A Guide to the Implications of the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) for Cross-border Education
A report prepared for the Commonwealth of Learning and UNESCO by Dr. Jane Knight
The General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS), adopted by the World Trade Organization in 1995, clearly identifies education as a service to be liberalised and regulated by trade rules. While some see GATS as an opportunity, others view it more as a threat. For many, it has raised questions that need to be answered.
The Guide simplifies the complexities of cross-border higher education and GATS. It examines the different dimensions of cross-border education within the context of GATS: the present landscape, opportunities and challenges, and the implications for policy and practice in higher education. It is meant for a range of stakeholders: policy-makers, senior academic leaders, faculty members, students and researchers. The aim is to heighten awareness and knowledge about this elusive and evolving phenomenon so that both policy-makers and practitioners can make informed decisions in the light of their own priorities and goals. Initial reviews from countries as diverse as Sierra Leone, Trinidad & Tobago and India suggest that this Guide will be of particular benefit to colleagues in the developing world.
www.col.org/GATS
COL has developed a template for instructional design that helps content developers to convert their subject matter expertise into learning materials. The template is in response to the continuing need for high quality open and distance learning (ODL) materials. It helps authors incorporate ODL instructional design techniques into their learning texts. Created in just over a year and tested in many countries and institutions with feedback from many instructional designers, this template is truly a collaborative effort. COL hopes that anyone who may feel discouraged from developing ODL learning materials will now feel empowered to begin to do so.
The instructional design template, part of COL's Training Handbooks series, will be demonstrated and trialled at the Pan-Commonwealth Forum on Open Learning in Ocho Rios, Jamaica, 30 October to 3 November 2006 (www.col.org/pcf4) and will be freely available online.
Go to the instructional design template
Obstacles to Educational Uses of Copyrighted Material in the Digital Age
By William McGeveran and William W. Fisher, Berman Center Research
This foundational white paper reports on a year-long study by the Berkman Center for Internet and Society, funded by a grant from the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation, examining the relationship between copyright law and education. In particular, the authors wanted to explore whether innovative educational uses of digital technology were hampered by the restrictions of copyright. The study found that provisions of copyright law concerning the educational use of copyrighted material, as well as the business and institutional structures shaped by that law, are among the most important obstacles to realising the potential of digital technology in education. Drawing on research, interviews, two participatory workshops with experts in the field and the lessons drawn from four detailed case studies, the white paper identifies four obstacles as particularly serious ones:
- Unclear or inadequate copyright law relating to crucial provisions such as fair use and educational use,
- Extensive adoption of digital rights management technology to lock up content,
- Practical difficulties obtaining rights to use content when licenses are necessary, and
- Undue caution by gatekeepers such as publishers or educational administrators.
The white paper concludes with some discussion of paths toward reform that might improve the situation, including certain types of legal reform, technological improvements in the rights clearance process, educator agreement on best practices and increased use of open access distribution.
Publication No. 2006-09,
Harvard University, August 2006.
http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=923465