Open Education Week: A COL video podcast series. Episode 1 Dr Glenda Cox.
Open Education Week (OE Week) is an annual celebration and opportunity for those working in Open Education to actively share their achievements and learn about what others are achieving worldwide.
OE Week was launched in 2012 by Open Education Global as a collaborative, community-built open forum. Every year, OE Week raises awareness and highlights innovative open education successes worldwide. It provides practitioners, educators, and students with an opportunity to build a greater understanding of open educational practices and be inspired by the wonderful work being developed by the community around the world.
From 3 to 7 March 2025, Dr Jako Olivier, Adviser: Higher Education at the Commonwealth of Learning (COL) @COL4D, will present a series of interviews with open education experts on various timely and topical subjects.
In Episode 1 of the COL video podcast series, Dr Olivier discusses Open Education Resources and social justice with Dr Glenda Cox, UNESCO chair in open education and social justice, University of Cape Town, South Africa. The interview highlights the intersections of open education and social justice, emphasising the potential and challenges posed by generative AI. While AI can exacerbate the digital divide by benefiting higher-income countries with better infrastructure, open education remains a critical tool for ensuring equitable access to learning materials through open educational resources (OER). Additionally, the interview emphasises the importance of student co-creation in knowledge production while noting the need for government policies that promote transformational justice by integrating open education into national frameworks.
Watch the streaming video below or click here: youtu.be/nMY0U_-FmDM
#COL4D #OpenEducationWeek #OER #openeducation #edtech #onlinelearning #educationforall #digitallearning #podcast #COL4D #lifelonglearning #EdInnovation #HigherEd #inclusiveeducation
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Launch of TEL Phase 4 in Mauritius: Pioneering AI integration in higher education.
The Higher Education Commission (HEC) of Mauritius, in collaboration with the Commonwealth of Learning (COL) @COL4D, recently launched Phase 4 of the Technology-Enabled Learning (TEL) initiative, marking a significant step forward in integrating Artificial Intelligence (AI) into higher education. The event, attended by the Honourable Dr Kaviraj Sharma Sukon, Minister of Tertiary Education, Science and Research, and Dr Romeela Mohee, Higher Education Commissioner, highlighted Mauritius’s ongoing commitment to advancing education through innovative technology.
In his virtual address, Professor Peter Scott @peter_scott, President and CEO of COL, congratulated the Mauritian government and the HEC for their leadership in this transformative partnership. “Mauritius has been an exemplary collaborator,” he noted, emphasising COL’s longstanding support for the nation’s education sector. Since 2022, COL has aided in establishing quality standards for institutional registration and programme accreditation, supported the development of an open educational resource repository at the University of Mauritius @UniOfMauritius, and facilitated the adoption of blended and online learning across multiple institutions.
Now entering its fourth phase, the TEL initiative has yielded impressive results. Over 80 blended and online courses have been developed, with more than one hundred teachers trained in course design and the use of open educational resources. All six of Mauritius’s higher education institutions have adopted supportive policies, and over 1,700 educators and students have completed the Commonwealth Digital Education Leadership Training in Action (C-DELTA) programme, earning certificates and badges. The Mahatma Gandhi Institute has also introduced short courses from COLCommons to enhance teacher development.
Phase 4 focuses on integrating AI in teaching and learning, responding to the technology’s growing prominence. Alongside AI literacy and regulatory frameworks, the phase will introduce benchmarking to enable institutions to assess their progress, share best practices, and refine their strategies for technology-enabled learning. Evaluative research is also underway to measure the impact of blended courses on student outcomes, promising data-driven insights for future advancements.
The event also celebrated the release of a booklet detailing the impact of COL’s Skills for Work Programme in Mauritius, which Professor Scott described as a testament to the collaboration’s success. “This participatory approach is poised to revolutionise education in Mauritius,” he said, extending an invitation to the Eleventh Pan-Commonwealth Forum in Botswana in September 2025.
With the implementation of Phase 4, Mauritius reinforces its position as a leader among small states in leveraging technology to enhance higher education, setting a model for others to follow.
Full video address by Professor Scott here: www.youtube.com/watch?v=CYiJbHN1Hks
#COL4D #TELPhase4 #AIinEducation #HigherEducation #MauritiusEducation #EdTech #ArtificialIntelligence #InnovativeLearning #EducationTechnology #AIIntegration
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COL expands teacher development in Sub-Saharan Africa.
The Commonwealth of Learning (COL) @COL4D and its partners will present the results of the project titled “COL-AFTRA Beyond Numbers Project: Scaling Quality Teacher Development in Sub-Saharan Africa through ODL” during a ministerial and plenary session at the AFTRA 12th Conference and 14th Roundtable, taking place in Lubango, Angola, from 6 to 9 May 2025.
The brochure for these sessions is available here: commonwealthoflearning.info/COL-AFTRA-Brochure
COL has launched the COL-AFTRA Beyond Numbers Project – a groundbreaking initiative using open and distance learning (ODL) to scale teacher training in sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). The project, implemented in collaboration with the Africa Federation of Teacher Regulatory Authorities (AFTRA), aims to address the region’s urgent need for qualified educators while promoting gender equality and inclusive learning.
With SSA requiring 15 million new teachers by 2030 to meet Sustainable Development Goal 4 (UNESCO, 2023), traditional training methods are insufficient. Current statistics indicate that only 65 per cent of primary and 60 per cent of secondary school teachers are qualified (World Bank, 2025). The project leverages ODL and digital tools to bridge this gap and deliver flexible, scalable teacher training programmes.
Between January and February 2025, teacher regulatory bodies from Botswana, Nigeria, Seychelles and South Africa will develop digital literacy modules and ODL frameworks for teacher training, incorporating COLCommons micro-credentials. Partner institutions, including Botswana Open University and the University of Abuja, will localise continuous professional development courses stemming from COL's open educational resources repositories.
Approximately 200 teachers and officials will contribute to implementation and evaluation, with at least 500 teachers trained via ODL by April 2025. Running until June 2025, the initiative could continue with additional funding, fostering regional collaboration to enhance teacher quality and expand access to education through digital innovation. As mentioned above, the project’s results will be presented at the AFTRA 12th Conference in Angola in May 2025.
COL Project Coordinating team and delegates:
· Dr Evode Mukama; Dr Betty Ogange; and Dr Tony Mays
AFTRA Project Coordinating team and delegates:
· Professor Steve Nwokeocha; and Dr Gabriel Job
Partner delegates at the conference
· Botswana Teaching Professional Council: Dr Lekopanye Tladi
· Teachers Regulatory Council of Nigeria: Dr Mary Abah
· Teachers Council of Seychelles: Mrs Rosianna Jules
· South African Council of Teachers: Ms Tuzana Sophethe
#COL4D #AFTRA2025 #TeacherDevelopment #AfricaEducation #ODL #OpenDistanceLearning #EducationForAll #SustainableDevelopmentGoals #SDG4 #TeacherTraining #DigitalLiteracy #GenderEquality #InclusiveEducation
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