SAMOA WORKSHOP DEVELOPS VUSSC MARITIME TRAINING MATERIALS

Maritime training, particularly transport and logistics, is the newest area of course development for the Virtual University for Small States of the Commonwealth (VUSSC).

Twenty-five educators from 13 countries took part in VUSSC’s seventh International Training and Materials Development Workshop. The three-week “boot camp” was hosted by the National University of
Samoa, Le Papaigalagala from 23 November to 11 December 2009.

The participants, representing maritime regulatory and training bodies in small states in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean and the South Pacific, were immersed in hands-on training in information and communication technology (ICT) skills, particularly those related to course materials development. Course development is now continuing online.

Welcoming the participants, the Vice Chancellor and President of the National University of Samoa, Professor Le’apai Tu’ua ‘Ilaoa Asofou So’o, spoke about VUSSC’s role in capacity building:

At the completion of this boot camp as for six others which have been held already, each of you will have contributed and acquired content knowledge for the identified maritime course and ICT skills for any course development and access to online resources. When you return to your respective countries, institutions and ministries, you will also be required to share these skills and knowledge with others so that the capacity building continues to take place. This “multiplier effect”, made possible by the continued sharing of knowledge and skills, is crucial to the capacity building mission of the VUSSC as a consortium of existing universities and other post-secondary institutions working together with their ministries of education.

The Samoa workshop was run by a group of team leaders selected from participating countries and co-ordinated by the Samoa Team Leader, Mr. Leitufia Fatu Lafoai of the School of Maritime Training, and Mr. John Lesperance, COL Education Specialist, VUSSC.

VUSSC courses are already available in the areas of tourism, life skills, professional development for education, disaster management, fisheries and construction. Development of these course materials was initiated at previous workshops in Mauritius (2006), Samoa (2007), Singapore (2007), Trinidad & Tobago (2007), Seychelles (2008) and The Bahamas (2008). Courses are freely available to anyone for download, adaptation and use from the VUSSC website (www.vussc.org).

Workshop participants completed a new transport and logistics course by the conclusion of the session. Once finalised, the advanced certificate course will be offered by the National University of Samoa. The course is aligned with VUSSC’s Transnational Qualifications Framework, a system of accreditation for VUSSC courses that facilitates the movement of courses and learners among states. As such, the course will undergo a rigorous process of quality assurance in Samoa.

VUSSC is a network initiated by, and built on the support of, ministers of education of developing small states of the Commonwealth. Led by a Management Committee comprised of representatives from small states in all regions of the Commonwealth, VUSSC is committed to the collaborative development of open content resources for education, training and capacity building and the use of ICT to broaden access to education.

www.vussc.org

• Community based Learning and
  Outreach
• Open Education Resources: Models to Choose, Adopt and Adapt
• Innovative Pathways to Knowledge Society