eLearning Africa Conference 2023
Empowering Education Through Innovative Moodle Solutions
eLearning Africa Conference 2023 (hosted in Dakar, Senegal), was an exceptional event for educators, researchers, and learning technologists from various parts of Africa to gather and exchange ideas, innovations, and experiences in the field of education technology. This year’s theme was “New Model Learning: Innovating to Become Sustainable, Self-Reliant, Equitable and Resilient” and was a perfect event to share our stories of successful large-scale Moodle hosting.
Entering the bustling conference, I immediately sensed an atmosphere filled with excitement and enthusiasm. It was an honour for me to represent Catalyst IT on the Moodle HQ stand alongside two other Moodle partners and our European Managing Director, Joey Murison. Throughout the event, we had the opportunity to meet and connect with numerous educators. Among the enlightening discussions and conversations, one topic that received a lot of attention was the implementation of large-scale Moodle installations in universities across Africa.
A standout moment during our trip was the face-to-face meeting with our client partners from the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN), Adewale and Felix. It was our first meeting in person and an opportunity for me to watch Adewale’s presentation about his journey transitioning to a Moodle Partner. He showcased the challenges his team encountered before moving to Catalyst IT and our hosting service solution, which proved capable of supporting tens of thousands of students.
During the MoodleMoot Africa segment of the conference, Joey Murison delivered a compelling presentation titled “Moodle systems at scale: recipes for success” to a packed room. In this networking event, it became evident that universities adopt various approaches in their Moodle provision. However, a common challenge emerged during high-demand events and busy periods—service interruptions due to overwhelming concurrent usage.
Joey emphasised the significance of scalability, user experience, and infrastructure when implementing Moodle on a large scale. He highlighted how Catalyst’s innovative hosting service solutions effectively addressed these challenges.
It was a pleasure to present to the eLearning Africa conference on all the key considerations and decision points to ensure are covered when exploring a suitable managed services partner for your Learning systems. Catalyst has developed and refined our managed services offering over 25 years and specifically tailor our offerings to the requirements of mission-critical High Availability systems – such as those in use in Education, Government and Not-for-profit sectors.
Joey Murison, Managing Director Catalyst EU
Looking ahead, we are actively forging new partnerships in Africa. We eagerly anticipate sharing these collaborations with institutions across the continent, supporting them in creating an inclusive and accessible learning environment through Catalyst’s Moodle service solution.
