Many recent consultancy reports commissioned by COL are available from this page.
(please see note below)
Using Mobile Technology for Learner Support in Open Schooling: EUROPE. prepared by Cambridge Distance Education Consultancy, February 2009
Using Mobile Technology for Learner Support in Open Schooling: DEVELOPING COUNTRIES. prepared by Dr. Alice Barlow-Zambodla and Ms. Fatima Adams, October 2008
COL Quality Assurance Workshop Report, prepared by Ephraim Mhlanga (SAIDE), 8 October 2008.
Women's Empowerment at the Local Level (WELL) - a study undertaken in the state of Uttarakhand , a study prepared by Dr. Anita Dighe, 22 September 2008.
Report on the Training Consultancy to build Capacity of ODL Practitioners in the area of Design, Development and Management of Distance Education Study Materials in Lesotho , 25 August to 5 September 2008. Prepared by Sonja van Rooy, September 2008.
Technology-Mediated Open and Distance Education for Agricultural Education and Improved Livelihoods in Sub-Saharan Africa , Consultant's Report edited by Krishna Alluri and Rainer Zachmann, 2008.
Structural Framework for Higher Education Open and Distance Learning in Papua New Guinea , Consultant's Report prepared by Dominique A.M.X. Abrioux, January 2008.
Consultancy for Conducting Workshop with IGNOU and Editing the Modules Developed in the Workshop , Consultant's Report prepared by Som Naidu, 2008.
A Study of the Development of the State Open Universities in India, Consultant's Report, prepared by T. Rajagopalan, 2007.
Report of the Visitation Panel to the University of Ghana , December 2007.
Open Schooling for Secondary & Higher Secondary Education: Costs and Effectiveness in India and Namibia Prepared by Greville Rumble and Badri N. Koul, 2007.
Survey of ICT and Education in Africa, Volume 2: 53 Country Reports These short reports provide general overviews of current activities and issues related to ICT use in education in individual African countries. Prepared by Glen Farrell, Shafika Isaacs and Michael Trucano, December 2007.
Survey of ICT and Education in Africa: A Summary Report, Based on 53 Country Surveys. This project seeks to gather together in a single resource the most relevant and useful information on ICT in education activities in Africa. Prepared by Glen Farrell and Shafika Isaacs, October 2007.
Commonwealth of Learning Capacity Building - Workshop: Developing Digital Content: Evaluation of a workshop facilitated by Mindset Schooling, 3-14 September 2007.
The NEPAD e-Schools Demonstration Project: A Work in Progress. A Public Report released by infoDev and the Commonwealth of Learning that highlights the lessons learned from their monitoring and evaluation (M&E) of the first "demonstration" phase of the ambitious NEPAD e-Schools project, a multi-country, multi-stakeholder, continental initiative to impart ICT skills to young Africans and to use ICT to improve the provision of education in schools. Prepared by Glen Farrell, Shafika Isaacs and Michael Trucano, September 2007.
Institutional Trial Quality Audit of the University of South Africa (UNISA), August 2007.
Boys' Underachievement in Education: An Exploration in Selected Commonwealth Countries. A report published by the Commonwealth of Learning and the Commonwealth Secretariat by Jyotsna Jha and Fatimah Kelleher, December 2006.
Higher Education Crossing Borders: A Guide to the Implications of the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) for Cross-border Education. A report prepared for the Commonwealth of Learning and UNESCO by Dr. Jane Knight, September 2006.
Evaluation of the 2003-2006 Commonwealth of Learning Strategic Plan . Prepared by Patrick Spaven, Spaven Research & Evaluation, Brighton & Hove, United Kingdom. March, 2006.
Strategic Issues in Single- and Dual-mode Distance Education: The Organizational Blending of Two Canadian Distance Universities. Prepared by Dominique A.M.X. Abrioux, President Emeritus and Professor, Centre for Distance Education, Athabasca University, Canada. 2006
Factors for Success in Dual Mode Institutions . Prepared by Andrea Hope, Associate Academic Vice-President, Hong Kong Shue Yan College, China. 2006
The Art of the Possible: issues of learner support in open and distance learning in low income countries. Report prepared by the
International Research Foundation for Open Learning (IRFOL)
for the Commonwealth of Learning (COL). Authors: Charlotte Creed, Terry Allsop, Roger Mills, Ros Morpeth. March 2005 (293 Kb Acrobat PDF download)
Education in Sierra Leone, with Particular Reference to Open and Distance Learning and Information and Communication Technologies . Prepared by A.M. Alghali, Edward D.A. Turay, Ekundayo J.D. Thompson, and Joseph B.A. Kandeh. This work was undertaken by the consultants on behalf of the Commonwealth of Learning for presentation at a national forum in Freetown, Sierra Leone, February 2005. (390 Kb Acrobat PDF download)
Evaluation Report : COL-African Virtual University E-learning Workshop, August 2004, Nairobi, Kenya. Prepared by Catherine C. Dunlop, Ph.D., Director, Research and Evaluation Unit, Continuing Studies, Simon Fraser University , October 2004. (550 Kb Acrobat PDF download)
Evaluation Report, Executive Summary and Highlights : Third Pan-Commonwealth Forum on Open Learning (PCF3), 4-8 July 2004, Dunedin, New Zealand. Prepared by Catherine C. Dunlop, Ph.D., Director, Research and Evaluation Unit, Continuing Studies, Simon Fraser University, August 2004. (225 Kb Acrobat PDF download)
ICT and Literacy: Who benefits? - Experience from Zambia and India. Final report on the COL Literacy Project (COLLIT). With funding from the British Department for International Development, COL engaged community learning centres and communications technologies to support adult literacy development programmes in selected Commonwealth countries. Edited by Dr. Glen Farrell, September 2004.
Towards a Strategy on Developing African Teacher Capabilities in the Use of Information and Communication Technology - a study commissioned by SchoolNet Africa in partnership with the Commonwealth of Learning, the International Institute for Communication and Development and the Open Society Initiative of Southern Africa, October 2004
Lifelong learning for farmers (L3Farmers) - A report and recommendations to the Commonwealth of Learning on open and distance lifelong learning for smallholder farmers and agricultural communities. Prepared by Colin Latchem, Ajit Maru and Krishna Alluri, October 2004.
LMS Evaluation Tool User Guide - A written guide to the software tool for evaluating Learning Management Systems (LMSs). Commissioned by the Commonwealth of Learning. 3waynet Inc., August 2004.
Distance education and open learning in Sub-Saharan Africa: Criteria and conditions for quality and critical success factors (643 Kb Acrobat PDF download, 103 pages)
and
Costing distance education and open learning in Sub-Saharan Africa(605 Kb Acrobat PDF download, 91 pages)
Both of these "Surveys of policy and practice", published in 2004, were conducted on behalf of COL by the South African Institute for Distance Education (SAIDE) as part of COL's partnership agreement with the Association for the Development of Education in Africa (ADEA) Working Group on Distance Education and Open Learning. The first report identifies criteria and conditions for quality and critical success factors and the second provides a costing tool. Both reports feature case studies and follow on an early COL-SAIDE report: Distance education and open learning in Sub-Saharan Africa - A literature survey on policy and practice(2002) (788 Kb Acrobat PDF download, 153 pages).
The Role of Transnational, Private, and For-Profit Provision in Meeting Global Demand for Tertiary Education: Mapping, Regulation and Impact. A summary report commissioned by COL and UNESCO. Prepared by Professor Robin Middlehurst and Steve Woodfield of the Centre for Policy and Change in Tertiary Education, University of Surrey, United Kingdom, October 2003
A Virtual University for Small States of the Commonwealth . Final report, prepared by Dr. Glen Farrell, July 2003, and presented to Commonwealth Education Ministers in October 2003
COL LMS Open Source : This document describes the findings of a survey-style evaluation of Open Source Learning Management System Software commissioned by the Commonwealth of Learning from 3waynet Inc., June 2003
COL Mid-term Evaluation, 2002 . An external panel commissioned by COL to undertake a review of all of its activities at the mid-point of the current Three-year Plan (2000 - 2003) completed its evaluation and reported its findings in October 2002.
Best Practice in Education Portals : A research document prepared for the Commonwealth of Learning and SchoolNet Africa by Neil Butcher, South African Institute for Distance Education (SAIDE), Braamfontein, South Africa, October 2002
Training Impact Study . Conducted by Dr Fred Lockwood (Open University, U.K.) and Associate Professor Colin Latchem, (Consultant, Australia), 2002
School Networking in the Pacific Island States: An environmental scan and plan for the establishment of schoolnets for the Pacific island states . Prepared by Denis Brandjes, Johannesburg, South Africa, 2002.
Evaluation Report of the Course for Distance Education Policy-Makers in Southern Africa . Prepared by Professor Cisco Magagula, Swaziland, 2002.
Case Studies of Non-Formal Education by Distance and Open Learning
Edited by Professor Richard Siaciwena, Directorate of Distance Education, The University of Zambia. The Commonwealth of Learning and the Department for International Development, UK, 2000
The Use of Information and Communications Technology (ICT) in Learning and Distance Education - selected Commonwealth counties
COL International/Intelecon Research, 2000
Diffusion of Appropriate Educational Technology in Open and Distance Learning in Developing Commonwealth Countries
Prepared by Professor Roy Williams, August 2000
The use of Public Broadcasting in the Caribbean for Open/Distance Learning: Feasibility study report
Prepared by Betty Mitchell and Krishnapillai Murugan, May 2000
Knowledge Management Roundtable, report and proposals for action
Prepared by Dr. Keith Harry (facilitator), December 1999
Inventory and report on teacher education materials and programmes in the Commonwealth Caribbean
Prepared by Ms. Christine Marrett and Dr. Claudia Harvey, September 1998
Distance education in the Seychelles: Future directions
Prepared by Dr. David Murphy and Professor Rob Walker, February 1998
Survey of current status of distance education in Cameroon
Prepared by Professor N.K. Pecku, February 1998
The cost effectiveness of distance education for primary teacher training
Prepared by Dr. Hilary Perraton, International Research Foundation for Open Learning, 1997
Exploration of Strategies to Meet the Needs of the Disabled in India
Prepared by Professor P.R. Ramanujam, Staff Training & Research Institute of Distance Education (STRIDE), Indira Gandhi National Open University, 1997.
The use of distance education in non-formal education
Prepared by Professor Tony Dodds, International Extension College, March 1996
Report of the Training Consultancy in Distance Education Course Development for the Pacific Region
Prepared by William D. Robertson and Dale L. Mattock, November 1990.
Please note:
While these studies were commissioned by the Commonwealth of Learning, they have not necessarily been subjected to an editorial process. The views and opinions expressed therein are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect official policies or positions of the Commonwealth of Learning.