06. Speeches & Presentations
Permanent URI for this community
Browse
Browsing 06. Speeches & Presentations by Author "Balasubramanian, K"
-
PublicationAchieving Lifelong Learning for All: Where are We Now? What Next?( 2019-02-11)Presented by Professor Asha Kanwar, President & CEO, Commonwealth of Learning at the ICDE Lillehammer Lifelong Learning Summit 2019, 11 February 2019. Co-written with Ms Alexis Carr, Research Coordinator, COL, Dr K Balasubramanian, former Vice President, COL, and Dr Sanjaya Mishra, Education Specialist: eLearning, COL. -
PublicationAdvancing Research in ODL: Where are the Missing Links?( 2014-10-28)Transcript and presentation slides from the Opening Keynote at the 28th Annual Conference of the Asian Association of Open Universities, Hong Kong, China, 28 October 2014. Presented by Professor Asha Kanwar, and co-written with Dr. K. Balasubramanian, Commonwealth of Learning.
-
PublicationAgricultural Higher Education in the 21st Century: Non-traditional educational models( 2015-06-16)Speech delivered by Professor Asha Kanwar at 'Agricultural Higher Education in the 21st Century: A global challenge in knowledge transfer to meet world demands for food security and sustainability'. Zaragoza, Spain June 2015.
-
PublicationBridging the Technology Gap: Mobile Phones for Education and Learning( 2012-08-30)Slides from the Ministerial Roundtable, 18th Conference of Commonwealth Education Ministers (18CCEM), Mauritius, 30 August 2012. Presented by Dr. K. Balasubramanian, Commonwealth of Learning.
-
PublicationCan Mobile Learning Empower Women and Girls?( 2015-02-27)Transcript and presentation slides from a presentation given at a research seminar, UNESCO Mobile Learning Week, Paris, France, 27 February 2015. Presented by Prof. Asha Kanwar, President & CEO, co-written with Alexis Carr, Project Assistant, Lifelong Learning for Farmers Programme, and K. Balasubramanian, Education Specialist, Agriculture & Livelihoods, Commonwealth of Learning.
-
PublicationCan Open Learning Transform Society?( 2017-12-16)Presented by Professor Asha Kanwar, President & CEO, Commonwealth of Learning, at Krishna Kanta Handiqui State Open University (KKHSOU), 16 December 2017, Guwahati, India. Co-written with Dr. K Balasabramanian, Vice President, COL and Dr. Sanjaya Mishra, Education Specialist: eLearning, COL.
-
PublicationThe Commonwealth of Learning( 2013-04-11)The Commonwealth of Learning’s presentation to the Honourable Julian Fantino, Minister of International Cooperation, Canada, 11 April 2013, Vancouver, Canada // It gives me great pleasure to formally welcome, for the first time at COL, a Minister of International Cooperation. It is perhaps appropriate that the visit is happening this year, when COL celebrates its 25th anniversary. Thank you, Minister for your time and for your interest in our work.
-
PublicationCreating Knowledge Networks for Sustainable Development( 2013-02-25)World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS)+10 Review Meeting, From Digital to Knowledge Divide, Thematic Forum 1, UNESCO, France, 25 February 2013, Presented by Professor Asha Kanwar and co-written with Dr. K. Balasubramanian, Commonwealth of Learning // Let me begin with a brief introduction to my organisation the Commonwealth of Learning. The Commonwealth of Learning is an intergovernmental organization established by Commonwealth Heads of Government to serve the 54 Member States that span all regions of the globe. Our headquarters are in Vancouver and we have a regional office in New Delhi. Our overarching theme is ‘learning for development’. COL’s mission is to help Commonwealth Member States harness the potential of distance education and technologies to enhance access to learning which contributes to development. // Many Commonwealth countries are trying to accelerate progress towards the achievement of the internationally agreed development goals by the fast-approaching target date of 2015. As such, the Commonwealth Heads of Government are concerned about how to address the rural-urban divides that keep more than half their populations from accessing vital global knowledge flows. The rural-urban divide is also a knowledge divide.
-
PublicationCreativity in Advancing Distance Learning: Models and Technologies( 2009-11-23)Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting, Port of Spain, Trinidad, 23-29 November 2009, People’s Forum, Theme: Creativity and Innovation // Today’s theme is Creativity and Innovation. This is a particularly appropriate theme for the Commonwealth of Learning to address in the context of CHOGM. COL, as everyone calls it, is celebrating what you might call its 11th CHOGM birthday this year. // We were set up in 1987 when Heads of Government met in Vancouver. They believed that a communications revolution was underway and that the mass media, information technology and new developments in telecommunications had much to contribute to the advancement of education, training and learning. COL was created to help countries to secure that contribution. Our slogan, and the title of our Three-Year Plan, is Learning for Development. We focus on the use of educational technology in general and of open and distance education in particular, to advance learning in support of development. // Today, rather than simply outline our work programme we shall focus on the notions of creativity and innovation as applied to the development of distance learning. Our title is Creativity in advancing distance learning: models and technologies and we shall flag three models and three technical developments.
-
PublicationDevelopments in Distance and Online Learning: Can They Address Development Challenges?( 2014-03-10)My topic today is ‘Developments in Distance Education and elearning: can they address emerging challenges?’, which I have prepared jointly with my colleague Dr K Balasubramanian. I will first look at the context of higher education globally and in the Caribbean region. I will then review the response to these needs-- developments in distance education and elearning, which include the emergence of OER and MOOCs. In conclusion, I will raise questions relating to whether the developments in distance education and elearning are addressing emerging challenges.
-
PublicationDistance Education: Threats and Opportunities: Selected speeches and website blogs of Sir John Daniel and colleagues 2009-2010( 2010)This selection of speeches from 2009 and 2010 is entitled Distance Education: Threats and Opportunities. It also includes some entries from the blog that COL has introduced since the publication of the previous booklet. Open, distance and technology-mediated learning (ODL) is becoming steadily more pervasive as traditional educational institutions adopt this approach for more of their course offerings. Paradoxically, however, the rising use of ODL has provoked threats to its development that I have summarised in a more recent speech: Distance Education under Threat: An Opportunity? (www.col.org/resources/speeches/2010presentation/Pages/2010-10-06.aspx). These threats are of two types. The first are fraudulent operations, known as degree mills, which purport to offer instruction through ODL but merely offer credentials in exchange for payment. In 2008-2009 I was part of an international group convened by UNESCO and the US Council for Higher Education Accreditation that made proposals for combating this scourge. These are summarised in the first speech reproduced here (p. 4). The second type of threat, sketched in the blogs on p. 30, comes in the form of regulations issued by governments and institutions that seek to restrict the offering of education by ODL and the use of qualifications obtained through it. While some of these initiatives claim to be a response to degree mills, most are really a rearguard action to prevent the erosion of traditional methods of instruction and the accompanying loss of institutional income. This backlash against ODL will fail, as has similar opposition to the use of technology in other areas of life. Where technology can give better and less expensive products and services to more people, as ODL does, it will prevail. But we must take the threats seriously nevertheless.
-
PublicationEmpowering Entrepreneurs: What opportunities? What enterprise?( 2013-12-10)Council for Education in the Commonwealth, Gladwyn Lecture 2013, London, United Kingdom, 10 December 2013, Presented by Professor Asha Kanwar (co-written with Dr. K. Balasubramanian), Commonwealth of Learning // 2013 is also the year when the Commonwealth adopted the Charter that expresses the commitment of Member States to promoting peace and prosperity to improve the lives of all its people. All the signatories to the Charter highlight the importance of education, health, gender equality and sustainable development. // It is perfectly appropriate then that the Commonwealth theme for this year is ‘Opportunity through Enterprise: unlocking the potential with innovation and excellence’. This is a celebration of the enterprising spirit that thrives unseen and unsung within the remote corners of our diverse and distributed Commonwealth, a constituency that the Commonwealth of Learning tries to reach through its various initiatives.
-
PublicationEmpowerment of Women and Profit: The Role of Coevolution Partnership( 2016-09-06)Session VI: Intergenerational and Cross-Collaborative Partnerships of the 11th Women’s Affairs Ministers Meeting (11th WAMM), The Commonwealth in Apia, Samoa, 6-8 September 2016. Presented by Dr. K Balasubramanian, Vice-President, COL. Co-written with Alexis Carr, COL.
-
PublicationHigher Education, Service to the Community and ICTs( 2009-07-07)Microsoft Education Leaders’ Forum, Paris, 2009-07-07, Higher Education, Service to the Community and ICTs by Dr Kodhandaraman Balasubramanian & Sir John Daniel, Commonwealth of Learning (presented by Sir John Daniel) // So much for the prologue: we are in France and Caesar divided Gaul into three parts. I shall make three points. // First, higher education should engage with communities by playing to their agendas rather than imposing its own view of the world. // Second, ICTs are only useful in rural development as part of a wider system. // Third, we must focus on creating a new type of professional, which we at the Commonwealth of Learning call an infomediary. // For a wider discussion of these issues I refer you to the background paper ICTs for Higher Education that COL prepared for this week’s World Conference.
-
PublicationHow ICT can Support Teacher Training( 2014-10-06)Transcript and presentation slides from the Keynote at the Open Forum on "Teaching today: an international overview of professional development and conditions of work" for the 20th anniversary of World Teachers' Day, UNESCO Headquarters, Paris, France, 6 October 2014. Presented by Professor Asha Kanwar, President & CEO (co-written with Dr. Jessica Aguti & Dr. K. Balasubramanian), Commonwealth of Learning.
-
PublicationICTs in Higher Education: Who Stands to Gain?( 2010-05-18)My topic today is ‘Towards Sustainable OERs: a perspective from the global south’. I have prepared this presentation jointly with my colleagues Dr. Balasubramanian and Dr. Abdurrahman.
-
PublicationIs Modern ICT the Answer to Extension?( 2012-09-24)My topic today is: ‘Is modern ICT the answer to extension?’ which will be examined in the context of the Commonwealth of Learning’s work in Lifelong Learning for Farming. This presentation has been prepared jointly with my colleague Dr Balasubramanian.
-
PublicationKnowledge Transfer for a Horticultural Revolution: The Lifelong Learning for Farmers Model( 2010-08-22)Our title is Knowledge Transfer for a Horticultural Revolution: The Lifelong Learning for Farmers Model. We argue that the current approach to agricultural extension, which is based on the green revolution, is unsuitable for the horticultural revolution that developing countries want to see. We shall suggest criteria for a better approach to horticultural extension and show how COL’s Lifelong Learning for Farmers Model meets these criteria.// Our talk has five parts. First, we recall the origins of extension programmes and argue that they are no longer fit for purpose. Second we explore how the focus on the green revolution in agriculture has by-passed the development of horticulture. Third, we examine emerging thinking about extension. Fourth, we show how COL’s Lifelong Learning for Farmers programme draws on this thinking. Finally, we conclude by recalling the key premises that underpin the Lifelong Learning for Farmersmodel.
-
PublicationLaunching of the “Lifelong Learning for Women’s Empowerment”( 2011-05-19)Launching of the“Lifelong Learning for Women’s Empowerment”, Mauritius, 19 May, 2011, presented by Prof. Asha Kanwar and co-written by K. Balasubramanian, Commonwealth of Learning // It is a privilege to be part of this historic launch. More especially since gender equality is a cross cutting theme for the Commonwealth of Learning’s objective of promoting “Learning for Development’. // Gender equality is one of the fundamental principles of the Commonwealth. In fact, the theme for the Commonwealth Day observed in March this year was ‘Women as agents of change: invest in women and transform the world’. An increasing number of governments are realizing the value of investing in gender equality and improving the status of women.
-
PublicationLearning to Empowerment: A Roadmap( 2015-11-24)Presented at CHOGM 2015 - Group 5, Parallel Workshop, Women’s Forum in Malta by Dr. K. Balasubramanian, Vice President, co-written with Ms. Alexis Carr, Project Assistant. This presentation is based on the studies carried out by COL among the poor farming communities in Uganda and Kenya under its Lifelong Learning for Farmers (L3F) programme.