Strengthening University eLearning Capacity

The U.S. Embassy in Cameroon announces an open competition for project proposals to strengthen the capacity of university faculty for using e-learning platforms. The program will equip university administration and/or faculty with the knowledge and tools to build and/or teach from modern e-learning platforms for distance education. This capability will make universities more resilient when circumstances interfere with in-person learning and will expand opportunities for partnership with American higher education institutions. Please carefully follow all instructions below. Program Objectives: ● Help Cameroonian universities identify barriers to e-learning (including but not limited to: buy-in of administration and staff, skill level of faculty, and technology and infrastructure gaps) and identify ways to resolve or overcome these barriers; ● Improve Cameroonian university officials’ understanding of distance learning tools and best practices and assist them to adopt remote teaching; ● Assist Cameroonian universities in developing and implementing context-appropriate strategies for deployment of e-learning, supporting both faculty and students, and monitoring and adapting as needed to ensure quality of learning. Projects may target specific universities or benefit faculty and/or administrations from multiple universities. Because different universities are at different stages with e-learning platforms, projects should be based on existing needs-analysis data or include activities to conduct a needs analysis of the target audience. Projects may target one or more of the following areas: development of institutional e-learning strategies, creation of new e-learning platforms or implementation of commercially available or free e-learning platforms, faculty skills in using e-learning platforms for teaching, or the various factors related to student use of such platforms, e.g. cost-prohibitive and unreliable internet. However, if a project targets only one or two factors, it should discuss the impact that other factors may have on the success and sustainability of project activities. For example, if a project focuses only on training professors how to use e-learning technology, it should explain how other potential barriers (such as administration buy-in) will be addressed or explain how such barriers have already been overcome. Projects must include one or more of the following: ● Collaboration between a Cameroonian and an American university ● An American expert as a member of the project team or as a speaker or consultant for the project activities ● Use of best practices for distance learning as developed by an American university or expert ● Use of distance learning technology developed in the United States. The execution of projects must respect all physical distancing and other COVID-19 preventive measures. These include maintaining 2-meters of separation between people, wearing masks, limiting large gatherings, etc. Proposals should use virtual tools whenever possible to reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission and should include associated costs (e.g. data bundles for virtual workshop participants). The following types of activities are not eligible for funding: ● Scholarships for study in the United States or to fund conference attendance or study tours to the United States ● Activities that are inherently political in nature or that contain the appearance of partisanship ● Construction activities ● Programs that support specific religious activities ● Fund-raising campaigns ● Cash prizes for participants