COL's third (biennial) Pan-Common-wealth Forum on Open Learning (PCF) will be held in Dunedin, New Zealand, from 4 - 8 July 2004, hosted by the Distance Education Association of New Zealand (DEANZ)
in collaboration with the Federation of Commonwealth Open and Distance Learning Associations (FOCODLA).
The conference theme is "Building Learning Communities for our Millennium: Reaching Wider Audiences through Innovative Approaches". Sub-themes include Education, Health and Local Government.
A call for papers has been issued. Abstracts may be submitted up to 29 August 2003. Upon acceptance of abstracts, papers are required by 22 December 2003.
www.col.org/pcf3 (E-mail: pam.wyse@aut.ac.nz)
www.deanz.org.nz
The sixth annual Stockholm Challenge Award (2003/2004) is open for submission until 1 November 2003. The aim of Stockholm's international award for innovative use of information technology is to diminish the digital divide and to
create an information society for all. The Stockholm Challenge is a platform for innovative projects from all over the world to create networks for the exchange of experience and knowledge.
The competition is open to private, public and academic contestants. The Challenge invites projects in the following categories: e-Government, Culture, Health, Education, e-Business and Environment. www.challenge.stockholm.se
The 17th Asian Association of Open Universities (AAOU) annual conference, will be hosted this year in Thailand by the Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University, from 12 - 14 November 2003. The theme is "Networking and Partnership for Strengthening Collaboration in Open and Distance Education." www.stou.ac.th/AAOU2003
The 16th biennial Forum of the
Open and Distance Learning Association of Australia (ODLAA) will be held from
1 - 4 October 2003 in Canberra. The conference theme is "Sustaining Quality Learning Environments". www.odlaa.org/forum.html
COL, the Global Knowledge Partnership (GKP), Canada's International Development Research Centre (IDRC), the International Telecommunications Union and the Government of Malaysia (Ministry of Energy, Communications and Multimedia, the Ministry of Women and Family Development and the Malaysian Communications and Multimedia Commission) are organising an invitational Forum on Information and Communications Technologies (ICTs) and Gender.
With the theme of "Optimising Opportunities", Commonwealth experience and recommendations - developed through a series of regional meetings, organised by COL, that identified gender-based barriers to ICTs in education - will be shared with those from other parts of the world.
Anticipated outcomes include a paper to be submitted to the World Summit on the Information Society and a publication/web site featuring best practices, exemplary projects and strategies designed to improve access and help bridge the digital divide.
Organisers hope that these efforts will contribute significantly to enabling women to equitably access ICTs necessary to improve health, establish small businesses and gain equal access to education and training opportunities aimed at improving their own well-being as well as that of their children and the community at large.
The Forum will be held in Kuala Lumpur, 20 - 23, August 2003. Participation at this event is by invitation only. Interested individuals are encouraged to submit their CVs for consideration as a speaker or participant.
(E-mail: gender@gkpsecreatariat.org.my)
The 15th triennial Conference of Commonwealth Education Ministers (CCEM)will take place in Edinburgh, Scotland from 27 - 30 October 2003. There are three events, around the theme "Closing the Gap: Access, Inclusion and Achievement": 1) the Education Ministers' conference, 2) a Parallel Symposium and 3) two Showcases ("Youth" and "Best Practice"). COL is a partner in organising the conference.
www.15ccem.com
New Knowledge Series Titles
. Establishing Copyright Procedure in Distance Education
- by Christine Swales, U.K.
. Developing Library and Information Services for Distance Education
- by Elizabeth F. Watson, University of the West Indies, Barbados
. Open and Distance Learning Policy Development (particular reference to
dual-mode institutions)
- by John Bottomley, Australia, and Jocelyn Calvert, Deakin University, Australia
. Institutional Collaboration in Distance Education Development and Delivery
- by Chandra B. Sharma and Sohanvir S. Chaudhary, Indira Gandhi National Open University, India
COL has published its third set of Knowledge Series titles. With the addition of the four new titles listed above, the Series now contains 15 quick-study (six-panel), start-up guides on a variety of distance education topics. With a user-friendly, plain language approach, the expert-authored Knowledge Series is designed for education professionals and managers who are relatively new to the field of distance education. However, content is still detailed enough for introductory use by and for educational, vocational or corporate trainers.
The Knowledge Series is freely available in print, online or on CD-ROM and may be duplicated for non-commercial use.
Titles published in 2001/2002:
. Designing Online Learning
. Audio/Audioconferencing in Support of Distance Education
. Video/Videoconferencing in Support of Distance Education
. Using Community Radio for Non-Formal Education
. Using Telecentres in Support of Distance Education
. Analysing Costs/Benefits for Distance Education Programmes
Titles published in 2000:
. Instructional Design for Self-Learning for Distance Education
. Editing Distance Education Materials
. Managing for Electronic Networking
. The Use of Multi Media in Distance Education
. Support Groups in Distance Education
www.col.org/knowledge
OneWorld.net's global Learning-Channel.org has been set up to promote quality education for all by "bringing together organisations and audiences involved in the challenges around education today ... using the Internet to highlight the best initiatives and programmes in education worldwide."
The portal is also a forum for debate and sharing of experiences. Its searchable database includes everything from grass-roots projects on girls' education and information on a distance-learning centre, to a human rights awareness programme and suggestions on dealing with the problems of racism and indiscipline in schools.
LearningChannel.org asserts that education is "the most cost-effective investment governments ever make."
www.learningchannel.org
UNESCO has published Open and Distance Learning: Trends, Policy and
Strategy Considerations. The paper reviews open and distance learning in the
context of present challenges and opportunities, describes relevant concepts
and contributions, outlines some significant current global and regional
trends, suggests policy and strategy considerations and identifies UNESCO's initiatives in this area, including its role in capacity-building and international
co-operation.
From UNESCO: "The globalization of distance education provides many opportunities for developing countries for the realisation of their education
system-wide goals. Two main factors have led to an explosion of interest
in distance learning: the growing need for continual skills upgrading
and retraining, and the technological advances that have made it possible
to teach more and more subjects at a distance."
Editors and contributors include Michael Moore (Pennsylvania State University, USA), Alan Tait (The Open University, UK), Paul Resta (University of Texas at Austin, USA), Greville Rumble (The Open University, UK) and Yuri Zaparovanny (UNESCO-IITE, Moscow, Russia).
The paper is available free of charge online or by e-mail.
http://unesdoc.unesco.org/images/0012/001284/128463e.pdf
(E-mail: oai@unesco.org)
The Commonwealth has launched a new web site to assist developing member countries in bridging the "digital divide", the gap between those with and those without access to information and communication technologies (ICTs). It is intended to serve as a resource for those developing Common-wealth countries that are seeking to bridge the gap, to improve networking and build synergies.
The web site includes information on the recommendations of the Commonwealth Expert Group on Information Technology, the partners in the Action Programme, and some of the developmental opportunities offered by ICTs, including telecentres, knowledge networks, e-governance and e-commerce, and how they can by used to promote sustainable development and contribute to achieving the millennium development goals. COL is a member of the co-ordinating group for the implementation of the Commonwealth Action Programme.
www.commonwealthdigitalopportunities.com
COL's new "Sharing our Services" programme provides the means for open learning/distance education professionals to post offers of assistance in their specialist field and for institutions and/or organisations to search for those offering skills and expertise in a given area of open and distance learning. This, then, enables institutions/organisations to directly contact the professionals that may offer the skills they are seeking.
"Sharing our Services" is a self-serve, web-based database that aims to connect experienced educators, retired or otherwise, with distance education organisations/institutions that could benefit from their advice, training or professional input. The programme is designed to match those distance education professionals willing to offer their services at a nominal, or preferably no-fee, basis on short-term assignments with institutions/organisations in developing Commonwealth countries that would be interested in securing their services.
Distance educators and requesting institutions register their information independently on the secure, online database and those that have registered may search the database for matches.
Distance education experience is classified under areas of expertise, e.g. instructional design.
www.col.org/consultants
 |
Connections Reader Survey
The last issue of Connections was accompanied by a short reader survey. Thank you to the 330 people who took the time to complete the survey and send it back to us (240 by mail, 70 by fax and 20 electronically). We were pleased to see that satisfaction with Connections/EdTech News is high and that recipients find the information useful (94% either often or sometimes).
Over half of the respondents have also taken action or initiated communication with someone as a result of information found in Connections/EdTech News. Most found the amount of information about right, although almost half said that they would like to see more in the way of features, stories and case studies. In fact, 90% said that they would like to see a COL magazine. Readers will be pleased to know that COL is looking into developing a publishing partnership to produce a magazine.
Several readers also took the time to include additional comments and suggestions, which are very much appreciated.
Tabulated results are available on COL's web site. www.col.org/connections
|
