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Ray Bande
Senior Reporter
AFRICA University last week on Thursday became the first recipient of a state-of-the-art 86-inch LED smart-board that will come in handy for Masters in Intellectual Property (MIP) studies while similar sponsorship in other countries on the continent will follow.
The MIP programme is taught by IP experts drawn from all over the world and the smart-board will enhance student-lecturer interaction beyond classroom hours.
The Intellectual Property Rights and Innovation Project in Africa (AfrIPI), in partnership with the African Regional Intellectual Property Organisation (ARIPO), handed over the smart-board to Africa University.
Under the AfrIPI project, the European Union (EU) has offered support with hardware and providing the interactive screen, commonly known as a smart-board, to facilitate the delivery of online lectures.
The smart-board also delivers an Intellectual Property Master’s Programme in collaboration with ARIPO and the World Intellectual Property Organisation.
Over 500 students from 27 African countries have benefited from full scholarships awarded to study the programme.
AfrIPI is among the partners who support this initiative by providing experts from the European Union Intellectual Property Office to deliver lectures at the university on EU best practices and the latest developments in the field.
Speaking during the smart-board hand-over ceremony, Mrs Nancy Samuriwo, AfrIPI’s Intellectual Property Expert said AfrIPI acknowledges the important role that technology plays in the teaching and dissemination of intellectual property issues, particularly in the fourth industrial revolution that we are in.
Dr Outule Rapuleng, ARIPO director general’s representative, said the smart-board will support modern, competency-based online collaborations, as well as a blended learning approach to make learning fun, free and effective.
“It makes intensive use of e-learning content and technologies in tandem with Education 5.0 and the ever-changing technology landscape,” said Dr Rapuleng.
In AU’s Vice Chancellor, Professor Peter Mageto’s speech read by the institution’s interim Deputy Vice Chancellor, Professor Pamela Machakanja echoed the same sentiments.
“The smart-board will come handy for online learning, blended learning and face-to-face teaching. IP experts and students normally engage in webinars as they explore changing trends in IP matters and this requires interaction with IP experts all over the world. This smart-board will serve the programme very well,” said Prof Mageto.
ARIPO is an inter-governmental organisation that facilitates cooperation among its member states in intellectual property matters.
ARIPO seeks to pool resources for the promotion, development and harmonisation of the IP laws and policies of ARIPO member states.
AfrIPI is a pan-African project that aims to support the European Union in creating, administering, utilising, protecting and enforcing intellectual property rights across Africa.
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