The eLearning Africa 2013 conference and exhibition, billed as “The continent’s largest gathering of eLearning and ICT supported education and training professionals” recently took place in Windhoek, Namibia. It was attended by 1 480 participants from 65 countries from all over the world including Festo Didactic, the market-leading technical training and learning systems provider.

The conference is aimed at exploring the latest innovations and issues in the fields of technology and education. It further provides the opportunity for educators to make contact with high-level policy makers, decision makers and practitioners from education, business and government, from across Africa and the world.

There were over 300 speakers at the conference this year, one of which was Horst Weinert, Didactic Manager from Festo South Africa, who presented “eLearning for Employment“. In his address, he spoke about bridging the gap between Industry and Education, “it is vital to bring industrial technology into the classrooms, to bridge the gap between the two,” asserts Weinert.

Weinert further proposes moving away from the “chalk-and talk” style of teaching to more industry-relevant knowledge and incorporating this technology in the classroom. Competency-based eLearning can further bridge theory and hands-on practical knowledge, “education that is hands-on and relevant to current industrial needs is inspiring” Weinert explains.

The teaching of employable skills can be improved with eLearning, by modularising each skill and merging multimedia with hands-on equipment. Weinert offers the topics of Pneumatics, Hydraulics, Electrics, Instrumentation and Control as examples. Weinert adds, “Mechatronic Engineering, which is the integration of mechanical, electronic and information technologies, lends itself very well to eLearning”.

Weinert also used real case studies to demonstrate how the use of Multimedia, eLearning and Blended Learning is effective in creating entrepreneurs and managers that drive industrialisation. One of the case studies that was presented covered the WorldSkills International and WorldSkills South Africa competitions. WorldSkills is considered as the “Olympics” of skills which showcases the top students from across the globe in vocational education.

WorldSkills provides a platform for countries to compete, compare and showcase the impact of their vocational education. This is relevant as it encourages benchmarking of the standard of teaching, and the application of the skills taught globally. The downstream effect of the international competition is the growth of local, national and inter-regional skills levels, vital to the growth of the economy in each country.

South Africa has been participating in the disciplines of Mechatronics and Mobile Robotics for a number of years now, and the effect on the educational institutions has seen a steady improvement of teaching standards. Weinert raises the challenge, “WorldSkills Sao Paulo 2015 – will we see you there?”

On the Festo Didactic stand at the eLearning Africa exhibition, Verena Mäckle, a Product manager from Festo Didactic, Germany, demonstrated the Classroom Manager with Web Based Training modules (WBT). “There are over 35 different WBT modules at this point in time, including the three latest releases – Turning, Milling and Drilling” explains Mäckle. Other equipment on display  included a modular, industrial Hydraulic training panel that was supplied from Festo Didactic, South Africa, to a local training facility operating at Langer Heinrich mine in Namibia.

Across the educational and industrial spectrum, from providing technical learning systems for engineering institutions, to certified industrial technology training courses across South Africa and into Africa through the Festo Dealer Network, Festo Didactic is well known for their commitment to education on the continent.

Festo also annually employs engineering interns, and emphasises the importance of internships and apprenticeships in the industrial sectors by providing the support, through Festo Didactic, that enables a number of its customers to actively recruit interns and manage their own programmes.

Festo Didactic in Brief
Festo Didactic, a division of Festo, pioneered vocational training in the areas of mechatronics and automation, providing a wide range of courses and hands-on modules that improve employability and productivity within the high-tech automation markets. The company provides fully-packaged training solutions including facilitator training, scaled down component panels for real-world application training, course content, curriculum consulting, lab design, and all related services.

For further information please contact
Tracey Swart
Festo (Pty) Ltd
Tel: 08600 FESTO (33786)
Fax: 011 974 2157
Email: This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.