Presenter 1: Bakary Diallo, Rector of the Africa Virtual University (UVA) and MAN Executive Counci) – Kenya, East Africa Biography: Bakary Diallo Obtained a PhD from the University of Ottawa, Ontario, Canada with a focus on the Intergration of ICTs in higher education Institutions, a Masters Degree from the University of Ottawa, Ontario Canada and a Bachelor’s  Degree from the Universite Cheikh Anta Diop, Dakar Senegal. Dr. Diallo has been working in the education sector for the last 19 years as a secondary school teacher, an academic, a consultant, a project administrator and a researcher. Since August 2005, he has been working with the African Virtual University (AVU), an Intergovernmental Organization based in Nairobi Kenya and specialized in Open Distance and Electronic Learning. Dr. Diallo is affiliated with several organizations including the Association of Part Time Professor of the University of Ottawa , Association Francophone pour le Savoir (ACFAS), Canadian Association for Distance Education, Joint Experts of UNESCO for the Follow up of the World Conference on Higher Education, Member of Merlot African Network Council and Teacher Education Working Group of the Association for the Development of Education in Africa (ADEA). Affiliations - | Africa Virtual University |MAN Concil | eLA Interview |
	Presenter 2: Leopold Reif, (Hoffmann & Reif Consultants, Co-Organizer of the eLearning Africa Conference and MAN Executive Council) – Berlin, Germany Biography:     Leopold Reif studied Political Science and Educational Sciences in Germany. He graduated in 1976 in Science of Education with a minor in Political Sciences. Since 2001 Leopold has been a partner with Hoffmann & Reif and SNTL Publishing. He is engaged in ICT projects for universities, the telecommunications industry and development cooperation agencies in Europe, Africa and Asia. He has been presenting regularly at ICT conferences in countries such as Azerbaijan, China, Ethiopia, Finland, Ghana, Germany, India, Korea, Latvia, Nigeria, Taiwan, Thailand, and Russia. He is co-organizer of the first annual Pan-African conference on educational technologies “eLearning Africa”. Leopold has been a consultant to various institutions such as UNESCO and ILO, as well as to planning and monitoring committees of the European Commission in Europe and Africa. Since 1995 he has been a steering committee member of the largest annual international conference on eLearning "Online Educa" in Berlin. Affiliations - |Hoffmann & Reif Consultancy | eLearning-Africa |MAN Concil |
	Presenter 3:Victor Mbarika (Southern University System, Baton Rouge & Director of International Center for Information Technology and Development Director ) - Baton Rouge - LA – USA Biography:   Victor W. Mbarika is on faculty in the College of Business at Southern University and A&M College and is founding director of the University’s International Center for Information Technology and Development (ICITD). He is an Information and Communications Technology (ICT) consultant with various governmental and private agencies. He holds a B.S. in Management Information Systems from the U.S. International University, an M.S. in MIS from the University of Illinois at Chicago, and a Ph.D. in MIS from Auburn University.  He has received several research and teaching grants and fellowships from the National Science Foundation, NASA, KPMG, Southern Regional Education Board, and the Louisiana Board of Regents. He is editor-in-chief of The African Journal of Information Systems, and he serves as a senior board member of several other journals such as IEEE Transactions on IT on Biomedicine. Dr. Mbarika is Founder of the Cameroon Computer and Network Center (CCNC). He is a member of the Association of Information Systems (AIS), the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), and the Information Resources Management Association (IRMA). He holds over 20 research, teaching and service excellence awards. Affiliations - | Southern Ujniversity |SU International Center for IT | AJIS |
	Presenter 4 :Robert Spielvogel (Chief Technology Officer and Director of the Division of Applied Research and Innovation - Educational Development Center (EDC)) – USA Biography:  Robert Spielvogel directs technology planning and implementation for the Education Development Center as EDC’s Chief Technology Officer and more recently as Division Director for Applied Research and Innovation.  This division includes EDC’s Center for Online Professional Education, the Center for Children and Technology, and US Department of Education Institute for Education Sciences’ funded Northeast and Islands Regional Lab.   His work now includes strategic planning and direction of EDC’s R&D activities that are focused on K-12 education.  His work as CTO involves strategic planning and supervision of EDC's internal and external networks, Web and other online development activities, database systems and content management systems for use by projects throughout EDC.  He coordinates planning for information and communications technology literacy for EDC’s personnel and serves as an internal consultant to domestic and international projects on innovative and effective uses of ICT in project work. In this capacity he assists in proposal development and in reviews of existing project strategies. A primary component of his own project work at EDC has involved designing and conducting a wide range of needs analyses, results frameworks, evaluations, case studies and policy development for educational systems that utilize technology to improve teaching and learning.  Clients for this work include a variety of science and technology museums and centers, MIT’s Media Lab, IBM's Reinventing Education effort, Intel, NASA, the US Department of Energy, private foundations, state education departments and school districts.  He was part of the research team assembled by the US Department of Education on new models and strategies for researching the impact of technology on schools which is now a book for Teachers College Press. Affiliations - | Educational Development Center - EDC |
	Moderator: Moustapha Diack (Southern University System, Baton Rouge & Director of MERLOT Africa Network) -Baton Rouge - LA – USA Biography: Diack is professor of Science/Mathematics education at Southern University in Baton Rouge, LA. His specialty is in e-learning Technology and Design. He currently serves as President of the LA Academy of Science (LAS) and Director of the MERLOT Africa Network (MAN). He represents the State of Louisiana to MERLOT and the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) Technology Cooperative. He is a member of the eLearning Africa Conference Advisory and is founding Chair of the Pan-African Fora on Open Education Resources (OER) and Open Access (OA), that are held as part of the eLA Conference. His research interests are in the areas of (a) Open Access and Open Education, (b) Assessment of Web 2.0 Technologies and Virtual Communities of Practice (VCP); (c) Virtual Learning Environments (VLEs) design and assessment of VLEs in training, teaching and learning. Affiliations - | Southern Ujniversity | MAN | MERLOT | eLA Interview |