Is Virtual Reality becoming a popular educational tool in Africa?
There is serious potential for virtual reality development in Africa. This is the conclusion Dave Lockwood, MD of the Naledi3d Factory came to during a visit to Ethiopia in December 2002 to collect material for a virtual reality HIV/AIDS awareness project. The Naledi3d factory is a tenant company in The Innovation Hub's business incubator.
While working in Addis Ababa, Lockwood also visited Lalibela - which was historically a regional capital in the north of Ethiopia and also a UNESCO World Heritage Site. Nine hundred years ago, King Lalibela commissioned eleven medieval monolithic cave churches - which were carved from the bed-rock. The churches took 27 years to "build" and some estimates are that it took up to 15 000 people to complete the task. Together with UNESCO and the EU, Lockwood and his team will soon be completing a pilot virtual reality model of Bet St George's, one of the larger churches, which the education authorities plan to use in schools in other areas of Ethiopia.
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| The Uganda Virtual Reality Committee representing local stakeholders. |
VR gaining ground in Uganda
Naledi3d staff have also recently returned from Uganda where they were conducting surveys in support of a UNESCO project to promote virtual reality as an educational tool. Uganda is fast becoming the African champion in the application of virtual reality in schools, which is being driven by UNESCO, together with the Department of Education, SchoolNet, two Kampala Universities as well as a number of local secondary schools.
Surveys were undertaken at four Ugandan schools and two multipurpose centres to identify what learners thought of virtual reality as a learning tool. "We expected 50 or 60 responses, but were overwhelmed by the level of interest, and came back with over 250 respondents. This alone shows the level of interest, both amongst learners, as well as educators, for this type of learning - especially coming from a "developing" country with few educational resources.
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| Tebogo Pelo of the Naledi3d Factory promoting virtual reality as an educational tool to pupils from Ndejje School in Uganda. |
The Naledi3d Factory also trained two Ugandans in the development of interactive VR content, with one more planning to come down to SA this year. The aim is to transfer skills, in order to empower Ugandans to be able to develop material relevant to their own needs. The Naledi3d Factory also intends that in the future, as other countries become involved, to facilitate a process to make developed material available to other countries throughout the continent.
Contact
Mr Dave Lockwood
Tel: [012] 349 0385
E-mail: dlockwood@naledi3d.com
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