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So... how is the Internet actually changing opportunities to learn? Does the phrase "death of distance" really mean anything? Here's a quick example from this afternoon (February 25th) when John Iruaga who was in Nigeria sent his first Tweet, helped via Skype by Andy Broomfield who was in the UK. It was a spontaneous bit of teaching. It happened simply because Andy was sitting next to me, working on his laptop, when I bumped into John Iruaga on Skype. i knew that John Dada had asked John Iruaga to find out about social networking, so Twitter was on his learning...

At our Wednesday's UK/Nigeria online meeting, as we routinely tackled the business on the agenda sometimes, I forget our geographical and cultural differences so it was helpful to be reminded of them this week. As Pam and I were shivering here in the UK, with the threat of snow forecasted, the team in Nigeria told us about the fierce heat that they are currently experiencing (as they wait for the 'rains' to come.) In fact John is sleeping under the stars at night as the temperature outdoors is more comfortable! How I envy him... I would gladly swap my 15...

Once again,Yesterday's online meeting between the UK and Nigeria did not fail to disappoint. As well as addressing the items on the agenda in an informal but business-like way, we had two welcomed treats. The first treat When the team was discussing permaculture and the kitchen garden at Ungwar Masara, the UK were thrilled to be sent a recent video (via Skype chat and from a mobile phone) showing the 850 Jatropa seedlings. These have sinced been moved into the shade to protect them from the current hot conditions that our friends at Fantuam are currently experiencing. The rains are...

It's almost exactly ten years since I was first involved in communication between UK and Nigeria. In those days my friend, the late Peter Adetunji Oyawale, could only phone one person in his entire Oke-Ogun Community Development network. If we made a phone call it was to the landline of Chief Adetola, in the state capital Ibadan. What a contrast now. Today, from rural Ago-Are i got this text: "Mornin ma, my wiv gave birth 2 a bouncin baby boy yesterday afternoon, thanks Fola." Not only did Fola send his information to me, via SMS he also went online through...

On Tuesday, Pam alerted the Dadamac UK and Nigeria Teams (plus a few of her contacts in Higher Education) that: "The UK Government's Department for International Development ( DfID ) is investing up to £3 million a year in a new Development Partnerships in Higher Education programme (DelPHE), which will run for a seven year period, from June 2006 to March 2013. The programme will provide funding to support partnerships between Higher Education Institutions (HEIs) working on collaborative activity linked to the UN Millennium Development Goals (MDGs)." Several emails followed; and the next day, at the weekly UK-Nigeria Dadamac meeting,...