PACIFIC TAKES THE LEAD IN LEARNING 4CONTENT

TOP: BERNARD RAPASIA, SOLOMON ISLANDS CHIEF EDUCATION OFFICER, AT THE FIRST LEARNING4CONTENT WORKSHOP

BOTTOM: PARTICIPANTS AT THE LEARNING4CONTENT WORKSHOP IN PORT MORESBY, PAPUA NEW GUINEA

COL's new Learning4Content initiative is rapidly building capacity in wiki skills for content editing through a number of online and face-to-face workshops. It's estimated that more than 500 people have participated in workshops in the first half of 2008. In return, participants are asked to contribute one learning resource to help build COL's library of free learning materials.

The Pacific is leading the way for Learning4Content, with the first workshop taking place in the Solomon Islands in February 2008. The country's Ministry of Education and Human Resource Development provided valuable support, funding travel costs for the 17 participants and supplying a computer lab for the workshop. The three-day workshop was also attended by the Chief Education Officer, Mr. Bernard Rapasia, who is COL's Focal Point for the Solomon Islands.

"Technology provides a revolutionary means to connect and empower education professionals in the Pacific, not only between head offices in the main towns, but right down to the level of teachers and educators working in community schools and distance learning centres in remote and rural areas, thanks to the slow but steady improvement in connectivity," said Mr. David Leeming, a consultant who facilitated the workshop in Honaria, Solomon Islands. "This workshop will have a huge impact, as historically it has been very difficult and expensive to pool resources and collaborate in the Pacific, owing to the small scales, scattered populations and high travel costs. Curriculum managers have been quick to realise the potential for developing and converting curriculum materials into formats for electronic delivery and localising resources from other regions."

The College of Flexible Open and Distance Education in Port Moresby, Papua New Guinea hosted the second face-to-face Learning4Content workshop in March 2008. The country's Education Secretary, Dr. Joseph Bagaleo, opened the workshop, which attracted 21 participants. Also attending was the Assistant Secretary and COL Focal Point, Mr. Ouka Lavaki.

Several online Learning4Content workshops have also taken place. Educators from more than 30 countries participated in the first online workshop hosted by COL Education Specialist and WikiEducator founder, Dr. Wayne Mackintosh. Mr. Jibril Touzi of Cameroon and Mr. Nicholas Kimolo of Kenya led a bilingual (English and French) online session in conjunction with the Free Software and Open Source Foundation for Africa (FOSSFA) conference in Dakar, Senegal.

"I am inspired by WikiEducators from all corners of the world who are committed to the core value and purpose of education - that is, to share knowledge freely," said Dr. Mackintosh.

An important aspect of Learning4Content is the commitment to addressing the gender disparity in ICT expertise in the developing world. Organisers are working to ensure at least half of the workshops are dedicated to building capacity among women.

Learning4Content is supported by COL and The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation. An honorarium of $US1,000 is available for each workshop to support the costs of facilitation and/or hosting. The project's objective is to train at least 2,500 educators who will in turn contribute free content lessons to be used in secondary schools, vocational education and post-secondary institutions.

www.WikiEducator.org/Learning4Content

FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS ABOUT GENDER

COL has adopted gender mainstreaming as an organisational strategy to ensure that gender equality is considered an integral part of all its policies and programmes. It is more than adding a "women's component" or even a "gender equality component" into an existing initiative, activity or organisational process. Mainstreaming goes beyond increasing girl's/women's participation; it means that the experience, knowledge and interests of girls/women and boys/men are central to COL's Learning for Development agenda.

WHAT IS MEANT BY "GENDER"?

Gender refers to the economic, social and cultural attributes and opportunities which determine what is expected, allowed and valued in a woman/man and girl/boy. Gender roles are learned through socialisation processes; they are not fixed but are changeable. Perspectives and practices relating to gender are reinforced in society through:

• educational, political and economic systems,

• legislation, and

• culture, religion and traditions.

WHAT IS THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN GENDER BALANCE, GENDER EQUALITY AND GENDER EQUITY? AND WHY IS GENDER EQUALITY IMPORTANT?

Gender balance is primarily a matter of balancing numbers. It is about the equal participation of women and men in any activity. Gender equality relates to the equal rights, responsibilities and opportunities of women and men, girls and boys. Equality does not mean that women and men will become the same; rather it is about equal opportunities and rights for all and not treating everyone as though they have identical interests and needs. Gender equity goes one step further. It refers to structural power relations including control over resources in society and may include taking positive or affirmative action to ensure that policies and programmes benefit women/girls and men/boys equally.

Equality between women and men is seen both as a human rights issue and as a precondition for, and indicator of, sustainable people-centred development.

WHAT DOES GENDER AND DEVELOPMENT ENCOMPASS?

Gender and development focuses on the social, economic, political and cultural forces that determine how women and men participate in, benefit from, and control differently. This approach shifts the focus from women as a group to the socially determined relations between men and women.

WHAT IS "GENDER MAINSTREAMING"?

Gender mainstreaming is the process of assessing the implications for women and men of any planned action. It is a strategy for making the concerns and experiences of women as well as of men an integral part of the design, implementation, monitoring and evaluation of policies and programmes in all political, economic and societal spheres, so that women and men benefit equally, and inequality is not perpetuated.

HOW DOES COL APPROACH GENDER?

For COL, gender equality is a cross-cutting corporate goal which requires that both women's and men's views, interests and needs shape its programmes, organisational policies and processes. COL appreciates that there is a diversity of regional and national experience with respect to achieving gender equality across the Commonwealth.
www.col.org/gender

COL HOSTS PAKISTAN STUDY TOUR

 
MEMBERS OF THE STUDY TOUR OF PAKISTAN VICE-CHANCELLORS AND REGISTRARS ATTEND A RECEPTION IN THEIR HONOUR
IN VANCOUVER

In May 2008, COL organised a study tour for 13 vice-chancellors and registrars of Pakistan universities. The tour began in Vancouver with one week of presentations by Canadian education experts. The topics covered included university governance and management; academic innovation; information and communication technology policy; and application and research. The second week was spent visiting five Canadian universities.

This international tour is one of several funded by Pakistan's Higher Education Commission so their educators and administrators can gain improved knowledge about best practices.

L3 FARMERS IN SRI LANKA

Dr. Krishna Alluri, COL Education Specialist, Food Security and Environment
Professor Uma Coomaraswamy, COL Consultant, L3 Farmer Project, Sri Lanka
Professor Kshanika Hirimburegama, University of Colombo

COL's Lifelong Learning for Farmers (L3 Farmers) programme strengthens the competency of farming communities to identify and make select changes for improving their livelihoods that are financially viable, economically feasible and socially acceptable. The experience of L3 Farmers in Tamil Nadu, India highlighted two critical success factors. One is the importance of developing partnerships between farming communities and members of the agricultural commodity value chain including educational institutions, information and communication technology centres, community-based organisations and financial institutions. The second success factor is encouraging and enabling farming communities to analyse their own situations and to take steps to work together with all the partners to gain access to self-directed learning, skills and loans.

Initiated in partnership with the Open University of Sri Lanka, L3 Farmers is receiving support at several levels including:

• the national level (the Presidential Secretariat, ministries, government departments, University Grants Commission, Council for Agriculture and Research Policy and provincial ministries/departments), 

• the institutional level (conventional  universities, agricultural research and development institutes, and science and technology institutions), 

• non-governmental organisations (NGOs), and

• banks.

The thrust in Sri Lanka is to gain strong government support for national universities to implement the initiatives in the villages of their choice, making this L3 Farmer model uniquely institution-based.

The livelihood sources in Sri Lanka include cattle rearing, tissue culture banana cultivation, chili cultivation and mushroom farming. The information sought by the farmers is developed in collaboration with the consortium members and input from the farming communities. Content is developed in a self-learning format and delivered in forms that are appropriate to the communities and circumstances. The learning materials are also posted on the WikiEducator website.

Introduced in 2007, the Weligatta pilot project in Sri Lanka has already demonstrated many positive outcomes:

• Knowledge is driving a better socio-economy in the farming community. 

• Income generated by farmers has increased substantially, which has had a direct impact on their livelihoods. 

• The culture is increasingly self-reliant. 

• Employment opportunities for rural youth in the laboratory and in the field have increased. 

• There is a marked increase in demand for tissue cultured banana plants across the country.

• The Government of Sri Lanka is recognising L3 Farmers as a viable project that could complement the President's "Gama Neguma" (village development) programme.

"This is a unique project demonstrating how academic, government, international and non-state organisations can work together to help farmers enhance their productivity," said Professor Gamini Samaranayake, Chairman of Sri Lanka's University Grants Commission. "I believe this particular L3 Farmers project will be an ideal example of how entrepreneurial culture could be fostered amongst our academics. I hope it will motivate other academic institutions to initiate development-oriented projects that address problems related to regional development. This kind of culture should be sufficiently incorporated in the undergraduate curricula that young graduates could be encouraged to take up national responsibilities through such innovative approaches."

COL INTRODUCES NEW eLEARNING PROGRAMMES

COL has added two new courses to its suite of Writing Effectively programmes. The courses have been developed for the UNICEF India country office and the UN's Office of Internal Oversight Services.

COL's eLearning for International Organisations team tailored the core Writing Effectively course to meet the specific needs of the UNICEF India country office. The course is online on UNICEF India's Intranet, supplemented by CD-ROMs. Approximately 100 staff members will begin the course in July 2008.

The Auditing division of the Office of Internal Oversight Services (OIOS) required a highly specialised writing programme to help auditors master the process of planning, writing and revising an audit report that effectively communicates research and audit findings to targeted readers. COL has developed a print-based Writing Audit Reports course that is being rolled out to about 120 OIOS auditors. To build incentive for staff to complete the course, it qualifies for continuing professional development credit from the Institute of Internal Auditors.

Since the first Writing Effectively programme was introduced to the UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) in 2000, COL has developed and delivered eight versions of the course for international organisations. COL helps these organisations solve training challenges by employing the power of customised eLearning courses.

"We're seeing a growing recognition of the value of eLearning in the workplace because of the flexibility, accessibility and cost-effectiveness," explained Ms. Angela Kwan, COL's Learning Manager, International Organisations. "As we expand our partnerships with international organisations, we are providing quality professional development in developing countries around the world."

COL's Effective Writing programme follows best practices in open and distance learning (ODL), especially in terms of learner support. Learners who take part in the Effective Writing courses receive personalised coaching from an online tutor, which is particularly important to overcome the isolation that can be felt by ODL learners.

www.col.org/COLeIO

COLLaGE SHARES APPROACHES TO GOOD GOVERNANCE

COL has created COL Leadership and Governance Empowerment (COLLaGE), an online community for sharing insights, ideas, resources and approaches related to governance. The objective is to connect the many non-governmental organisations (NGOs), learning institutions and ministries engaged in good governance initiatives with a global community of peers. COLLaGE was officially launched with an inaugural presentation by COL's President Sir John Daniel in May 2008.

"Good governance is an essential foundation for developing organisational capacity and accountability," Sir John said. "COLLaGE will enable organisations to share their experiences and case studies of good practice related to governance, while also facilitating the collaborative design and development of quality ODL materials, tools and models."

COLLaGE uses a facilitated presentation format. Sir John was the first presenter, and discussed the importance of good governance and the potential of ODL for building individual and organisational capacity. Future presenters will address particular challenges pertaining to good governance, giving regional examples and showcasing successful practices in terms of materials, approaches, systems and sustainable models.

An important goal for COLLaGE is empowering women and engaging semi-literate and illiterate people (who comprise the largest proportion of the population in many of COL's partner countries). It will also be useful to identify opportunities for collaborative work in materials development through open educational resources on WikiEducator's WikiGovernance area.

To join COLLaGE, register at:
http://groups.google.com/group/collage-community.

COL-PROTEIN SEEKS PROPOSALS

COL has announced a call for proposals for its Poverty Reduction Outcomes Through Education Innovations and Networks (COL-PROTEIN) programme. COL-PROTEIN supports innovative uses of open and distance learning (ODL) to alleviate poverty in rural areas.

COL invites proposals that highlight innovative use of technology to support learning and skills-building aimed at reducing poverty in developing countries. Diverse not-for-profit groups, including government and non-government, and community-based organisations working at the grassroots, are encouraged to apply.

Four proposals from developing Commonwealth countries will be funded in 2008-2009. Successful applicants will receive expert assistance in the area of ODL at a cost and financial help of up to CDN $18,000.

The deadline for applications is 15 August 2008. For more information about eligibility, the application process and proposal evaluation criteria, go to www.col.org/protein.

WIKI-EDUCATOR HOSTS COLLABORATIVE VIDEO TEST

COL's WikiEducator is the first test site for an open source collaborative video editing environment. The project is a collaboration of the Wikimedia Foundation and Kaltura, Inc. Visitors to WikiEducator.org can collaboratively create video by uploading, editing and re-mixing videos.

"I am proud that WikiEducator can support the testing of this cutting-edge innovation for education in collaboration with the free knowledge community," said Dr. Wayne Mackintosh, COL Education Specialist, eLearning and ICT Policy, and founder of the WikiEducator project: "Social networking and collaborative editing of rich media will unleash untapped potential for learning across our planet."

www.WikiEducator.org/Help:Collaborative_video

CURBING THE GROWTH OF DEGREE MILLS

COL President Sir John Daniel was invited to join a steering committee organised by the U.S. Council for Higher Education Accreditation and UNESCO to explore how to impede the growth of "degree mills" - disreputable distance education institutions that sell bogus degrees. The meeting in March 2008 was also attended by educators from around the world who share a concern about the threat of these degree mills to the credibility of open and distance learning. The presentations focussed on the dangers of these institutions, approaches to curb them and the need for governments to act immediately. The group plans to issue an action statement after a follow-up meeting in Paris in November.

For more about degree mills, see the Editorial on page 3.

INDIA'S HC VISITS COL

HIS EXCELLENCY R. L. NARAYAN, INDIA'S HIGH COMMISSIONER TO CANADA, (MIDDLE) VISITED WITH PRESIDENT SIR JOHN DANIEL AND VICE PRESIDENT PROFESSOR ASHA KANWAR AT COL'S VANCOUVER OFFICE EARLIER THIS YEAR

OPEN SCHOOLING HANDBOOK

OPEN SCHOOLING EXPERTS FROM BOTSWANA, CANADA, INDIA, NAMIBIA, NEW ZEALAND AND THE U.K. MET AT COL'S OFFICE IN VANCOUVER IN FEBRUARY TO DEVELOP A HANDBOOK FOR MANAGERS OF OPEN SCHOOLS. FOR MORE DETAILS, SEE "IN FOCUS" ON PAGE 8.

CARIBBEAN TVET GRADUATES

TWENTY LEARNERS FROM GRENADA HAVE COMPLETED THE DIPLOMA IN TVET OFFERED JOINTLY BY COL AND THE UNIVERSITY OF TECHNOLOGY, JAMAICA (UTECH). THIS IS THE THIRD GROUP TO GRADUATE FROM THE DISTANCE EDUCATION PROGRAMME, WHICH BUILDS CAPACITY AMONG TVET INSTRUCTORS
IN THE CARIBBEAN.