DIGITAL TRANSITIONS, BLENDED LEARNING AND ONLINE RESEARCH IN UNIVERSITIES
All economies and societies are in transition towards becoming digital economies and information societies, led by changes at institutional or organizational level. Large institutions, such as universities, have the opportunity to design their own digital transitions, already being achieved by banking and financial institutions and the travel and tourism sectors across the African continent. African cyberspace is populated by young and old, through social media and other e-tivities and by firms and SMEs through e-ventures. Many of the objectives of higher education, which have been very difficult to achieve in the real-time world, may be better positioned in a blended learning environment, through the addition of online educational tools and applications, specifically access to those materials that can enhance the quality of learning and postgraduate research output. Furthermore, scholarly research publishing is significantly enhanced through access to online journal portals, libguides and an array of other options for access to published research.
AIMS, CONTENT AND PARTICIPANTS
This 2-day programme will provide a pragmatic foundation to the world of blended learning and ICT-enhanced research production. It offers a series of e-tivities in the use of ICT and the Internet for universities. The focus will be on addressing the varying needs of academics, undergraduate and postgraduate students. For this first programme, participants would be senior decision-makers for research and teaching (including DVCs, Vice-Principals, Deans and Heads of Schools/Departments), as well as senior ICT managers of the university, as the aim is to enhance the existing capacity for making strategic, financially efficient choices for transitioning selected activities into the online environment.
The introductory session will discuss the critical elements in the university ICT ecosystem. Key discussion points will include staff presence, online resources, interaction between students, small group support, personalized support, e-assessment. The programme is designed specifically for the blended or hybrid learning environment, where the ICT tools and applications are additional resources used to enhance face-to-face teaching and learning and research supervision, either (i) by being used in the classroom, or (ii) by being used by the student (and the lecturer) as additional opportunities for engagement. Using these practice-based approaches will enable a better understanding of their particular relevance to SARUA member universities.
The seven programme e-tivity sessions are:
I: Introductory session: Online universities, blended teaching and learning, university ICT for postgraduate and academic
research, open educational resources (OERs)
II: Using the Internet for postgraduate research and academic writing: Online journal databases, Skype supervision sessions and other modalities [e-tivity session]
III: International research collaboration: Maximising the value of the investment in NRENs and RRENs [research panel
session]
IV: Improving research and academic writing quality, reducing plagiarism with consistent use of plagiarism detection tools
[e-tivity session]
V: Blended learning: MOOCs, Digital Campus and more [e-tivity session]
VI: Staff orientation and capacity building for online content creation and scholarly publishing [facilitated discussion session]
VII: Wrap-up work session: Formulating a digital university strategy and plan [design session]
This programme will be presented by SARUA, in partnership with the LINK Centre, in pursuance of the discussions at the SARUA leadership dialogue on the topic of Global Trends in Technology in Higher Education: Opportunities and Challenges for African
Universities, held on 8-9 September 2015.
APPLICATIONS
Applications are open from today until Friday 26 February 2016. Please apply early as there is limited seating available, up to a maximum of 25 participants. The programme fee is ZAR7980 including VAT per participant from SARUA member institutions.
Applicants from non-member institutions are welcome to apply at a programme fee of ZAR11571. The application form is attached below.

ABOUT SARUA AND THE LINK CENTRE
SARUA (Southern African Regional Universities Association) is a membership-based organization which was established to assist in the revitalization and development of the leadership and institutions of higher education in the southern African region, thus enabling the regional higher education sector to meaningfully respond to the developmental challenges facing the region.
SARUA structures its activities across the four focus areas of Purposeful Engagement, Thought Leadership, Capacity Building
Support, Advocacy and Influence.
The LINK Centre, a public interest research and education centre, convenes postgraduate programmes on digital economy themes, including the Certificate in Telecommunications Policy Regulation and Management, the Certificate in Broadcasting
Policy and Regulatory Trends, the multi-disciplinary Chief Information Officer (CIO) programme, the eGovernance in Africa
Certificate, the Master of Arts in the field of ICT Policy and Regulation and the PhD programme in Interdisciplinary Digital
Economy Studies. LINK has been a SARUA research partner and facilitated the SARUA Leadership Dialogue on Innovation for
Inclusive Development.
Title:
Surname:
Date of Birth:
Your country (if not SA):
Cellphone No.
Fax No.
Institution:
Your Postal Address:
Initial(s):
First Name(s):
ID No. (if SA) or Passport No.
Gender: Male  Female 
Telephone No.
Highest qualification:
Current Position Held:
Dietary Requirements: Disability:
Postal Code:
Name:
Country:
Physical Address:
VAT No.
Postal Address:
Person Responsible for Payment: E-mail Address:
Institution’s Tel No. Institution’s Fax No.
Please complete the application form and return to susan@sarua.org. Payment should be made on or before the
26 February 2016. Banking details are available from SARUA. Please send proof of payment.