MALAYSIA HOSTS ASIA-PACIFIC FOCAL POINTS

 
COL hosted a meeting of its Focal Points from 17 Commonwealth countries in the Asia and Pacific regions in Malaysia in October. The Malaysia Ministry of Higher Education co-hosted the meeting, which was formally inaugurated by the Minister of Higher Education, Dato’  Seri Mohamed Khaled bin Nordin.

COL staff presented a draft of COL’s Three-year Plan for 2009-2012 for discussion, and the Focal Points made country presentations. There were also presentations about key programmes such as the Virtual University for Small States of the Commonwealth (VUSSC) and COL’s regional agency, the Commonwealth Educational Media Centre for Asia (CEMCA). For more details about CEMCA’s work, see “In Focus” on page 8.

COL’s Focal Points are individuals who act as COL’s primary contact for programme matters. Nominated by Ministers of Education in Commonwealth countries, the Focal Points interact with COL, co-ordinate with other government ministries, share information within their countries and keep the Minister of Education briefed about COL and its work. COL’s Focal Point network greatly facilitates dialogue between COL and stakeholders in Commonwealth countries as well as among countries themselves.

Along with previous meetings of Focal Points in Africa and the Caribbean, held earlier in 2008, this meeting provided COL with an excellent opportunity to gain input for its upcoming Three-year Plan 2009-2012. Among the findings from the Focal Points meetings:

• In the Caribbean, teacher development is the top priority, with technical and vocational education and training (TVET) being identified as another key area. They flagged gender as a crucial area of intervention, requested capacity building in all areas of technology-mediated learning and sought course materials in professional fields. The Virtual University for Small States of the Commonwealth has a prominent profile in the region.
• The African meeting reinforced COL’s focus on higher education, teacher development, Open Schooling, eLearning and open learning resources. Seven countries sought help with establishing open universities. COL should continue developing materials, and give greater support to research, capacity building and closer south-south linkages.
• The Pacific Focal Points asked for more capacity building in TVET and community media.
• Focal Points from Asia identified increasing access to higher education and more support for eLearning and Web 2.0 technologies as high priorities.
• Both the Asia and Pacific regions stressed the importance of training more teachers, bridging the growing digital divide, increasing quality assurance capacity and capitalising on open educational resources.

www.col.org/FocalPoints

VIRTUAL UNIVERSITY EXPANDS TRAINING, COURSE DEVELOPMENT

(L TO R) Mariyam Nadhira (Maldives), Dave F. Ponde (Antigua & Barbuda) and Rodney S. Jolicoeur (Seychelles) at the VUSSC Workshop in Exuma, Bahamas

The Virtual University for Small States of the Commonwealth (VUSSC) is moving forward with a new online training programme, another content development workshop and progress with an international accreditations framework. 

ONLINE TRAINING

The University of the West Indies (UWI) Open Campus has launched “Managing and Facilitating Online Instruction”, a five-unit online course on how to motivate and manage online students. Funded by COL in collaboration with the Commonwealth Secretariat, the course was offered to 23 educators from VUSSC member states.

The UWI course helps academics manage courses with multiple tutors, customise online courses and supervise online student activities and assessments. Participants will earn the UWI Open Campus Certified Online Instructor Certificate of Completion. 

BAHAMAS WORKSHOP

Twenty-three educators from 19 countries took part in the VUSSC training workshop in Exuma, Bahamas from 27 October to 12 November 2008. The workshop was co-hosted by the Bahamas Ministry of Education and the College of the Bahamas.

Primarily technical and vocational education and training (TVET) educators, the participants gained computer literacy skills and began to collaboratively develop learning materials for the building and construction industry. This was a particularly hard-working group who often had to be urged by hotel staff late at night to exit the meeting room and go to bed!

Workshop participants are continuing to collaborate on the development of course materials related to building and construction. The materials will be available on the COL website at www.col.org/vussc. 

TRANSNATIONAL QUALIFICATIONS FRAMEWORK

An important VUSSC priority is developing a widely recognised system of accreditation. The Transnational Qualifications Framework Management Committee, comprised of Mr. Kaylash Allgoo (Mauritius), Mr. Michael Bradshaw (Trinidad & Tobago), Mr. Franz Gertze (Namibia), Dr. Yvonette Marshall (Jamaica), Dr. Richard Wah (Fiji Islands) and Mr. Abdul Hannan Waheed (Maldives), held its first meeting in Singapore from 6-10 October 2008. The Management Committee developed a consultative document for the implementation of the Transnational Qualifications Framework (TQF) for VUSSC. The TQF will be available for application in any of the VUSSC member small states of the Commonwealth.

After being made available to VUSSC member states for their input, the document will be presented to the 17th triennial Conference of Commonwealth Education Ministers in June 2009.

You may find other references to “Transnational Qualifications Frameworks” or similar sounding initiatives. Please ensure that you are dealing with reputable governmental institutions and not privately created projects that have no official credibility. Accurate information on the TQF is posted on COL’s website at www.col.org/vussc. 

NEXT STEPS FOR VUSSC

The sixth VUSSC training workshop scheduled for Samoa in April 2009, will focus on creating course materials related to the maritime industry. VUSSC training is beginning to shift from these face-to-face workshops to online learning. As the cadre of VUSSC workshop graduates grows, there will be a need to expand their training with courses such as the UWI online instruction course. Online courses from accredited institutions in more participating VUSSC countries are expected to start in 2009.

As work continues with developing the Transnational Qualifications Framework, educational institutions in small states of the Commonwealth will begin to offer VUSSC courses through open and distance learning. This will include non-formal courses from a recognised national institution and formal courses leading to a diploma that will have approval from the country’s qualifications authority. All VUSSC courses will be approved by the national institutions and where appropriate, the national qualifications authority of the country offering the programme.
www.col.org/vussc

EXPANDING eLEARNING FOR INTERNATIONAL ORGANISATIONS

COL’s eLearning for International Organisations programme provides training and skills development to thousands of people around the globe through open and distance learning (ODL). COL helps international agencies solve training challenges with highly customised courses, usually supported by online one-on-one tutors.

This year more than 1,300 learners will take part in eLearning courses developed by COL. Meanwhile, COL is expanding its suite of eLearning courses and clients.

OPERATIONAL DATA MANAGEMENT

Sixty-five staff members from the United Nations High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) are taking part in this programme, which provides training in effective practices for collecting, organising, presenting and storing data for management information and results-based management. A blended learning initiative, “Operational Data Management for UNHCR” involves distance learning, a workshop and project work. The current cohort will finish the programme in mid-2009.

COL has also been commissioned by the Commonwealth Secretariat to develop a debt management eLearning programme.

WRITING SKILLS

Seeing the success of the “Writing Effectively for UNICEF” course customised for the India country office, the Bangladesh country office of UNICEF requested that a version be adapted for their country staff. The UNICEF course, which has reached 94 learners based in India and 30 in Bangladesh, is the first to serve the distinctive needs of country offices.

Following the positive launch of “The Online Writing Programme” developed for World Bank staff, COL has been contracted by the Inter-American Development Bank (IADB) to create a similar writing skills course for their staff. COL is tailoring the course for the IADB context; course delivery will begin in mid-2009.

“Our experience with the Writing Effectively programme over the past nine years has shown how customised courses with strong learner support can help solve training challenges of organisations with far-flung operations,” explained Ms. Angela Kwan, COL’s Learning Manager, International Organisations. “Now we’re expanding to other subject areas, with positive results.”
www.col.org/COLeLIO 

LIFELONG LEARNING FOR FARMERS EXPANDS IN SRI LANKA

 
COL President Sir John Daniel attended the launch of the Second L3 Farmers Programme in Sri Lanka where the focus is vegetable farming.

COL’s Lifelong Learning for Farmers (L3 Farmers) programme has expanded to a second region in Sri Lanka. Following the success of the launch in Weligatte in 2007, L3 Farmers was launched in Batticaloa in September 2008.

The primary aim of L3 Farmers is to help rural communities improve their livelihoods through self-directed learning by creating a partnership among farmers, information and communication technology (ICT) providers, educational institutions and banks. In India, where L3 Farmers was first introduced, the programme is community-based and driven by local self-help groups. The thrust in Sri Lanka is for national universities to implement L3 Farmers in villages of their choice. The former Vice-Chancellor of the Open University of Sri Lanka and recently named COL Fellow, Professor Uma Coomaraswamy, is playing an important co-ordinating role at the national level.

The Sri Lankan pilot project will involve five universities in five rural communities. The first pilot is being implemented by the University of Colombo in Weligatte where the livelihood source is based on tissue culture banana cultivation. A consortium including the University of Colombo, the Distance Education Modernisation Project, Eastern University, Indira Gandhi National Open University, Ruhuna University and the Open University of Sri Lanka has created a Certificate programme for farmers. The open and distance learning (ODL) programme, which focuses on improving knowledge and skills in agro-technology, is being offered to 70 farmers. It will be delivered in all three national languages (English, Sinhala and Tamil).
www.col.org/L3Farmers

NEWS FROM WIKIEDUCATOR

COMMUNITY COUNCIL ELECTED

Fifteen people have been elected to the first Wiki-Educator Open Community Council for two-year terms. The Council, which also includes 10 nominated members, will implement a community governance model for the WikiEducator project.
www.WikiEducator.org/
WikiEducator:Community_Council 

INDIA CHAPTER LAUNCHED

Dr. M.S. Swaminathan, father of the Green Revolution in India and named one of the most influential Asians of the century by Time magazine, officiated at the launch of the Indian Chapter of WikiEducator in November 2008.

“This pioneering initiative of the Commonwealth of Learning based on the principle of open and free access will mark the beginning of a new chapter in integrated eLearning with the traditional Indian educational value of considering knowledge as a common heritage,” Dr. Swaminathan said. “I am confident that the launch of WikiEducator in India will accelerate the progress of a literacy and knowledge revolution in the country.”

Dr. Swaminathan and Shri Jainder Singh IAS, Secretary, Department of Information Technology, Ministry of Communications and Information Technology formally launched the India Chapter at a function at the India International Centre in New Delhi. The event was organised by the Commonwealth Educational Media Centre for Asia (CEMCA) in association with Global Knowledge Partnership, OneWorld South Asia and Acharya Narendra Dev College.

WikiEducator has been providing educators with a platform to develop and share open educational resources since 2006. India has a committed community of WikiEducators; the India country page is one of the most visited country pages in WikiEducator. The India chapter will work collaboratively to put information in the Indian context and to make progress towards the goal of developing free teaching materials in support of all national curricula by 2015.

“The India chapter of WikiEducator serves as both an inspiration and a model for other countries to follow,” said Dr. Wayne Mackintosh, COL Education Specialist, eLearning and ICT Policy. “We are especially pleased that they have a strong focus on multilingualism to ensure that open educational resources are truly accessible.”
www.WikiEducator.org/India

BUILDING LEGISLATIVE DRAFTING CAPACITY IN THE SOUTH PACIFIC

The University of the South Pacific (USP) School of Law had a record enrolment of 28 students in its Professional Diploma in Legislative Drafting programme in 2008. Developed by COL and the Commonwealth Secretariat, the programme is helping to address the shortage of expertise in legislative drafting in many Commonwealth countries. The distance education course serves as an introduction to drafting and an upgrade for practising professionals.

The USP students were located in eight South Pacific countries; 15 of them (eight men and seven women) were sponsored by COL. They received self-instructional reading materials and exercises on a CD, which was supplemented by regular online tutorials and a one-day tutorial at the USP Suva campus. There is growing interest in the importance of legislative drafting as a tool for strengthening governance in the region.
The Diploma in Legislative Drafting Programme is also offered by Athabasca University in Canada and the National Open University of Nigeria.
www.col.org/LegislativeDrafting 

ODL FOR GOVERNANCE 

COL is working with non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and other local groups in developing countries around the world to strengthen the skills and knowledge of elected government officials. Here’s an update from two regions:

• Bangladesh: COL is supporting local NGO Rupantar in the development of training modules for local government representatives. The materials, which include print materials supplemented by folk songs and drama on DVD, are being piloted in government offices in southwest Bangladesh.

• Papua New Guinea: In partnership with the University of Papua New Guinea, COL has begun to implement training to district, local and village government officials as well as civil society. The aim is to encourage greater transparency and accountability in an environment where roles and responsibilities have been increased in the movement toward greater decentralisation. 

LETTERS TO THE NEXT PRESIDENT FROM HIGHER EDUCATION LEADERS

For their September-October 2008 issue, just prior to the U.S. election, Change: The Magazine of Higher Learning, invited seven higher education leaders, including the US Secretary of Education, the President of the American Council on Education and the President of COL, Sir John Daniel, to address an open letter to the next President of the United States. Sir John’s letter offers suggestions to strengthen higher education including leading the development of international rules of interaction, avoiding a federal government takeover of the accreditation system, taking “robust action” to suppress degree mills and helping to strengthen universities in the developing world.

www.col.org/NextPresidentUS
www.changemag.org

SUPPORTING ODL IN MALAYSIA 

COL has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Open University Malaysia (OUM) that enables OUM to tap COL’s expertise for the delivery of its online Master of Instruction Design and Technology (MIDT) programme. The Memorandum of Understanding was signed by COL President Sir John Daniel and OUM’s President and Vice Chancellor Tan Sri Anuwar Ali, who was named an Honorary Fellow of COL in 2008. COL and OUM will collaborate on developing instructional resources, teaching MIDT courses, adopt technological advancements made by either party and collaborate on research.

“OUM is a leader in Asia in the introduction of eLearning to open university activities,” said COL President Sir John Daniel. “Integrating eLearning across education is a priority for COL so this is a natural partnership.”
www.oum.edu.my