NEWS ITEMS

Connections/EdTech News

Connections/EdTech News, October 2008: PCF5 | OERs for open schools | African focal points meet | GENDER: Promoting gender mainstreaming - Where have all the flowers gone? - COL launches gender micro-site | IN FOCUS: Excellence in Distance Education Awards 2008 | Friends of the Commonwealth | New resources | People | Events | EDTECH News: All about...podcasting - Reduce mobile roaming charges - Accessing PDFs with low bandwidth
www.col.org/connections

COL launches Gender micro-site

COL's new Gender micro-site has been designed to provide a one-stop, comprehensive platform to access print and electronic resources on gender and open, distance and technology-mediated learning (ODL) with a special emphasis on information and communication technology (ICT). The main purpose of developing this gender micro-site is to provide knowledge and information on gender and ODL/ICT so as to raise awareness and to provide tools to ODL policymakers and practitioners to help them address gender concerns in their areas of competence.
www.col.org/gender

New Chair of COL's Board of Governors

Burchell Whiteman has been appointed Chair of COL's Board of Governors; Jenny Glennie becomes Deputy Chair. Zahiya Zareer appointed representative for Asia and Akilagpa Sawyerr appointed representative for Africa.
News release ...

Excellence in Distance Education Awards (EDEA) 2008

COL is proud to annouce the new EDEA winners for 2008. The award ceremony took place at the Fifth Pan-Commonwealth Forum on Open Learning (PCF5) in London, UK on 14 and 15 July 2008.
www.col.org/edea

PCF News

More than 700 people from 70 countries, including several Ministers of Education, attended COL's Fifth Pan-Commonwealth Forum on Open Learning (PCF5) in London, UK from 13-17 July 2008. Papers and reports from sessions are available online in the Forum 'wiki' and 'blog' at www.wikieducator.org/pcf5 and http://pcf5.wordpress.com; and keynote presentations are available at www.col.org/speeches.

The Forum explored how open and distance learning can help achieve international development goals and education for all.

PCF5 was hosted by COL in partnership with the University of London, forming a part of the University's celebration of the 150th anniversary of the establishment of its External Degrees initiative. Major sponsorship support for delegate participation from developing countries is being provided by COL, the U.K. Open University, the U.K. Department for International Development, the University of London External Programme and AusAID - the Australian Government's overseas aid programme. Conference Co-Chairs were Sir Graeme Davies, Vice-Chancellor of the University of London, and Sir John Daniel, President and CEO of COL.
www.col.org/pcf5

Quality Assurance micro-site

WikiEducator

Virtual University for Small States of the Commonwealth (VUSSC)

NEW RESOURCES

  COL publications:

• A Prospective Vision for Universities: The role of the technology transfer units and distance education 

• Handbook on In-house Style for Course Development

• Costs and Financing in Open Schools

• Manual for the Tutors of Learning Centers in Open Schools

• Perspectives on Distance Education: Foreign Providers in the Caribbean: Pillagers or Preceptors? (COL's Perspectives on Distance Education series). Published by COL. 2008

• Education for a Digital World: Advice, Guidelines, and Effective Practice from around the Globe

• Four new Knowledge Series' titles

• Learning for Development: Selected speeches of Sir John Daniel and colleagues,  Sept. 2006 - Feb. 2007

• Learning for Development: COL's Three-year Plan, 2006-2009

• COL in the Commonwealth 2003-2006: Country reports

• Women's Literacy and Information and Communication Technologies: Lessons that experience has taught us (CEMCA)

• Perspectives on Distance Education: Towards a Culture of Quality (COL's Perspectives on Distance Education series). From Quality Assurance to a Culture of Quality in Open Distance Education: Case Studies and Inferences. 2006

• Strategies for Sustainable Open and Distance Learning - Volume six in the COL/RoutledgeFalmer Press World review of distance education and open learning series. 2005

• Knowledge Series - The Knowledge Series is a topical, start-up guide to distance education practice and delivery. New titles are published regularly.

• Perspectives on Distance Education: Lifelong Learning & Distance Higher Education (COL's Perspectives on Distance Education series). Jointly published by COL and UNESCO. 2005

• Creating learning materials for open and distance learning: a handbook for authors & instructional designers. 2005

• Practitioner Research and Evaluation Skills Training (PREST) series

  Consultants' reports:

• Women's Empowerment at the Local Level (WELL) - a study undertaken in the state of Uttarakhand

• Structural Framework for Higher Education Open and Distance Learning in Papua New Guinea

• Consultancy for Conducting Workshop with IGNOU and Editing the Modules developed in the Workshop

• A Study of the Development of the State Open Universities in India

• Report of the Visitation Panel to the University of Ghana

• Open Schooling for Secondary & Higher Secondary Education: Costs and Effectiveness in India and Namibia

• Survey of ICT and Education in Africa, Volume 2: 53 Country Reports

• Survey of ICT and Education in Africa

• Commonwealth of Learning Capacity Building workshop: Developing Digital Content

• The NEPAD e-Schools Demonstration Project: A Work in Progress

• Institutional Trial Quality Audit of the University of South Africa (UNISA) 

• Boys' Underachievement in Education: An Exploration in Selected Commonwealth Countries"

• Higher Education Crossing Borders - A Guide to the Implications of the General Agreement on Trade in Services (GATS) for Cross-border Education

• Evaluation of the 2003-2006 Commonwealth of Learning Strategic Plan

• Strategic Issues in Single- and Dual-mode Distance Education: The Organizational Blending of Two Canadian Distance Universities

• Factors for Success in Dual Mode Institutions

• The Art of the Possible: issues of learner support in open and distance learning in low income countries

        Consultants' reports are available at: www.col.org/consultancies

  Conference reports and papers:

• Forum on Flexible Education: Reaching Nomadic Populations in Africa (Summary Report)
• Fourth Pan-Commonwealth Forum on Open Learning (Jamaica, October/November 2006):
  Papers | Keynote speeches | Virtual conferences 
  

  Speeches and presentations: www.col.org/speeches

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Further information ...

CD-ROM

COL offers a CD-ROM (updated regularly) that contains our most popular knowledge resources and recent publications and reports, along with a video on COL and its work. It is available upon request from COL: info@col.org

PLEASE NOTE:

The Commonwealth of Learning's focus is in strengthening institutions in developing Commonwealth countries that are striving to provide affordable education to larger numbers of their citizens.

COL IS NOT an educational institution. It does not register students and does not directly offer courses, programmes of study, scholarships or bursaries.

COL DOES NOT provide an accreditation service and does not endorse institutions or programmes. COL is also unable to provide directories of courses available in the Commonwealth.

Please see: About COL for more information.