Browsing by Author "Coomaraswamy, Uma"

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    Interview with Professor Uma Coomaraswamy
    (2008) Coomaraswamy, Uma
    Interview with Professor Uma Coomaraswamy, former Vice Chancellor, Open University of Sri Lanka at the Fifth Pan-Commonwealth Forum on Open Learning, London, July 2008. (Duration: 7:12)
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    Life Long Learning (L3) for Farmers: A Pilot Project in Sri Lanka
    (2008-09) Coomaraswamy, Uma; Hirimburegama, Kshanika; Alluri, Krishna
    PCF5 Sub-theme: Livelihoods // Over 75% of the population of Sri Lanka lives in the rural sector. More than 70% of rural women are involved in subsistence agriculture and production but lack access to information and are relatively weak in economic empowerment. Several decades of public investment in agriculture, irrigation and community development have not achieved lasting success in rural development. New strategic initiatives are needed to harness engines of pro-poor growth to enhance livelihoods, increased incomes, address gender issues and ensure access to essential services among the poor. // The vision of Lifelong Learning (L3) for Farmers in Sri Lanka is to evolve a self-generating, self-sustaining and self-replicating livelihood improvement programme among rural communities using technology mediated open and distance learning. This concept envisages a global and local partnership between knowledge institutions, ICT centres and rural communities and a win-win situation for all stakeholders. The L3 Programme was launched in Sri Lanka in April 2007 and pilot phase is taking place in three villages. // It is a tri-partite model with mobilized rural community in the centre for facilitating participation and as a base for knowledge management in the community. // The rural community is linked to: // a) location-specific institutional base through partnership with knowledge institutions with expertise in disciplines related to agriculture in a consortium approach. // b) rural ICT centres with appropriate technology to facilitate self-directed learning which is financially viable, economically feasible and socially acceptable. // c) banks for loans to farmers. // The L3 project is complementing the ‘Gama Neguma’ (village upliftment programme) of the Government of SriLanka thus deriving national support. // Presentation will share the experience thus-far gained in the three pilot villages. // Paper ID 108
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    Open Access
    Quality Assurance in Distance Education
    (2011) Coomaraswamy, Uma
    Prof. Uma Coomaraswamy, Ministry of Education, Sri Lanka in conversation with Prof. Som Naidu, Charles Sturt University at the Sixth Pan-Commonwealth Forum on Open Learning (PCF6), Kochi, India, November 2010. Part of ten video conversations conducted by CEMCA at the Sixth Pan-Commonwealth Forum on Open Learning. (Duration: 10:32)
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    Quality Assurance Toolkit: Distance Higher Education Institutions and Programmes
    (2009) Coomaraswamy, Uma; Clarke-Okah, Willie; Rama, Kondapalli; Hope, Andrea
    The massification of higher education in many countries is placing tremendous pressure on higher education institutions (HEIs) to open up their doors to increasing numbers of students as demand for access to higher education soars. In response to this trend countries are turning increasingly to distance learning. The challenge for HEIs is to keep their virtual doors open while sustaining a culture of continuous improvement in their research, teaching and community engagement functions. The Commonwealth of Learning is proud to partner with the Sri Lankan Ministry of Higher Education and UNESCO to produce this Quality Assurance Toolkit for Distance Higher Education Institutions and Programmes. The Toolkit has been prepared with three features.