The unveiling of the Green Teacher brochure at the International Conference on Education for Sustainable Future in Ahmedabad, India
The Centre for Environmental Education (CEE) in India has collaborated with COL to develop a Diploma in Environmental Education for teachers. The "Green Teacher" course was introduced in January at the International Conference on Education for Sustainable Future. Dr. Kartkeya Sarabhai, Director of CEE, launched the course by presenting the new Green Teacher Learning Modules.
This innovative distance education programme involves two five-day sessions, a six-month project and a final exam. The learning materials include an interactive CD containing useful environmental education tips and aids for classroom teaching.
The one-year course is aimed at upper primary school teachers in India and South Asia. Environmental education is a priority in India; the Supreme Court recently ruled that "the environment" should be a compulsory subject in all schools. The Green Teacher course is currently going through a pilot run with about 300 teachers.
Over the past two years, COL developed capacity in the CEE for instructional design, self-instructional reading material development, development of case-based material for reflective practice and course editing. Ms. Meena Raghunathan, Co-ordinator of the COL-CEE project, said the Green Teacher course is only the beginning. She hopes that CEE will develop and offer more distance courses.
"COL is pleased that CEE has embraced distance education by becoming a dual-mode institution," said Dr. Mohan Menon, COL Education Specialist, School Development, who was present at the launch. "We believe the Green Teacher course will broaden access to environmental education, and ultimately contribute towards sustainable development."
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The Institute for Continuing Education at the University of South Africa (UNISA) has launched a Bachelor of Arts with specialisation in Open and Distance Learning (ODL). This three-year degree, the first of its kind in the South African Development Community (SADC) region, is delivered incrementally. UNISA is offering the degree at first-year level in 2005; the second and third year levels will be offered in 2006 and 2007 respectively.
UNISA developed this degree in collaboration with a number of public institutions in eight SADC countries. It is supported by the Distance Education Association of Southern Africa and COL. UNISA recently merged with Technikon SA and Vista University's Distance Education component to form an organisation with over 200,000 students and more than 5,000 staff members.
The primary purpose of this qualification is to equip prospective and current practitioners with ODL knowledge, skills, values and applied competencies to be effective in the areas of learner support, management and administration, learning materials design and development, research and evaluation.
The secondary purpose is to guide prospective and current practitioners towards understanding and applying ODL in the transformation of education in their work environment and communities. As a career advancement tool, the degree embraces principles of lifelong learning and training of employable graduates who will contribute to quality of ODL provision and practices in Southern Africa and elsewhere in the world.
ntuliazs@unisa.ac.za
www.unisa.ac.za/od
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A consortium of international and national organisations has come together to address the critical need for teacher training and development in countries of Sub-Saharan Africa. Teacher Education in Sub-Saharan Africa (TESSA) is expected to commence its activities in September 2005. The Open University, U.K. is leading TESSA, with substantial support from Ferguson Trust. As a partner in the consortium, COL brings extensive experience in working with various Commonwealth countries in the region and will work to bring teacher education institutions in these countries to the fold of TESSA.
The focus of TESSA will be developing resources and advice for use in an "open source" electronic environment that teacher educators can version and use to suit their particular circumstances. The prime aim is the training of unqualified or under-qualified teachers in basic education in countries of sub-Saharan Africa. The resources made available could be used in an emergency training context, integrated into existing accredited courses or merely used in an in-service context.
For a more detailed discussion of this issue, go to: Moon_Bob.pdf
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The African Digital Library (ADL) is broadening basic access to books in one of the world's less developed regions. It provides a core collection of digitised, full text e-books in support of lifelong learning in Africa. The ADL is available free of charge to all residents of Africa who have access to the Internet.
Launched in 1999 by the former Technikon SA (now part of UNISA), the Association of African Universities (AAU) and netLibrary, the ADL has also received funding from the World Bank's Development Marketplace. The collection now includes approximately 9,000 e-books representing a wide variety of subjects.
When a book is accessed (loaned) by a particular user, it becomes unavailable to other users, much the same as with a conventional library. There is a two-hour loan period to ensure the optimal use of the library by all its users. Books are automatically returned to the library when the two-hour period expires.
The ADL is intended to supplement the capacity of any African Library. Librarians may assist their existing members to gain access to the digital library's resources from any computer that is connected to the Internet if the user lives in Africa. Domain filtering prevents other regions in the world from accessing the library. All existing Internet-connected libraries in Africa can add the ADL to their existing collections.
By providing digitised, full-text resources to learners in Africa via the Internet, the ADL is contributing to the revitalisation of education and lifelong learning.
For more information, contact the Project Leader for ADL, Ms. Marié Botha, at cmbotha@tsa.ac.za
www.africaeducation.org
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COL and the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) recently launched an open and distance learning initiative for subjects in the high school curriculum. The self-study materials contain content, activities and tests that include actual CXC exam questions. The materials will help prepare students for exams in 11 subject areas, using the CXC/COL materials to supplement their normal studies.
The course materials serve a number of purposes, including:
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Giving teachers clear points of reference for the curricula,
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Helping classroom teachers to concentrate on the learning of their students instead of being the primary source of content knowledge,
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Helping teachers manage large classes, and
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Enabling out-of-school students to study for CXC exams.
This initiative is a good example of a sustainable innovation that improves the education system. The CXC now has the capacity to continue producing materials on more subjects without COL's assistance.
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Ms. Susan Juby is a talented writer who leads a double life. A dedicated tutor who has taught COL's Effective Writing programme to field staff of the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) and the World Health Organization (WHO) for the past four years, Susan is also a successful fiction author whose books will become a TV series later this year.
As a COL tutor, Susan works directly with individuals enrolled in the "Writing Effectively" training programmes. Communicating with her students online from her home in Nanaimo, British Columbia, Canada, Susan marks assignments and provides individual guidance and counsel to people throughout the world. She says the work is immensely gratifying.
"This programme gives people greater control over their communication skills," she explains. "For many people, they are communicating in English as a second language, so their drive and commitment to improve their writing skills, while coping with challenging jobs, is truly impressive. I've met amazing people from around the world as a COL tutor."
What most of Susan's students don't know is that she is a popular author of teen fiction with several books on the shelves in Canada, the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Finland and Indonesia. Susan's first book, Alice, I Think, was published in 2000 and introduced a captivating, if somewhat unorthodox, teenage girl to readers of all ages. Susan describes Alice MacLeod as "a teenager who doesn't fit in but has the courage and integrity to find her own way". Two subsequent books, Miss Smithers and Alice MacLeod, Realist at Last, have gained a strong following for Susan's humourous take on life.
The popularity of the Alice books has led to a TV deal for Susan. While she completes her fourth book, she is also working as a creative consultant for a 13-part series based on her previous books. While Alice hasn't been cast yet, Susan says she's always looking for the girl "with just the right look" at bus stops, shopping malls and restaurants.
A long-time tutor who has also worked with teenagers learning English as a second language, Susan says the work is the perfect complement to fiction writing.
"Tutoring is different enough that it's refreshing after a morning spent on my own writing," Susan explained. "I've seen the 'Writing Effectively' training have a powerful effect on people's careers. If I can contribute to that by communicating my enthusiasm for writing, that's hugely satisfying to me."
In partnership with UNHCR, UNAIDS, WHO and the International Federation of Red Cross/Red Crescent Societies, COL has developed and delivers training programmes for their field staff in effective writing techniques. To date, more than 2,000 individuals in 100 countries have participated in these programmes.