COL President Sir John Daniel is shown features of the Tan Sri Dr Abdullah Sanusi Digital Library at the Open University of Malaysia by Sharipah Hanon Bidin, Chief Librarian, (far left) and Hazna Amhad, Manager of Learner Management Systems. Sir John made the visit during a trip to Malaysia in January 2006.

ILO signs on for Writing Effectively

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THE WRITE STUFF Deirdre Maultsaid was one of eight tutors for COL's Writing Effectively course for international agencies who received long service awards to recognise four years of tutoring learners worldwide. The awards were given at the annual Tutors Professional Enrichment Day in October. This session brought together 18 Vancouver-area residents, who are among the programme's 25 tutors, for learning, sharing of tips and networking.

Learning for MDGs

COL and the Centre for Environment Education in India have launched an online module that provides education and communication professionals with useful resources on the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) and Sustainable Development. "Learning for MDGs" gives an introduction to the Decade of Sustainable Development and the eight MDGs. It presents case studies from different parts of the world, giving examples of how a particular MDG has been achieved at a local, regional and national level. The module also outlines the contribution that education and communication can make in the processes of achieving these goals.

Knowledge Finder:
Your Personal Librarian

COL's Knowledge Finder is an online tool that mines open and distance learning (ODL) resources available on the Internet. The Knowledge Finder acts like your personal research assistant - it finds online documents, reads them, discards irrelevant material and sorts them into different categories. While using a search engine is like looking for information in a library without the help of a librarian, using an indexing tool such as the Knowledge Finder is like having a librarian at your service. The Knowledge Finder is automatically updated as websites change, so you will be led to the latest articles and not to information that has been taken off sites. The result is an efficient and comprehensive search for information related to a specific subject.

COL is making a concerted effort to include information related to Open Education Resources (OER, also known as open source courseware). There is a growing need for information, as educational institutions increasingly become aware of the advantages of using OER. If you are aware of useful information, articles or websites about OER that should be available through the Knowledge Finder or for more information, contact Mr. Paul West at pwest@col.org.

Building Multimedia Capacity in West Africa

COL has worked extensively in West Africa to build capacity with teacher education institutions. This has included training workshops on the development of multimedia capacity in Nigeria at the National Teacher Institute and most recently at Freetown Teachers College (FTC) in Sierra Leone. The initiative with these institutions builds upon the COL's efforts to develop the West Africa Teacher Education Consortium, which brings together teacher education institutions in The Gambia, Ghana, Nigeria, Sierra Leone and Cameroon.

COL Education Specialist, Mr. David Walker, worked with FTC in November 2005 to build a media centre and train staff on multimedia technology. The College will use audio and video production to aid in teacher training in the classroom and provide support to FTC regional centres throughout the country.

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Promoting South Asia Literacy and Livelihoods

Representatives from five South Asian countries met to discuss literacy and livelihoods at a COL-organised meeting in Bangladesh in September. "Awareness and Advocacy: Using ODL for Literacy and Skills Development: A South Asian Consultative Meeting" was a follow-up to COL's first International Literacy and Livelihoods Experts meeting in Vancouver in November 2004. The meeting brought together policymakers and practitioners from Bangladesh, India, Maldives, Pakistan and Sri Lanka to strategise about using open and distance learning (ODL) and information and communications technologies (ICTs) for literacy and skills development.

In addition to reviewing the situation in their own countries, participants identified opportunities for collaboration across the region. Already there has been sharing of course materials and broadcast facilities among organisations in South Asia. COL is encouraging continuing co-operation and sharing of knowledge through a Literacy and Livelihoods association that is being formed by meeting participants. Similar regional meetings will take place in the Pacific and Africa in 2006.

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(From left to right) Professor Richard Siaciwena, COL consultancy team member; Mr. James Silwimba, Acting Chief Education Officer, Teacher Education, Ministry of Education (MOE); Mr. C.R. Pillai, COL consultancy team member; Mrs. Rachel Thole, Senior Education Officer, Pre-service, MOE; Professor Mohan Menon, COL education specialist and consultancy team leader; Mr. M.D. Hakasenke, Director, Directorate of Teacher Education and Specialised Services (TESS), MOE; and Mr. Edward Tindi, Senior Education Officer, In-service High Schools, MOE at the Dissemination Workshop in Zambia in November 2005.

Developing Zambia Teacher Education Strategy

COL has helped to formulate a Teacher Education Strategy for Zambia for implementation over the next ten years. A team of COL consultants conducted the three-month long project for Zambia's Ministry of Education.

The Ministry selected COL from among other international bidders in July 2005 to conduct this Danish Development Agency (DANIDA) funded project. The consultancy was required to develop a number of alternative strategies for the Ministry of Education to contemplate, taking into consideration factors such as the financial constraints through government funding, the commitment of the donor community, public sector reform and other policy decisions that could affect the situation.

After extensive interviews, discussions and review of documents, the draft report was presented to a group of over 60 stakeholders in a Dissemination Workshop organised by the Ministry of Education in November 2005 to obtain their feedback. Mr. M.D. Hakasenke, Director, Directorate of Teacher Education and Support Services, who chaired the Dissemination Workshop, thanked COL for completing the work on time and to the satisfaction of the Ministry.

With this strategy in place, COL will look at working with Zambia to help implement some of  the recommendations.

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Seeking Bandwidth
Solutions in Namibia

COL recently facilitated a meeting of educational institutions in Namibia to explore the issue of affordable bandwidth. Hosted by the Namibian Open Learning Network Trust (NOLNet), the meeting included representatives from educational institutions and the Government of Namibia.

There are wide disparities in Internet connectivity among developed and developing nations, with countries in regions such as Africa facing much higher costs - more than 100 times higher - than many other countries for bandwidth. This has a significant negative impact on access to information for students. While bulk bandwidth purchasing has reduced costs in some African countries, this is not the case in many other countries, such as Namibia, where prices are controlled by monopolies in the telecommunications industry. Some of the solutions discussed were better management of connectivity in institutions, more training for staff and users in responsible Internet usage and strategies to make optimal use ICTs.

As a result of the meeting, NOLNet has agreed to form a Bandwidth/Connectivity sub-group to focus on connectivity issues. COL will continue to work with stakeholders in Namibia to develop solutions to meet the challenges of low bandwidth.

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Participants at the authors meeting for Foreign Tertiary Education Providers in the Anglophone Caribbean in Trinidad & tobago in October

Cross-Border Higher Education in the Caribbean

The Caribbean has become an attractive destination for cross-border providers of higher education. A number of organisations from the United States, the U.K. and other countries are active in the region. However, there is little data on the number and type of providers, which makes it difficult for appropriate policies and regulatory mechanisms to be put into place.

COL, in collaboration with the University of West Indies Distance Education Centre (UWIDEC) and UNESCO, is commissioning a book on Foreign Tertiary Education Providers in the Anglophone Caribbean. Sixteen authors from Anglophone Caribbean countries have been asked to write a chapter each on the status and trends of cross-border higher education in their respective countries. The project moved ahead significantly with a three-day meeting of the authors in Trinidad & Tobago in October 2005. Authors discussed draft chapters and the challenges of data collection and information sharing.

COL plans to release the book at the Pan-Commonwealth Forum on Open Learning in Jamaica in November 2006.