LIFELONG LEARNING FOR MAURITIUS

Lifelong Learning for Women’s Empowerment, a version of COL’s Lifelong Learning for Farmers (L3F) programme, has been launched in Mauritius. COL is partnering with the National Productivity and Competitiveness Council (NPCC) to empower targeted groups at the grassroots level to improve their livelihood through lifelong learning.

NPCC is working with several partners, including the Ministry of Gender Equality, Child Development and Family Welfare. Learning materials have been produced to respond to the needs of women using different media. Partners are exploring the use of mobiles for learning and interactive DVDs. Learning materials on legal literacy for women and business development planning are being prepared with input from a consultant and the National Equity Fund. The University of Mauritius is preparing DVDs, and the NPCC is using a web-to-SMS platform to send text messages.

A website has been developed to host and make accessible all the learning materials produced by the partners.

DEVELOPING OER SKILLS IN GHANA

In partnership with the Regional Training and Research Institute for Distance and Open Learning (RETRIDOL) and the Centre for National Distance Learning and Open Schooling, COL hosted an OER workshop for 32 academics in Ghana. The three-day workshop at Koforidua Polytechnic introduced participants to the OER movement, web search techniques and copyright issues. Participants began creating open source content and conducted peer assessments. They now have the knowledge and skills to develop, share and use OER, which will increase their access to quality learning materials.

WOMEN LEADERS FOR HIGHER EDUCATION

COL hosted a leadership training workshop for female academics in West Africa in May. The workshop at the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN), co-hosted by the Regional Training and Research Institute for Open and Distance Learning (RETRIDOL), brought together 42 women from higher education institutions in West Africa. They discussed the special challenges of university administrator and particularly the obstacles faced by women as academic leaders.

“Very few women are in leadership positions in universities in West Africa,” explained Professor Madhulika Kaushik, COL Education Specialist, Higher Education. “In this workshop, we tried to address some of the barriers, which include socio-economic issues and leadership styles. Women are starting to find their place in leadership positions, and we’d like to encourage and support this important development.”

ENABLING eLEARNING IN ANTIGUA

Fourteen faculty and staff members at Antigua State College successfully completed a Virtual University for Small States of the Commonwealth (VUSSC) Moodle workshop in August 2011. Led by consultant Dr. Roger Powley with technical support from college IT personnel, the workshop provided training in using Moodle, an open source learning management system.

Participants were taught how to convert print-based course materials to online formats. They also learned about open educational resources (OER) and how to find appropriate academic materials online that that they could use when building their own courses. The participants left the workshop with a new set of skills and a good start on building their online course.

A SECOND CHANCE FOR PACIFIC ISLAND DROPOUTS

Open schooling offers significant potential as a strategy for “second chance” education in the Pacific Island countries, according to research commissioned by COL.

The desk study report, “Open Schooling as a Strategy for Second-Chance Education in the Pacific”, explores the nature and scale of school dropouts and out-of-school youth and adults in Pacific Island countries. It provides 11 individual country reports along with a combined overview of education issues and patterns.

The research revealed key findings, including:

• The incidence of dropouts is partly a result of students being pushed by a system that is not working for them.
• There must be a closer link between education and the world of work.
• Educational reform must be total, not piecemeal. This includes a reform of teacher education.
• Building on the Pacific’s long history of regionalism, regional co-operation and integration must continue to be the direction for development.
• With innovative teacher training that integrates material development, learner support and the use of information and communication technology, open schooling provides opportunities that can begin almost immediately anywhere and anytime.
• Several models of open schools should be considered, depending on local needs.

This study is the first of three phases in the Pacific Island Open Schooling Project, which is being implemented by a project team comprising the University of the South Pacific (USP) School of Education and regional USP campuses in collaboration with regional stakeholders and COL. The next two phases will see pilot open schools established in Kiribati and Tonga and region-wide expansion of open schools.

The new research report: www.col.org/OpenSchooling

ICT IN OPEN SCHOOLS: NO WOMEN ALLOWED?

In many countries, information and communication technology (ICT) remains a male-dominated domain. The impact is felt in many aspects of open schooling, from limited leadership opportunities for women to underserved female learners.

The role of genderand ICT in open schools was the focus of a workshop supported by COL and organised by the National Institute of Distance Education in Mozambique in July. Twelve delegates from nine countries in the Caribbean, South Asia and Sub-Saharan Africa took part in the three-day “Towards a Gender-Sensitive ICT Strategy for Open Schooling” workshop.

Workshop leaders used a participatory gender audit process that promoted dialogue about issues, best practices, challenges and opportunities. A draft Gender-Sensitive ICT Strategy has been circulated to workshop participants for comment and input. The strategy will then be available to guide open schools in introducing their own gender-sensitive ICT strategies.

www.comosa.org
www.col.org/OpenSchooling

GENDER eLEARNING FOR WORLD BANK STAFF

COL is expanding its professional development services for the World Bank with a new course for the Agricultural and Rural Development sector. At the World Bank’s request, COL’s eLearning for International Organisations (COL eLIO) team is developing a short eLearning course to help World Bank staff mainstream gender into project and programme design, implementation and evaluation.

COL eLIO is working with COL’s Learning for Farming programme in adapting the course from the Gender in Agriculture Source Book. The three-hour course, which will be available on CD-ROM to staff in the Agricultural and Rural Development sector, introduces learners to a breadth of gender issues affecting agricultural development and food security. It provides practical guidance on designing, developing and delivering gender-sensitive, inclusive and equitable projects and programmes in the context of the World Bank agricultural sub-sector.

The stand-alone eLearning course is designed with reflective activities and self-assessed quizzes. Upon successful completion of all three modules, learners will receive a certificate as evidence of participation.

Close to 1,000 World Bank staff members in 100 countries have completed the Report and Correspondence online writing course, which was also developed and delivered by COL. The average completion rate is about 80 per cent.

www.col.org/COLeLIO

GETTING TO KNOW VUSSC AND THE TQF

Heads of post-secondary institutions in Seychelles received an in-depth briefing about the Virtual University for Small States of the Commonwealth (VUSSC) and the Transnational Qualifications Framework (TQF) in August. Mr. John Lesperance, COL’s VUSSC Education Specialist, and Mr. Jean-Michel Domingue, CEO of the Seychelles Qualifications Authority’s (SQA), presented the TQF to leaders from seven institutions and encouraged them to offer courses developed by VUSSC.

“For some of the heads of institutions, this was the first time that they have heard of the TQF,” said Mr. Lesperance. “They were eager to learn more about the TQF, especially how it could benefit their institution.”

The Seychelles Institute of Technology is working with COL and the SQA to develop unit standards for the Linux for IT Managers course. The course will be validated by the SQA and approved by the TQF Management Committee before it is offered.

The TQF was developed by VUSSC to encourage the portability of quality assured qualifications and the mobility of learners among countries by providing a means for the comparison of national qualification frameworks.

www.vussc.org

COL’s President meets with Canada’s Governor General

His Excellency the Right Honourable David Johnston, C.C., C.M.M., C.O.M., C.D., Governor General and Commander-in-Chief of Canada (left), with COL’s President and CEO, Sir John Daniel, at Rideau Hall, Ottawa, on 4 October 2011. David Johnston, a former dean of law and university president, requested a meeting with Sir John to discuss “learning and innovation,” one of the three “pillars” of his mandate as the representative of Her Majesty The Queen in Canada. The other two pillars are “families and children” and “volunteerism and philanthropy”. 

Photo credit: MCpl Dany Veillette, Rideau Hall
© Her Majesty The Queen in Right of Canada represented by the Office of the Secretary to the Governor General (2011). Reproduced with permission from the Office of the Secretary to the Governor General

UPCOMING EVENTS

International Conference on Lifelong Learning 2011

Transforming Nations through Enculturation of Lifelong Learning

Co-organised by Ministry of Higher Education, Malaysia; Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia and Open University Malaysia

14–15 November 2011, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

http://iclll2011.oum.edu.my

Critical Women: Women as Agents of Change through Higher Education

Co-organised by the Association of Commonwealth Universities and the University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka

6–8 March 2012, Cinnamon Grand Hotel, Colombo, Sri Lanka

www.acu.ac.uk/conferences/gender_2012

2012 Distance Education Association of New Zealand Conference

Shift Happens - Resilience, Relevance and Reform

11–13 April 2012, Wellington, New Zealand

Deadline for abstracts: 16 December 2011

http://tinyurl.com/deanz2012