Indian
Consortium for Educational Transformation (I-CONSENT)
Virtual
Schools
and Learning Homes
Launch
of three programmes:
Prayog Pariwar Kendra (PPK) Learning
through Experimentation and Exploration; NETS pilot of the Science Olympiad;
and OER Spaces for Student Learning
Pune, 5 April 2008
Educational
Transformation
Remarks by
Sir
John
Daniel
Commonwealth
of Learning
It is an honour and a privilege to
be with you at this historic event. A colleague remarked earlier that I-CONSENT
had benefited from warmth and moisture as it has developed. The Commonwealth of Learning (COL) has certainly tried
to supply some collaborative warmth and being fresh from Vancouver
I am pleased to offer some of the moisture that Maharashtra
lacks!
I have followed the development of
I-CONSENT closely since I joined
COL
in 2004, this being the fourth I-CONSENT event that I have attended. I realise,
looking back, that your discussions have always forced me to think harder than
usual. You are creating the future at scale. Confronting my old assumptions
with the new vision that you are articulating is both challenging and bracing.
I particularly admire the way that
you are marrying commitment to community with top-flight technology. You are
using technology as an equaliser that puts rural and urban people on the same
footing. Moreover you are using MKCL (Maharashtra Knowledge Corporation
Limited), an extraordinary institution, as a driver of innovation in exciting
developments such as the technique of Continuous Contour Trenching that is
transforming the availability of water hundreds of villages.
I-CONSENT is a new paradigm and a
new organisation for educational transformation: you call it a movement. But although
I-CONSENT has been in gestation for some years you have waited until now to
require formal commitments. I was proud to act as the formal witness two days
ago when the member institutions came to the stage one by one and signed the consortium
document. They do so knowing what their roles are and what programmes they wish
to achieve through I-CONSENT. This approach will create a more robust and
productive consortium than the usual pattern where members sign up at the start
before they are clear about what they want to achieve.
Today it is commonplace for
educational bodies to say that they focus on learning rather than teaching. Too
often this is simply a rhetorical statement but I-CONSENT is walking the talk.
One example is the way that your eB.Ed programme is training the teachers
themselves to put the accent on learning. Another is your PPK programme that
promotes learning science through experimentation and exploration. This
resonates strongly with me because half a century ago my school in
England
,
Christ's Hospital, was a pioneer of learning by discovery.
I am especially pleased to see the
thoughtful way that you are developing Open Educational Resources to create
spaces for student learning. In the West OERs are in danger of losing their
impact because although there are many creators, their products seem to be getting
lost in the undergrowth of informal learning. You seem to have thought through
the whole value chain from creator to user so that OERs can have a major impact
on formal learning. I see good opportunities for collaboration with
COL
, which is committed to
facilitating the development of OERs in the context of Open Schooling.
I note that in this session I have
not heard the term 'Web 2.0', which refers to the increasingly interactive
nature of the Web. MKCL is, of course, taking advantage of the interactive
nature of its networks on a huge scale, but your use of language is admirably
focused on educational outcomes rather than technical jargon. You are doing an
admirable job of harnessing the informality of networks to the natural desire
of students to achieve formal recognition for their learning.
Before I formally launch these
three I-CONSENT programmes I must pay a special tribute to two people. I have
followed with admiration the breathtaking development of MKCL since its
creation in 2001. It is a powerful combination of the right business model,
inspired use of technology and excellent leadership. Much of that leadership
has come from its Managing Director, Vivek Sawant and I offer him my warm
congratulations.
Also centrally involved in the
success of MKCL, as well as many other innovations, is the President of
I-CONSENT, Professor Ram Takwale. He will celebrate his 75th
birthday next week, yet his ability to stay ahead of all of us in creating the
future is as great as ever. Of all the people that I have worked with over the
last two decades, at the UK Open University, UNESCO and
COL
, Ram Takwale is the friend who has made
me think hardest. I thank and congratulate him.
Finally, it gives me great
pleasure formally to launch a suite of three programmes within I-CONSENT's
Virtual Schools and Learning Homes: Prayog Pariwar Kendra (PPK) Learning
through Experimentation and Exploration; the NETS pilot of the Science
Olympiad; and OER Spaces for Student Learning.
I wish you every success as you
take these exciting initiatives forward.
