OPENING DOORS FOR OPEN SCHOOLS
Just two years after it was formed, the Commonwealth Open Schools Association (COMOSA) is making significant strides in expanding the availability and quality of open schooling across the Commonwealth. In recent months, COMOSA has established a new online community and released its first research report.
OPENSCHOOLINGCONNECT
A new online community that brings together open schooling practitioners and stakeholders has already attracted more than 100 members. Billed as “a community for educators interested in using technology to increase access to quality education”, OpenSchoolingConnect allows members to engage in discussions, post videos and photos, share resources and promote events. The online community emerged as a result of the “OER for Open Schools” programme (described in detail in “In Focus” on page 8).
Participation in OpenSchoolingConnect is by invitation. For more information, contact Ms. Frances Ferreira, COL Education Specialist, Open Schooling, at Fferreira.
MARRYING PRACTICAL AND ACADEMIC EDUCATION
One of the research priorities identified at the first COMOSA annual general meeting in 2010 was integrating vocational education in open schools. There is a growing belief that open schools can offer increased value and relevance to learners by providing them with transferable skills that employers need along with academic learning.
Five COMOSA members offered to participate in a research project on “Integrating Vocational Education with General Education in Open Schools”, supported by a consultant provided by COL. Research was conducted between May and August 2011, drawing upon the experience of five open schools:
- Bangladesh Open University,
- Botswana College of Open and Distance Learning (BOCODOL),
- Institute for Adult Education, Tanzania,
- National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS), India, and
- National Open School of Trinidad & Tobago.
A four-day COMOSA workshop in Gaborone, Botswana in July 2011 focused on the integration of vocational and academic education in open schools.
The report outlines the challenges and opportunities related to combining skills-related and general education in open schools. It also provides a Framework for Integrating Vocational Education with Academic Education in Open Schools.
The full report: www.comosa.org
SOLOMON ISLANDS ADOPTS NATIONAL ODL POLICY
The Solomon Islands has approved a new Strategic Framework for Distance Education and Flexible Learning. Developed with support from COL, the new national open and distance learning (ODL) policy focuses on two key areas: teacher education and post-basic education (including technical and vocational education and training). It is based on a vision, “that all Solomon Islands education and training providers, and those advising them, should consider distance education and flexible learning approaches when they are planning and designing new programmes”.
PROFILE: WAWASAN OPEN UNIVERSITY
In this occasional series, Connections highlights open universities around the Commonwealth. In this issue, a new and rapidly growing higher education institution in Malaysia – Wawasan Open University.
Just five years old, Wawasan Open University is the only private, non-profit open learning university in Malaysia. It is supported extensively by the Wawasan Education Foundation, a charitable organisation dedicated to providing lifelong education to the public.
Wawasan Open University started its inaugural academic term in January 2007. Its administrative headquarters and main campus are located in the heritage-listed Homestead Mansion in Penang. The university’s founding CEO and Vice Chancellor was Tan Sri Emeritus Professor Gajaraj Dhanarajan, who was COL’s second President from 1995–2004. Professor Dr. Wong Tat Meng succeeded Dr. Dhanarajan as CEO and Vice Chancellor of Wawasan in 2009.
Wawasan offers graduate certificate, graduate diploma, Bachelor’s degree and Masters programmes. The university’s four schools – the School of Business and Administration, School of Science and Technology, School of Foundation and Liberal Studies and the School of Education, Languages and Communications – currently offer 38 programmes. The university’s programmes are certified by the Malaysian Qualifications Agency. Programmes and courses are subject to internal and external quality assurance monitoring.
As an open university, Wawasan provides anywhere, anytime self-paced learning. Content is provided to learners in various forms – online, by phone, teleconferencing, podcasts and traditional print-based formats. Students may attend weekend tutorial sessions and meet instructors face-to-face at seven regional learning centres located in key cities. Learner support is also provided through WawasanLearn, a learning management system that connects students, tutors and administrators.
Today more than 8,000 students are enrolled at Wawasan Open University, a rapidly emerging force in ODL in Asia.
www.wou.edu.my
TASK FORCE ON QA IN ELEARNING
UNESCO and the European Association of Distance Teaching Universities (EADTU) convened a Global Task Force on Quality Assurance in eLearning, which met for the first time at UNESCO headquarters in Paris, France in June. The Task Force includes representation from COL, the African Council for Distance Education, the Asian Association of Open Universities, the Latin American and Caribbean Institute for Quality in Distance Education (CALED) and UNESCO.
The Task Force aims to present the latest developments in quality assurance in eLearning and create opportunities for regional enhancement by sharing latest approaches and developments. Members have agreed to submit a report about quality assurance issues related to eLearning by the end of 2012.
http://tinyurl.com/ICDE-News
Attending the Quality Assurance Meeting in Paris In June were: (Back Row, From Left) George Ubachs (EADTU), Keith Williams (The Open University UK), Santiago Acosta (CALED), Piet Henderikx (EADTU), Sir John Daniel (COL); (Front Row, From Left) Zeynep Varoglu (UNESCO), Stamenka Uvalić Trumbić(UNESCO), Wong Tat Meng (AAOU).