| The Commonwealth of Learning (COL) is calling for nominations for the second offering of its Excellence in Distance Education Awards (EDEA). The deadline for submissions is 31 January 2002. COL has mailed brochures to institutions throughout the Commonwealth and details are available on the COL web site. Details are also available upon request by sending an e-mail to info@col.org. From Professor Gajaraj Dhanarajan, President and CEO of COL: "By honouring excellence in distance education, The Commonwealth of Learning (COL) gives due recognition to remarkable achievements and endeavours to benefit those who seek to emulate examples of good practice in the field. The COL Excellence in Distance Education Awards (EDEA) acknowledge that excellence is being achieved at many points in the learning process: at the institutional level, in the development of learning materials and in terms of individual educator and student attainment." Winners in each of the EDEA categories will be announced and presentations will be made at the second Pan-Commonwealth Forum on Open Learning. The Forum will be held at in Durban, from 29 July to 2 August 2002, with the theme of "Open Learning: Transforming Education for Development". It is co-hosted by the National Association of Distance Education (NADEOSA), the South African Department of Education and COL, in collaboration with the Commonwealth's open and distance learning professional associations. "The EDEA and the Pan-Commonwealth Forum on Open Learning are set to become significant biennial events in COL's calendar in the next decade," says Dhanarajan, "I invite you to participate through a nomination or submission for an EDEA award, and/or by registering for the Forum." COL is an intergovernmental organisation created by Commonwealth Heads of Government to encourage the development and sharing of open learning and distance education knowledge, resources and technologies. |