With encouragement from COL and its Regional Programme for the Pacific, Pacific Island nations have formed the Pacific Association of Vocational Education and Training (PATVET), a formally constituted organisation with elected officers and paid-up membership. One of the main functions of PATVET will be to further the aims of COL's Regional Programme that has a mandate from Ministers of Education in the Pacific to facilitate collaboration designed to increase access to vocational education and training, throughout the Pacific Islands, through the use of open and distance learning.
Two hundred delegates from 28 countries attended a historic pan-African workshop for education practitioners and policy makers, focussing on using information and communications technologies (ICTs) to support school education systems in Africa. Discussion topics included the potential and challenges of ICTs in African education, integrating ICT use into the curriculum, content and capacity-building, appropriate educational technologies in Africa, achieving affordability and sustainability and pan-African initiatives for the future. Seven action items emerged from the workshop.
Workshop discussions also had a strong link to initiatives within the New Partnership for African Development (NEPAD) programme. In a presentation to delegates, Professor Peter Kinyanjui, NEPAD's Commissioner on e-Schools, identified SchoolNet Africa and its work as an important part of NEPAD's
e-schools initiative.
The Honourable George Kgoroba, Minister of Education, Botswana, opened the event, noting that it was truly "historic". The Honourable Boyce Sebetela, Minister of Communications, Science and Technology, Botswana, closed the workshop, stressing that for too long Africa has used emotional reasons for investment and development in education. He challenged workshop participants to develop sound educational and economic arguments for the use of ICTs in the education system.
There was a heated debate in a parallel session on appropriate software solutions for African schools regarding "open source" vs. proprietary software (e.g., Microsoft). At the end of this discussion, it was agreed that for Africa, open source, and the associated cost savings, offer a viable option, but that this is not an "either/or" scenario - there needs to be an integrated solution.
The seven action items identified for follow-up cover policy development, building human capacity, information sharing, gender mainstreaming, technology development, advocacy and research. There was also agreement that the workshop and its results are the beginning of a process that should significantly improve co-ordination among the several agencies and organisations working in this area in Africa, including COL.
The conference was organised by the Ministry of Education (Botswana), SchoolNet Africa and the Commonwealth of Learning, in partnership with Canada's International Development Research Centre, the International Institute for Communication and Development,
infoDev and the World Bank Institute. The workshop was held in Gaborone, Botswana, from 28 April - 2 May 2003.
www.schoolnetafrica.net/IAS2003
Writing Effectively for UNHCR, an effective communication course produced by COL, has won the Canadian Association for Distance Education (CADE) 2003 Award for Excellence in International Collaboration. CADE's citation notes that, "The course itself displays a practical combination of print and digital technologies to meet the needs of a global network of learners."
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Left to Right: Raymond Guy, Chair, CADE Awards of Excellence Committee (College Boreal, Canada); Angela Kwan, Development Manager, Commonwealth of Learning: and Denis Mayer,
CADE President 2002/2003
(Laurentian University, Canada) |
In the spirit of supporting international collaboration and cross-cultural understanding, COL harnessed talent from around the world to build a course development team as international in scope as the target audience of the course itself. The entire process took place virtually, from conception to delivery. By bringing the international team together, COL demonstrated that not only can international partnerships work, they can enrich the process.
In giving voice to the multiple cultures, values and experiences of the parties involved, the international partnership has produced a truly cross-boundary and transcultural product.
The difficulty in the past had been how to provide this type of training to UNHCR's widely dispersed and mobile staff; "open and distance learning" methods, as advocated by COL, met this challenge.
The course is now serving as a model for other UNHCR training programmes and has been adapted by COL for use by other United Nations agencies and international humanitarian organisations such as the United Nations Joint Programme for HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), the World Health Organization (WHO) and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.
www.col.org/newsreleases
Call for submissions EDEA Awards
COL has issued a call for submissions for its biennial Excellence in Distance Education Awards (EDEA) programme.
Separate awards recognise and honour excellence achieved at the overall institutional level, in the development of learning materials and in student accomplishment. As a part of the EDEA, COL also designates individuals as Honorary Fellows of COL, as a tribute to their lifetime's work as distance educators.
Originated in 1999 in conjunction with COL's 10th anniversary, achievement awards have been received by 10 institutions and 21 individuals at two ceremonies, held in Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei Darussalam and Durban, South Africa. The third presentation will take place at the third Pan-Commonwealth Forum on Open Learning in Dunedin, New Zealand, in July 2004.
The entry deadline is 30 November 2003. Brochures are being posted to individuals and institutions on COL's mailing list and complete details are available on COL's web site.
www.col.org/edea
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