Connections, July 1997

ARCHIVE DOCUMENT

News and Events
From Connections, July 1997
(Compiled based on selected news items, meeting reports and event notices
appearing in Connections , COL's quarterly newsletter)

Laboratory technician training

Recognising the importance of well-run and maintained school laboratories in the provision of quality science education, Commonwealth Education Ministers have acknowledged the necessity of well-trained laboratory technicians and asked the Commonwealth Secretariat (ComSec) to assist member states in this area. After a review, ComSec, in consultation with The Commonwealth of Learning, concluded that the most efficient method of providing quality laboratory technician training to a large number of learners would be through distance education.

Toward this goal, COL and ComSec jointly sponsored, in collaboration with the Commonwealth Association of Polytechnics in Africa (CAPA), a November 1996 workshop for participants from polytechnics and universities in Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia. The purposes of the workshop were to introduce the participants to, and give them an opportunity to review, existing distance education materials developed to train laboratory technicians for which COL has acquired the licensing rights; to train the participants in issues relating to distance education; and to develop draft syllabuses outlining the required curriculum content for a training programme of this nature. Dr. S. Kannan, from India's Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), attended the workshop and provided expertise and advice relating to the delivery of science courses by distance.

As a follow up, a second workshop, again supported by ComSec and COL, and in collaboration with CAPA, was convened in order to finalise the syllabuses. During this workshop, participants were given hands-on training in adapting and modifying the learning materials for use in Africa and at writing and developing new modules, which were identified in the finalised syllabuses. The training of key personnel is an essential part of capacity-building in participating institutions toward delivering sustainable programmes through the distance mode.

This second workshop was held in Kenya in April 1997, and staff from polytechnics and universities in the four African countries initially involved in the project attended. As in the earlier workshop, a staff member from IGNOU, Professor B. S. Saraswat, attended as a resource person, providing advice and guidance, as well as assistance in the training of the participants in various aspects and issues relating to distance education.

CAPA has accepted a COL/ComSec contract to prepare the new training modules, which should be ready for field testing by early next year.

Support for WETV

As one of the founding partners in WETV (www.wetv.com) in its development over the past three years, COL continues to support the growing initiative. WETV and its affiliate broadcasters offer television viewers public affairs, non-formal education and entertainment programming which chronicles world development and celebrates cultural diversity. The network launched programming in October 1996 in English and Spanish. Its programmes are now seen on 32 networks with a combined potential reach of 145 million viewers.

WETV has a unique organisational structure combining not-for-profit and for-profit elements. WETV Development Corporation operates the network and associated multi-media ventures, while the Canadian-registered WETV Foundation receives funds from national governments, international organisations and charitable trusts and oversees editorial policy and content. Earlier this year, at the Foundation's founding meeting, COL President, Dato' Dr. Gajaraj Dhanarajan, was elected to the Board of Directors.  CEMCA workshops

The Commonwealth Educational Media Centre for Asia ( CEMCA ) is continuing to provide a series of participant-paid training workshops for associated institutions in India and South Asia. Recent workshops included Script-writing for Educational Television, for staff of the National Open School, and Educational Applications of Multimedia, offered in collaboration with the Indian Institute of Mass Communication. The latter was attended by 26 participants, the highest number in a CEMCA workshop so far, from various open and agricultural universities, distance learning institutes, Doordarshan (the Government of India's television broadcasting authority) and NGOs. A wide range of experts provided presentations and workshop leadership.

In both cases, participants left the five-day sessions reporting that it had been a valuable training experience and one that should be repeated and expanded upon.  

COL in Southern Africa

Resulting in part from a visit by COL's President to Southern and Eastern Africa earlier this year, National Forums on Distance Education will be held in Tanzania (July 22 - 24) and Malawi (August 18 -20). The forums will be attended by providers of distance education as well as stakeholders, including education ministries. The meetings, sponsored and facilitated by COL, will review the development of distance education and draw up plans of activities toward the establishment of national policies on distance education. Professor Peter Kinyanjui and COL's Regional Adviser to the President, Professor Geoffrey Mmari, will participate as resource persons at both meetings.

The Zimbabwe National Association for Distance Education was launched earlier this month in Harare. Professor Mmari represented COL at the launching conference and delivered a message on behalf of the President. The association came about as a result of COL's encouragement and support.

Six Southern African Ministers of Education have now welcomed and endorsed a COL proposal that addresses the in-service training of teachers, aiming to make them effective in science, mathematics and technology at the upper primary and lower secondary levels. Under the proposal, training materials will be developed which will draw on both local and international sources. The process will result in a package of modular materials that will be made available for use and adaptation in other countries. While consortium, multilateral and bilateral funding is being aggressively pursued, COL has allocated a Cdn. $150,000 contribution towards first-year implementation as a part of its 1997/98 budget proposals. The project was also recently endorsed at Global Knowledge '97, through the World Bank's Colloquium on Distance Education for Teacher Development.

Caribbean education ministers adopt regional plan

COL Regional Adviser, Dr. Dennis Irvine, represented the agency at a special meeting of the Standing Committee of Ministers Responsible for Education in the Caribbean, held in Barbados in May 1997. The meeting was convened for the special purpose of examining the human resource development imperatives of the English-speaking Caribbean. Participants adopted, and agreed to recommend to Heads of Government for approval and immediate implementation, a regional action plan entitled, Creative and Productive Citizens for the Twenty-First Century. Distance education, open schooling and COL all feature prominently in the action plan.

The ministers also noted that some member states had not yet pledged their contributions to COL's 1997 - 2000 operating budget and agreed that ministers should renew their commitments in this regard at the upcoming Conference of Commonwealth Education Ministers.

Caribbean CEOs

Also in Barbados in May, COL convened a three-day meeting of Chief Education Officers from the English-speaking Caribbean region. The purposes of the meeting were:

• to provide an overview of distance education activities and initiatives currently being carried out in the region,
• to discuss and review a number of proposals for the use of distance education in the region in order to acquire the CEOs' feedback and endorsement,
• to discuss the establishment of a distance education professional association for the Caribbean, and
• to receive advice and guidance from the CEOs as to areas in which they would like to see initiatives and projects launched through COL.

Participants identified several projects and initiatives for follow-up action by COL.

Canadian "stakeholders"

The Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs and International Trade (DFAIT), in collaboration with The Commonwealth of Learning, hosted a meeting for Canadian "stakeholders in communication technologies and distance education" (Ottawa; June 9, 1997). The primary purpose of the meeting was to provide information about COL and its activities in the field, in order that the participants could acquire a clear idea of areas in which collaboration with COL may be possible. Thirty-five senior level representatives from various organisations, companies and agencies attended the meeting and contributed to useful discussions regarding areas of mutual interest and professional involvement. The meeting was co-chaired by Mr. Piers Stainforth of DFAIT and Dr. Abdul Khan of COL. Dr. Khan and Ms. Susan Phillips made presentations on COL's work.

Global Knowledge '97

Over 2000 delegates attended Global Knowledge '97, held in June 1997 in Toronto, Canada - almost twice the number that organisers had originally expected. And several others participated without travelling through computer- and video-conferencing sessions.

GK '97, and the activities that precede and follow it, launch a global learning process about the state of knowledge and its use for development in the information age. It also signals a new partnership and spirit of co-operation between public and private sectors and among a diverse and large number of development agencies, non-governmental organisations, and government departments.

COL was one of more than forty public and private sponsors that joined the World Bank and the Government of Canada in hosting the conference and was instrumental in guiding and presenting one of the conference themes: Life-long learning and distance education .

Global Knowledge '97 will continue through computer-conferencing for at least a year. Further information and participation is available on the World Wide Web at: http://www.globalknowledge.org

Reddy Memorial Lecture

The 2^nd Professor G. Ram Reddy Memorial Lecture was held on July 2, 1997, televised in India, and made available to television and educational broadcasters throughout the world via satellite. Dr. Wichit Srisa-an, Rector, Suranaree University of Technology, Thailand spoke under the title, "Making Distance Education Borderless." An opportunity for live interaction with the speaker was also available through telephone or fax.

The event is jointly sponsored by the Indira Gandhi National Open University and COL in memory of the late Professor Ram Reddy, who was the first Vice-Chancellor of IGNOU and first Vice-President of COL.

Canada and the Pacific World

Canada and the Pacific World: Imperatives for International Education, the Canadian Bureau for International Education's (CBIE) 1997 Annual Conference, will be held this year in co-operation with The Commonwealth of Learning and the Association of Universities and Colleges of Canada (Ottawa; November 6 - 8). The conference will focus on co-operation among Asia Pacific countries in education, culture, youth exchanges and business partnerships - and has been designated by the Government of Canada as an event of Canada's Year of Asia Pacific. Canada is serving as chair of the Asia Pacific Economic Co-operation (APEC) forum this year.

Workshops and plenary sessions will cover the following broad themes:

• education as an instrument in forging business and political relations between nations,
• the influence of culture in international relationships and business, and
• communications technology in the advancement of learning

COL President, Professor Gajaraj Dhanarajan, will be one of several keynote speakers, a roster that includes officials, educators and youth from Canada and APEC countries.

Canadians from colleges, universities, schools and governments, with an interest in international education, will join visitors from Asia Pacific countries to participate in the two-day conference, plus pre-conference workshops, rounded off with social events and networking opportunities.

Contact: CBIE, 220 Laurier Ave W., Suite 1100, Ottawa, ON K1P 5Z9, Canada; Tel: 613.237.4820; Fax: 613.237.1073; E-mail: mkane@cbie.ca; WWW: http://www.cbie.ca

AAOU 1997

The Asian Association of Open Universities will hold its 11^th Annual Conference and Exhibition in Kuala Lumpur from November 10 - 13, 1997. The theme for this year's conference is Quality Assurance in Distance and Open Learning. COL's newly published volume of case studies on quality assurance in higher education will be featured at a COL pre-conference workshop. COL's President, Dato' Dr. Gajaraj Dhanarajan, will also be delivering one of the two keynote presentations at the conference. Contact: 11^th AAOU Conference Secretariat, c/o Mara Institute of Technology, 40450 Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia. Fax: 60.3.550.0226; E-mail: norimah@psmb.itm.edu.my