Learning for Sustainable Development

Commonwealth of Learning

15 hours ago

Pacific small states workshop on resilience in skills development for women.

The Commonwealth of Learning (COL) #COL4D and the Pacific Centre for Flexible and Open Learning for Development (PACFOLD) recently held a three-day regional workshop on Women, Skills and Resilient Livelihoods in the Small States of the Pacific in Nadi, Fiji. The event brought together 25 participants from nine countries – Fiji, Kiribati, Nauru, Papua New Guinea, Samoa, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu.

This workshop was a collaboration between COL and the Partnership for Open, Distance, and Flexible Learning in the Pacific project (funded by New Zealand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade) #MFATNZ and aimed at strengthening the capacities of both government and NGOs concerning conceptualisation and execution of training using open and distance learning related to various aspects such as human rights, financial literacy, e-commerce and leadership. The workshop also introduced the participants to certain design and creative thinking concepts.

Ms Annabelle Scotty, Director of Youth Affairs, Nauru, said, “The ideas emanating from the workshop are very interesting from both government and NGO sectors’ perspectives; we can use these for youth empowerment back home. I am thankful for the opportunity and looking forward to future collaborations.”

A key highlight of the workshop was a keynote lecture by Dr Sandeep Mysore from the University of New South Wales, Australia, on ‘Digital Social Innovations (DSI) for facilitating women and youth’s participation in the digital economy of the Small Island Developing States (SIDS)’. In addition to introducing the notion of digital social innovation, he shared case studies of impact sourcing and mentoring networks as illustrations of successful DSIs, especially in opening opportunities for women and youth residing in remote locations and facing multiple marginalisations.

Dr. Rajni Chand, Director PACFOLD, echoed the sentiment when she commented, “The workshop was a timely and worthwhile workshop. It was heartening to see representatives from all Commonwealth countries in the South Pacific representing governmental departments, NGOs, and persons with disabilities (PWD) in the same space. The opportunity to idealise the country needs, identifying the strategies to combat the problems, and working on project proposals in collaboration with COL that can improve the lives and livelihood of girls, women and PWD is one of the first of its kind in the region.”

COL’s Director: Skills, Dr Jyotsna Jha, said, “With the active and engaged participation of representatives from a cross-section of government, universities, and civil society, the workshop has contributed towards opening up potentials for collaborative approaches and creative skills development learning solutions for women and youth in the region sharing common concerns around gender and climate change.”

#Resilience #SkillsDevelopment #WomenEmpowerment #PacificSmallStates #PACFOLD #SustainableDevelopment #DigitalInnovation #YouthEmpowerment #GenderEquality #OpenDistanceLearning #SkillsForWork #EmpoweringWomen #ClimateResilience ... See MoreSee Less

Commonwealth of Learning

2 days ago

Indian OUs draw charters for sharing resources amongst their institutions.

Quality assurance and content development professionals from 17 State Open Universities of India met recently to draw an action plan for sharing their courseware and other learning material as open educational resources (OER) at a three-day OERfest organised by the Commonwealth of Learning (COL)’s regional centre, Commonwealth Educational Media Centre for Asia (CEMCA), and Dr B. R. Ambedkar Open University (Dr. BRAOU) in Hyderabad, India.

Dr B. Shadrach, Director of CEMCA, said that the event helped to enhance institutional capacity to use OER for course development and micro-credential creation and to recognise benefits, such as cost savings, quality improvements, autonomy, student engagement and personalised learning pathways. He remarked that bringing these open universities under the Consortium of Open Universities of India has been a highly beneficial move in their attempt to implement the National Education Policy 2020 (NEP) and as important allies to the government in achieving national goals for a more all-encompassing, flexible, and technologically-driven higher education ecosystem in India.

As Chief Guest, Dr Nirmal Jeet Singh Kalsi, Chairman of the National Council for Vocational Education and Training emphasised the importance of open universities sharing best practices to enhance the implementation of open and distance e-learning programmes. He underscored the potential of these programmes to equip and empower those who lack resources, as well as the flexibility they offer in developing and delivering courses tailored to meet the learners’ current needs.

Professor K. Seetharama Rao, Vice Chancellor of Dr BRAOU, discussed the challenges in meeting the objectives of the Sustainable Development Goals and India’s NEP, highlighting the crucial role of open universities in growing the gross enrolment ratio. In his keynote address, Professor V. S. Prasad, former Vice-Chancellor of Dr BRAOU and former Director of NAAC, emphasised the need for open universities and COL to promote OER for public benefit and warned against the commercialisation of education.

Over the event’s three days, OU officials developed their roadmap for OER practice in their universities while also proposing collaborating arrangements for offering joint programmes, addressing language diversity and interoperability of OER repositories. Arrangements for content sharing among all OUs were the outcome of the OU OERfest.

#COL4D #CEMCACOL #OpenUniversities #HigherEducation #EdTech #ResourceSharing #DigitalLearning #CollaborativeEducation #DistanceLearning #InclusiveEducation #OpenLearning ... See MoreSee Less