COL in Africa

LEARNING FOR DEVELOPMENT is the theme of the Commonwealth of Learning's Three-year Plan for 2006-2009. Conceiving of development as a process of increasing the freedoms that people can enjoy, the plan addresses an agenda that includes the UN's Millennium Development Goals, the goals of Education for All (Dakar), and the Commonwealth's objectives of peace, democracy, equality and good governance.

COL helps governments and institutions to expand the scope, scale and quality of learning by using new approaches. COL promotes policies and systems to make innovation sustainable and works with international partners to build models, create materials, enhance organisational capacity and nurture networks that facilitate learning in support of development goals.

COL helps developing Commonwealth countries to increase access to learning using distance education and appropriate technologies. Its work is grouped into three sectors of activity: education, learning for livelihoods and human environment.

Over the last fifteen years the sub-Saharan Commonwealth's capacity to deliver distance education has increased substantially. COL has been instrumental in drawing the attention of member governments and their institutions to the application of open and distance learning (ODL) to enhance access to education.

Open and distance learning, coupled with the application of information and communication technologies (ICTs), is playing a central role in addressing needs in Africa. Every institution engaged in the development of humans must be enabled to use ODL. ODL has been demonstrated to be effective in increasing access to education speedily, economically and effectively for large numbers of people.

EDUCATION

QUALITY ASSURANCE: A joint COL-UNESCO study on trans-national higher education, with case studies from Africa, is underway. A collection of quality assurance best practices from across the Commonwealth, based on quality indicators for teacher education (QUITE) has been completed, also including examples from Africa (Nigeria, South Africa, Uganda and Zambia). QUITE, along with a module on Introduction to Quality Assurance and a package of Best Practice Cases, is being published as a "toolkit" on Quality Assurance in Teacher Education and Development (QUATED), which will be used jointly with UNESCO for capacity building of policy makers and administrators in the school education sector. COL has also launched a Quality Assurance Micro-Site on its website. 

TEACHER DEVELOPMENT: Teacher educators in West Africa (Cameroon, The Gambia, Ghana, Nigeria and Sierra Leone) were trained in course design and curriculum development, eLearning, situated learning design, learner support and audio-video script writing and production. COL works closely with the Teacher Education in Sub-Sahara Africa (TESSA) Consortium in developing and using school-based teacher training materials in Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, South Africa, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia. A teacher education strategy for Zambia has been developed. A unique bottom-up model of consortium building has been developed, targeting school and teacher development in West Africa (along with South Asia). COL is finalising a joint programme with UNESCO's Teacher Training Initiative in Sub-Saharan Africa (TTISSA) for orientation and capacity building policy makers in teacher development in sub-Saharan Africa. A Green Teacher course in environment education is being adapted for use in Nigeria.

OPEN/ALTERNATIVE SCHOOLING - TO INCREASE ACCESS TO BASIC AND SECONDARY SCHOOLING: COL commissioned and published a study on open schooling for secondary and higher secondary education in 2007. COL has helped to establish a Consortium of Open Schools in Southern Africa (Botswana, Lesotho, Malawi, Mauritius, Namibia, Tanzania, Zambia) and has sponsored an Institute on the planning and development of open schooling attended by educators/officials from Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia (The Gambia, Ghana, Nigeria, Sierra Leone). A needs assessment and draft action plan for the establishment of an open school in Nigeria has been completed. COL assisted Mindset Network with the building of funding relationships for an Open Schools Consortium. Mindset also hosted a workshop on Developing Digital Content which was held in Johannesburg in September 2007. In its endeavours to develop and promote models which are sustainable, COL has identified Cost and Financing of Distance Education as a critical element in planning for sustainable Open Schools. In August 2007, twenty-five participants from eight countries attended a COL-sponsored workshop on the subject held in Gaborone, Botswana and, from there, developed an interactive learning resource which is available for use and further development on COL's WikiEducator. www.wikieducator.org/Cost_and_Financing_in_Open_Schooling

HIGHER EDUCATION: 100 stakeholders representing public and private sector organisations in Uganda developed an awareness about ODL and ODL policy formulation for use in different sectors of development. At Ghana's invitation, COL's President, Sir John Daniel, chaired a panel that reviewed the University of Ghana to help shape the discharge of its mandate to an internationally accepted standard over the next 10 - 20 years. COL also helped the University of South Africa (UNISA) prepare for an institutional audit. COL is actively helping Seychelles to design a University of the Seychelles.

eLEARNING FOR EDUCATION SECTOR DEVELOPMENT: College instructors in Lesotho were trained in developing ODL courses. In collaboration with the Regional Training and Research Institute for Open and Distance Learning (RETRIDAL, Nigeria), West Africans are developing capacity in ODL in course writing, strategic policy, management of assessments, institutional partnership frameworks and models, and effective learner support. ODL materials have been converted into "wiki" format through COL's WikiEducator and three open educational resource example lessons for secondary education have been completed. There has been a substantial increase in the acceptance of open educational resources (OERs) concepts and approaches and expanded networks & partnerships in the Commonwealth and beyond. As part of a global initiative which aims to conduct 160 workshops, train 2500 teachers/educators and develop 2500 lessons of free content, Learning4Content will present two online workshops in each Commonwealth member state in Africa. WikiEducator averages over 3500 unique visits per day. www.col.org/WikiEducator

LEARNING FOR LIVELIHOODS

LEARNING AND SKILLS FOR LIVELIHOODS: Institutions in Botswana, Namibia and Tanzania are reviewing ODL as a means to teach foundation-level courses in hairdressing and beauty therapy. The Mauritius Qualifications Authority (MQA) is co-ordinating the development of a framework for the recognition of prior learning in TVET for use throughout Africa. The Gambia, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Mauritius, Seychelles and South Africa are involved in the pilot. Training workshops have been held for course writers from The Gambia, Ghana, Nigeria and Sierra Leone on converting basic skills courses to ODL formats through collaboration using WikiEducator. COL is working with the 120-member, 17-country Commonwealth Association of Polytechnics in Africa (CAPA) to advocate for institutional policy and course offerings using ODL and ICT, and specifically working with four institutions in Ghana, Kenya, Sierra Leone and Zambia in developing ODL policy in TVET. COL is assisting the College of Technology Education, University of Education of Winneba (UEW) to pilot a Bachelor of Education degree in TVET that could later be adopted by other countries. COL and the Commission of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS) have signed an agreement in support of education and training through ODL/ICT to improve livelihoods and are currently collaborating in the development of open educational resources materials to offer a certificate course in Community Health Nursing in West Africa. COL and UNESCO-UNEVOC are also working together to increase awareness for the use of ICT in TVET in Africa.

RURAL AND PERI-URBAN COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT: "Eradicate extreme poverty and hunger" (Millennium Development Goal #1) guides the efforts of this initiative. One of COL's flagship programmes, Life Long Learning for Farmers, is developing ODL and ICT-based teaching and learning models for sustained improvement of livelihoods. It is extending to more rural and peri-urban communities, often by self-replication, helping them to develop a holistic poverty-reduction programme. Communities in Kenya, Mauritius and Nigeria are joining this movement that originated in India. COL's Poverty Reduction Outcomes through Education Innovations and Networks (COL-PROTEIN, www.col/org/protein) is supporting "Teachers Talking Computer Literacy" programme in Kenya that involves 26 secondary school teachers and community development activists from rural Kangundo District. Another COL-PROTEIN initiative is with the oneVillage Foundation in Ghana and its "Winneba Open Digital Village (WODiV) for ICT Capacity-Building and Community Development" that works with the University of Education, Winneba to train teachers in sustainable development. In June 2007, COL conducted a workshop in Nairobi, for participants from Cameroon, Ghana, Kenya, Nigeria, Sierra Leone, Tanzania, Uganda and Zambia, on the collaborative development of open agricultural educational resources. Based on their contributions, COL prepared "Technology-mediated open and distance education - Agricultural Education and Improved Livelihoods in sub-Saharan Africa: A Synthesis report from 8 country case studies". Also in June, COL and the Forum for Agricultural Research in Africa (FARA) jointly hosted a meeting on "Technology-mediated Open and Distance Education for Agricultural Education and Improved Livelihoods in sub-Saharan Africa" in conjunction with FARA's 4th General Assembly in Sandton, South Africa.

NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT: COL is helping to build ODL capacity among strategic national and international agricultural education, extension, research, training and policy-making bodies with mandates and resources for education, training and research in the food, agriculture and vocational sectors. COL joined the National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges (NASULGC) and the American Distance Education Council (ADEC) in arranging a consultation meeting with FARA with a goal to find appropriate institutional partnerships and mechanisms to strengthen Africa's ability to build capacity in agriculture and natural resources. A number of significant action items were identified and follow-up is taking place. Makerere University, in partnership with COL and several institutions and organisations based in Uganda, developed an e-Uganda National Agricultural Innovation System (e-UNAIS) and introduced the platform during CHOGM, held in Uganda during November 2007. COL supported the 1st Global Workshop on improving Forestry Education held in Nairobi in September 2007. Workshop participants agreed that ODL should be explored in order to meet demands for teaching and learning in forestry.

TRANSNATIONAL PROGRAMMES: UN and international agencies such as the UNHCR, UNAIDS, WHO, the ILO, the World Bank and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies are using COL's eLearning for International Organisations programme to provide customised communications and data management skills training for their headquarters staff and field-based workers located throughout the world. The number of African learners increased from 106 in 2006 to 271 in 2007 (roughly 50/50 male/female). COL is also working on developing programmes that address climate change and water resources management in support of rural communities in Commonwealth Africa and Asia.
www.col.org/COLeIO

HUMAN ENVIRONMENT

GENDER AND DEVELOPMENT: COL is working with several partners to develop training in gender mainstreaming for all levels of the public sector. The training focuses on assessing implications for women and men at each stage of planning for all work from the development of policies and legislation to programme planning. Gender mainstreaming is a central characteristic of good governance. Care will be taken to ensure that ODL materials and approaches are directly applicable to the daily work of the civil servants at all levels, to encourage implementation. Course development will begin in late 2008, followed by piloting of the course in 2009. Current partners include the Commonwealth Secretariat as well as training institutions in Ghana, Lesotho, Malawi and Zambia.

HEALTH, WELFARE AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT: In collaboration with international organisations such as the World Health Organization, COL is equipping and training government agencies, NGOs and community groups to use video and audio technology for local production of educational materials related to health, welfare and community development. In Africa, there are recently established programmes in The Gambia, Sierra Leone, Swaziland and Tanzania. Health awareness is being raised. The Gambia reports declining HIV prevalence rates as a direct result of COL's initiatives in that country.

ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION: COL is working on expanding environmental education at all levels, creating awareness of the benefits and the feasibility of using ODL for environment education and developing learning materials for sharing across the Commonwealth. The Green Teacher Diploma is an excellent example of using ODL to scale up capacity for environmental education.

GOOD GOVERNANCE: COL is working with a number of partners to expand good governance through training for all levels of government and civil society as well as for the international development bodies in Malawi. The training will enhance legal and public accountability focussing on developing skills enabling informed, evidence-based and inclusive public decision making and on the processes by which policies are formulated and implemented. The ODL training material developed will be available for sharing across Africa and the Commonwealth. COL is also working in Cameroon to develop ODL training materials to help to resolve land-use disputes between farmers and grazers.

EDUCATIONAL USE OF MASS MEDIA AND ICTs: COL's Media Empowerment programme (COLME) is centred on the use of radio, television, video and audio production. The programme's impact has been to empower local communities, organisations and institutions with appropriate skills and technology that allows stakeholders to address education, environment and agricultural issues with locally created training and information. Over the past decade, the programme has implemented and sustained field-based activities in over 25 countries in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean and the Pacific.

VIRTUAL UNIVERSITY FOR SMALL STATES OF THE COMMONWEALTH

Botswana, The Gambia, Lesotho, Mauritius, Namibia, Seychelles, Sierra Leone and Swaziland (and The Comores) are members of a collaborative network of 30 small states that are creating a new Virtual University for Small States of the Commonwealth (VUSSC). COL is facilitating this initiative, which includes ICT capacity building of professional educators and the establishment of a Transnational Qualifications Framework. Participants learn to collaborate using technologies such as BaseCamp (an online team project management system). VUSCC workshops (or "Boot camps") on the creation of open educational resources (OERs) have been held in Mauritius and Seychelles (twice).

Where learning materials are created, these are shared free of charge via COL's website. These can be readily adapted to the specific context of each country and may be used in the offering of credit-bearing qualifications in the countries' postsecondary institutions. The focus so far is on skills-related courses in areas such as tourism, entrepreneurship, professional development, disaster management, fisheries management and a range of technical and vocational subjects. The VUSSC is throwing a wide bridge across the digital divide. www.col.org/vussc

REGIONAL CENTRES

COL facilitated the establishment of a Centre of Expertise in ODL for West Africa, the REGIONAL TRAINING AND RESEARCH INSTITUTE FOR OPEN AND DISTANCE LEARNING (RETRIDAL), at the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN) and, in Southern Africa, the SOUTHERN AFRICAN DEVELOPMENT COMMUNITY - CENTRE FOR DISTANCE EDUCATION (SADC-CDE), formerly Southern Africa Regional Distance Education Centre (SARDEC), in partnership with the Botswana College of Open and Distance Learning (BOCODOL) and the Botswana Ministry of Education. Both of these regional agencies are building up a resources inventory and network of expertise and conducting regional ODL training workshops.

INFORMATION EXCHANGE AND KNOWLEDGE RESOURCES

COL is co-operating with international experts and agencies to provide information on COPYRIGHT so that institutions and Commonwealth Governments might take action to implement education-friendly legislation that makes access to learning content affordable for more people. Information on various kinds of copyright licenses is provided on COL's website. www.col.org/copyright

COL's web site, newsletter (Connections/EdTech News) and electronic PUBLISHING/KNOWLEDGE RESOURCES PROGRAMME has led to its recognition as one of the world's foremost sources of knowledge on open, distance and technology-mediated learning in developing countries. Most of COL's more recent publications are also available on a CD-ROM.
www.col.org, www.col.org/connections,
www.col.org/resources

COL indexes large numbers of documents from quality-assessed sources on ODL and development on its freely available KNOWLEDGE FINDER. The Knowledge Finder includes information on education and development. www.col.org/kf

COL is supporting the development and use of FREE AND OPEN SOURCE SOFTWARE and advocates the use of the CC-BY-SA (share and share alike, with attribution) content license where appropriate and possible. COL is also helping to launch the Pacific Chapter of the FLOSS4Edu project and working with UNESCO in promoting the COL/UNESCO Computer Navigator's Certificate, to widen access to information and communications technologies (ICTs) skills training using free software. www.col.org/WikiEducator
www.col.org/ccnc

COL has been closely involved in a survey of THE USE OF ICTs IN AFRICAN SCHOOLS initiated by the World Bank's infoDev programme. Consultants across Africa have gathered information, and country reports have been published on the web along with a final report that will guide the work of the World Bank in education in Africa. www.col.org/ICT4AfricaEd

May 2008