NEW AND IMPROVED KNOWLEDGE FINDER
COL has updated its online search service. It now has 22 specialised search fields, each catering to the need for finding information in focussed areas. If users do not find what they need on COL's web pages, they are directed to narrow sets of information from websites selected by COL specialists. Given that a term such as "open and distance learning" currently generates 36 million search results on Google, COL's search service is much more efficient than searching the whole Internet.
COL's Knowledge Finder service was on the bleeding edge of technology when it was first offered about six years ago. There were search engines for the web but certainly not of the calibre with which we are now so familiar (e.g., Google). As the web evolved, searching and finding material became easier. The downfall was that the amount of available data returned in a search became unwieldy. While the Knowledge Finder returned more relevant material compared to a general search engine, there was a need to update the hardware and improve the search capabilities through ongoing software licences.
Knowledge Finder now uses a service called Google Co-op. It indexes and searches against a limited number of sites, not the entire web. Each search field has been customised to the particular topic page on which it is found. For example, the search field on the COL copyright page (www.col.org/copyright) specifically searches trusted resources on copyright. Designed for open and distance learning practitioners, the Knowledge Finder is a powerful tool that searches well-regarded sources of information and helps users organise the information.
www.col.org/kf
ICTS AND EDUCATION IN AFRICA
THE NEPAD E-SCHOOLS DEMONSTRATION PROJECT:
A WORK IN PROGRESS
The New Partnership for Africa's Development (NEPAD) e-Schools Initiative is a multi-country, multi-stakeholder, continental project to teach information and communications technologies (ICTs) skills to young Africans in primary and secondary schools and improve the provision of education in schools through the use of ICT applications and the Internet. The first phase of the Initiative is a Demonstration Project being implemented by NEPAD through the e-Africa Commission (eAC), in partnership with private sector organisations. Six schools in each of 16 countries were selected to participate. COL managed the monitoring and evaluation of the Demo project at the request of the eAC, in partnership with infoDev, a multi-donor partnership housed at the World Bank.
This public report is a synthesis of the lessons learned from the Demo Project to date, based on a series of internal reports provided to the e-Africa Commission during the course of the monitoring and evaluation process. It was prepared by Glen Farrell, Shafika Isaacs and Michael Trucano and published in September 2007.
The report is available for download from COL's or infoDev's website.
www.col.org/newsreleases
www.col.org/consultancies
www.infodev.org
SURVEY OF ICT AND EDUCATION IN AFRICA
infoDev has also released results from a landmark Survey of ICT and Education in Africa, which gathers the most relevant and useful information on ICTs in education activities in Africa. A research team co-ordinated by COL documented major developments in each African country, related to technology use in education, to create the first consolidated look at this fast-changing sector.
The survey addressed three questions:
- How are ICTs currently being used in the education sector in Africa, and what are the strategies and policies related to this use?
- What are the common challenges and constraints faced by African countries in this area?
- What is actually happening on the ground, and to what extent are donors involved?
This publication is a first step in a larger, ongoing initiative to track developments in technology use in the education sector to help inform a variety of stakeholders as they seek solutions to educational and development challenges. It was prepared by Glen Farrell and Shafika Isaacs and published in October 2007.
The report is available for download from COL's or infoDev's website .
www.col.org/newsreleases
www.col.org/consultancies
www.infodev.org
SCHOOL SCIENCE PROGRAMMES ONLINE
Vega Science Trust is an online science channel that offers more than 150 science programmes through streaming video on the Internet. Backed by a British educational trust, the website provides content for students ranging from primary school to university as well as the general public. The programmes cover a wide variety of subjects such as magnetic resonance imaging, Mad Cow disease, careers in science and life in space. They are available 24 hours a day and can be viewed at no cost but can't be downloaded due to copyright restrictions. Users just need good Internet connectivity and sufficient bandwidth.
www.vega.org.uk