OPEN CONTENT FOR AFRICA

"By 2009 to make available appropriate educational content and a set of easy to use FLOSS tools to 100 educational
 institutions while building the largest community of educational practitioners collaborating on the development of Free and Open Educational Resources."
THE STRATEGIC VISION OF FLOSS4EDU

COL recently hosted the first meeting of FLOSS4Edu in Nairobi, Kenya. The initiative is promoting Free/Libre Open Source Software (FLOSS) for education in Africa. The meeting in Nairobi, which included 33 people representing education institutions, government, students and non-governmental organisations, was focussed on mobilising a sustainable Open Educational Resources (OERs) development community in Africa.

Discussions at the FLOSS4Edu workshop explored the status of digital educational content in the various institutions represented at the meeting. Currently most of the content production is closed and based at the institutional level, with little collaboration towards the creation of open digital content. The main reason attributed to this is the lack of awareness about the benefits of collaboration and the potential impact of OERs. Workshop participants agreed to form a content developers group and begin developing open content immediately in the areas of Chemistry and Physical Sciences. This content will be freely available through WikiEducator. They also agreed to work to create awareness of open content, to promote collaboration among educators and students at all levels, and to seek financial support for FLOSS4Edu initiatives from various development partners.
www.WikiEducator.org/floss4edu

 

AFRICA

OPENING NEW FRONTIERS IN UGANDA

Along with Makerere University and the Uganda Ministry of Education and Sports, COL sponsored a National Consultative Forum on open and distance learning (ODL) in Kampala, Uganda in December 2006. Close to 100 people representing governments, universities and civil society organisations attended the three-day meeting. Speakers from Kenya, Namibia, South Africa, Tanzania and Uganda shared ODL experiences. Issues discussed included open schooling, teacher training, policies and practices, quality assurance, funding and the role of information and communications technologies (ICTs).

In her concluding remarks at the forum, COL Vice President Professor Asha Kanwar outlined the basic elements that should inform a national policy on ODL - an understanding of ODL's potential, the need for the appropriate political will, the need for technology infrastructure and a commitment to providing the required resources. A Task Force formed at the forum will draft an ODL policy, which will be finalised at a follow-up workshop in May 2007. 

 AFRICA

ODL FOR LIVELIHOODS

A group of African educators gathered in Pretoria, South Africa in December 2006 for a three-day meeting on "ODL Application for Non-formal Education and Livelihoods". Sponsored by COL and the Institute of Adult and Basic Education and Training, UNISA, the roundtable brought together resource people and experts from Botswana, Mauritius, Namibia, South Africa and Tanzania. Their focus: how to effectively use ODL to improve the livelihoods of disadvantaged young people in Southern Africa. They shared country experiences in using open and distance learning (ODL) for non-formal education and livelihoods, identified action areas, discussed how to adapt and use ODL materials, and explored how to share country resources.

 

UPCOMING EVENTS

CADE-AMTEC 2007 JOINT INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE
13 - 16 May 2007,
Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Organised jointly by the Canadian Association for Distance Learning (CADE) and the Association for Media in Technology in Education in Canada (AMTEC)
Theme: "Connecting in the Global Village/Connexions dans le village planétaire"
www.cade-aced.ca/conferences/2007

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eLEARNING AFRICA 2007, THE SECOND INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON ICT FOR DEVELOPMENT, EDUCATION AND TRAINING
28 - 30 May 2007. Nairobi, Kenya
Theme: Building Infrastructures and Capacities to Reach out to the Whole of Africa
www.eLearning-Africa.com

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12TH INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON EDUCATION
21 - 24 May 2007, Brunei Darussalam
Hosted by the Sultan Hassanal Bolkiah Institute of Education, Universiti Brunei Darussalam
Theme: Changing Contours of Education: Future Trends
www.ubd.edu.bn/news/conferences/12ice07

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CAUCE 2007, CANADIAN ASSOCIATION FOR UNIVERSITY CONTINUING EDUCATORS
20 May - 2 June 2007
Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Theme: Portraits of Tomorrow: Landscapes, Learners, Leaders
www.cauce2007.ca

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3RD INTERNATIONAL CONFERENCE ON OPEN AND ONLINE LEARNING (ICOOL2007)
11-14 June 2007, Penang, Malaysia
Organised by the VCILT, University of Mauritius in partnership with the School of Distance Education, Universiti Sains Malaysia
Theme: Pedagogical Scripting for Open and Online Learning
http://icool.uom.ac.mu

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FIFTH PAN-COMMONWEALTH FORUM ON OPEN LEARNING
13-17 July 2008, University of London
Theme: Access to Learning for Development
www.col.org/pcf5