PLE-PhD Doctoral Programs and e-Supervision

In 2013, the ACUP participated, together with the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC) and Kenyatta University, in the LEADHER program of the International Association of Universities (IAU) which promotes cooperation in learning in through international university consortia among its members. This program, which focuses on both North-South and South-South cooperation, focused in 2013 on strengthening the research capacity and management of the institutions involved.

The aim of the PLE-PhD project is to analyze the use of digital technologies, specifically web 2.0 tools, in order to respond to two main needs that doctoral training in sub-Saharan Africa is currently facing: the supervision of PhD students and the visibility of research. Through the use of Personal Learning Environments for Doctoral Students (PLEDs), personalized web spaces equipped with software and communication and search tools, social and multimedia tools that allow As students gather and organize information relevant to their online studies as well as disseminate their own materials, the project will explore new models of effective supervision. In this sense, PLEDs can be used as a tool to create a digital identity for doctoral students, serving as a digital and public "notebook" as well as a personal repository that facilitates the creation of a virtual network between colleagues working in the same field, including mentors and tutors.

As part of the project, a delegation with representatives of the ACUP and the UOC traveled to Nairobi, Kenya to hold several working meetings and a discussion on the PLEDS initiative. Also, a delegation from Kenyatta University came to Catalonia to learn about the system of doctoral studies at our universities and to establish relations with the Catalan universities that make up the ACUP. As part of his visit, a seminar on doctoral programs and e-supervision was organized.

A project blog was created where you can find all the results and all the reflections related to the project: http://plephd.blogs.uoc.edu

PLE-PhD Programes