
CONTACT US
Postal Address:
Centre for Learning Technologies
Stellenbosch University
Private Bag X1
Matieland
7602
Physical Address:
Administration A Building
Centre for Learning Technologies
Telematic Services
Ryneveld Street, Stellenbosch
Entrance left of Admin A main entrance
University of Stellenbosch
Stellenbosch
7602
Email:
ADUN Coordinator
Dr Sonja Strydom
