Browsing by Author "Ferreira, Frances"

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    Baseline-Endline Report: Reaching the Unreached (RtU) through Open and Distance Learning (ODL) in Bangladesh, India and Pakistan
    (2018-01) Ferreira, Frances; Cruz, Charisse; Smith, Kristina
    This report documents the baseline–endline study by the GIRLS Inspire team’s Reaching the Unreached project to examine the implications of skills training and education for women’s and girls’ empowerment and sustainable livelihoods in Bangladesh, India and Pakistan. // It is based on data collected from quarterly reports mirrored against the project outcomes, meeting reports and surveys from March 2016 to March 2017. The quarterly and meeting reports documented the activities undertaken to provide training for unreached women and girls in the selected countries. While the actual training was offered exclusively to women and girls, the reports and surveys also captured the input of men and boys in terms of their participation in various community events and as staff members of the partner organisations.
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    Building a community for developing OERs
    (2010-11) Botes, Corne; Ferreira, Frances
    The transition to lower secondary education is now at the centre of the Education for All agenda in many countries. As more children are progressing through primary school the demand for secondary school places is growing. However, the demand for places in the school is not the only challenge governments are facing for sustained improvement in quality education. One of the most important requirements is an improved learning environment, which includes the provision of learning materials (UNESCO, 2010). While access to learning materials is a significant barrier in many countries, tremendous progress has been made with the development of OERs (stimulated by benefactors such as the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and UNESCO) and educational content has been provided freely to institutions and learners across the world (Sclater, 2010). The Commonwealth of Learning, in collaboration with the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation initiated the Open Educational Resources for Open Schools to address the challenge of access to quality educational resources while at the same time enhancing the capacity of teachers in writing distance education materials using new technologies. When embarking on a large scale project, such as developing open educational resources, it is important to involve the right people to commence and complete the project successfully. It is essential to choose educators with ample experience in their field of teaching in order to ensure that the end product will be of a high standard and, of course, on an appropriate level for the target users. This paper will explore the challenges experienced by the teachers involved in this project. This includes the relationships between the different partners, technological, cultural as well as work related challenges. It will also explore the different support mechanisms which allowed the teachers to deal with the challenges in building a supportive community which lead to the success of the project. Developing open educational resources is not an easy task. It demands high level of motivation and courage of those involved to overcome the challenges they face to make the changes to succeed. // Related presentation: http://hdl.handle.net/11599/1122
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    Building a Community For Developing OERs
    (2010-11-25) Botes, Corne; Ferreira, Frances
    The transition to lower secondary education is now at the centre of the Education for All agenda in many countries. As more children are progressing through primary school the demand for secondary school places is growing. However, the demand for places in the school is not the only challenge governments are facing for sustained improvement in quality education. One of the most important requirements is an improved learning environment, which includes the provision of learning materials (UNESCO, 2010). While access to learning materials is a significant barrier in many countries, tremendous progress has been made with the development of OERs (stimulated by benefactors such as the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation and UNESCO) and educational content has been provided freely to institutions and learners across the world (Sclater, 2010). The Commonwealth of Learning, in collaboration with the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation initiated the Open Educational Resources for Open Schools to address the challenge of access to quality educational resources while at the same time enhancing the capacity of teachers in writing distance education materials using new technologies. When embarking on a large scale project, such as developing open educational resources, it is important to involve the right people to commence and complete the project successfully. It is essential to choose educators with ample experience in their field of teaching in order to ensure that the end product will be of a high standard and, of course, on an appropriate level for the target users. This paper will explore the challenges experienced by the teachers involved in this project. This includes the relationships between the different partners, technological, cultural as well as work related challenges. It will also explore the different support mechanisms which allowed the teachers to deal with the challenges in building a supportive community which lead to the success of the project. Developing open educational resources is not an easy task. It demands high level of motivation and courage of those involved to overcome the challenges they face to make the changes to succeed. // Related working paper: http://hdl.handle.net/11599/2049
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    COL's Open Schooling Initiative
    (2010) Ferreira, Frances
    COL is helping to increase access to quality education while increasing student achievement by providing teachers in developing countries with new technologies, tools and skills. COL's Open Schooling initiatives include: • Advocacy. COL works with partners in government, non-governmental organisations (NGOs) and education institutions to promote Open Schooling. • Development of Open Schools. COL has helped develop policies and proposals for the establishment of open schools in Cameroon, Nigeria, Pakistan and Trinidad & Tobago. • Capacity building. COL works with partners to train educators, administrators and policymakers in the development and operation of open schools. Workshops have focused on materials development, instructional design, radio broadcasting, learner support, eLearning, management of open schools, strategic planning for open schools and quality assurance. • Fostering Collaboration. Funded by a grant from The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, COL is working with educators in six countries - Botswana, India, Lesotho, Namibia, Seychelles and Trinidad & Tobago - to develop and share open educational resources (OERs) for secondary education, the professional development of teachers in the effective use of technology in classrooms and creating learner support material for teachers. • Publications. COL has published a number of handbooks and guides to support open schools • Learning materials. COL has assisted with the development of quality learning materials for open schools. • Research. "Open Schooling for Secondary and Higher Secondary Education" explores the provision of secondary level Open Schooling in India and Namibia. COL has also commissioned research into the use of mobile technologies in Africa. • Quality assurance. COL provides training in quality assurance and is developing a QA Toolkit for open schools.
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    The Commonwealth of Learning
    (2013-04-11) Kanwar, Asha; Naidoo, Vis; Ferreira, Frances; Umar, Abdurrahman; Kaushik, Madhulika; Lesperance, John; Mead Richardson, Alison; Balasubramanian, K; Pringle, Ian; Bullen, Mark; Balaji, Venkataraman; McEachern, Doris
    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.
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    Empowering Girls for Ending Child Early and Forced Marriage
    (2019-06-06) Kanwar, Asha; Ferreira, Frances
    Presented by Professor Asha Kanwar, President & CEO, and Senior Adviser: Women and Girls, Ms Frances J. Ferreira, Commonwealth of Learning, at the Women Deliver 2019 Conference, 6 June 2019.
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    Empowering Women and Girls Project: Annual Report 2023
    (2024-07) Ferreira, Frances; Sudesh, Veronica
    In collaboration with Global Affairs Canada (GAC), the Commonwealth of Learning (COL), is implementing the Empowering Women and Girls (EWG) project in rural, remote, and disadvantaged communities in Bangladesh, Malawi, Mozambique, Pakistan and Sri Lanka over a three-year period. Through this project, COL and its local partners will work towards empowering women and girls using strategies and interventions so that women and girls and Persons with Disabilities (PWDs) can claim their equal rights to live a life of dignity, free from all forms of discrimination based on gender. This report provides an update on activities, achievements, and challenges for the period March 2023 – December 2023.
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    Ending Child Early and Forced Marriage: a Holistic Approach
    (2019-02-15) Kanwar, Asha; Ferreira, Frances
    Presented by Professor Asha Kanwar, President & CEO, Commonwealth of Learning at the GIRLS Inspire End-of-project Meeting in Tanzania, 15 February 2019. Co-written with Ms Frances Ferreira, Senior Adviser: Women & Girls, COL.
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    Ending Child, Early and Forced Marriage: A Holistic Approach
    (2018-04-18) Kanwar, Asha; Ferreira, Frances
    Presented by Professor Asha Kanwar, President & CEO, Commonwealth of Learning, at the Women's Forum, Commonwealth Heads of Government Meeting (CHOGM), London, United Kingdom, 18 April 2018. Co-written with Ms Frances Ferreira, COL.
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    Gender Equality and Women’s Empowerment Capacity Building of Organisations and Individuals
    (2022-11-21) Kuppuswami, Damodaram; Ferreira, Frances; Panda, Santosh
    To ensure its partners have the capacity to implement gender responsive projects, COL introduced an online training programme on gender equality and women’s empowerment. This paper reports the methodology and results in measuring the efficacy of this online training at individual and organisational levels. The ability of individuals and organisations to plan and implement transformative actions with a gender perspective require adequate knowledge, skills and a change in attitudes. Given this need, the commonly used Knowledge, Attitude, Skills (KAS) model was used to measure the efficacy of this online training at individual and organisational levels by defining different dimensions of capacities with three learning domains — Cognitive, Affective, Psychomotor (Bloom’s Taxonomy). The baseline and the end line of KAS at the individual level on the six core gender capacities was established for comparison. Two questionnaires were designed to assess the learning achievements of the participants and to measure the efficacy of the training. An analysis of the study registers a clear trend of positive outcomes at the individual level regarding improved knowledge, attitudes and skills on gender equality that could be applied in their work. Furthermore, the paper reports that the organisations demonstrate an enabling environment for more gender equal policies, structures and practices and proposes ways to convert the success of this training by integrating it into the broader gender equality strategy of these organisations.
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    GIRLS Inspire Final Report: Preventing Child, Early and Forced Marriage (CEFM) Through Open, Distance and Technology-Based Education
    (2019-07-12) Ferreira, Frances
    This is the final report to Global Affairs Canada (GAC) on the three-year GIRLS Inspire–CEFM project, which concluded on 31 March 2019. It provides an evidence-based narrative of progress made towards the achievement of each of the expected outcomes and outputs identified in the Logic Model and the Performance Measurement Framework (PMF). It also provides data for each indicator as per the collection frequency identified in the PMF, as well as for activities undertaken, results, lessons learned, best practices, challenges and limitations, and it offers mitigation strategies where relevant. COL and its partners have documented the project’s evolution since its inception. It is envisaged that this report will be an important instrument to inform the scaling up or replication of projects such as this.
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    ICTs for higher education
    (2009) Balasubramanian, K; Clarke-Okah, Willie; Daniel, John; Ferreira, Frances; Kanwar, Asha; Kwan, Angela; Lesperance, John; Mallet, Joshua; Umar, Abdurrahman; West, Paul
    A background paper from the Commonwealth of Learning for the UNESCO World Conference on Higher Education; Paris, 5-8 July 2009.
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    Life After Universal Primary? Scaling Schooling for the Secondary Surge
    (2008-01-30) Ferreira, Frances; Kanwar, Asha; Daniel, John
    In this presentation I shall weave the key results of this research into a general presentation on open schooling. My hope is that Bank colleagues will now take this research much further and create a solid basis for helping governments invest in this approach.// So my plan is to set the context, define open schooling, outline its development, summarise the results of the studies in India and Namibiaand draw some conclusions about policy.
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    Life After Universal Primary? Scaling Schooling for the Secondary Surge
    (2007-11-19) Kanwar, Asha; Ferreira, Frances; Daniel, John
    People's Forum: Life After Universal Primary? Scaling Schooling for the Secondary Surge // 19-22 November 2007 // Kampala, Uganda // Asha Kanwar, Frances Ferreira and Sir John Daniel, Commonwealth of Learning
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    Mainstreaming Gender and Inclusion in Distance Learning Resources: A Case Study
    (2022-09) Were, Pamella; Ferreira, Frances; Ogange, Betty
    PCF10 Sub-theme: Promoting Equity and Inclusion // Studies have shown that gender imbalances and biased gender representations are common in materials used in educational systems throughout the world. Learning resources for Open and Distance Learning programmes are, potentially, a powerful tool for reinforcing gender stereotypes, thereby perpetuating gender inequalities through education. This paper reports the methodology and results of a gender analysis of Environmental Education resources offered as part of a distance learning programme by a COL partner institution in Nigeria. A review of the written curriculum was conducted to determine the level of gender responsiveness of the programme, with a view to determining conformity to minimum standards stipulated in international best practice and promoting gender equality as a fundamental dimension of inclusivity for sustainable development. An analytical framework using both quantitative and qualitative instruments was applied to the resources to determine both subtle and more obvious expressions of gender disparities and biases, as well as to determine examples of good practice that promote gender equality and empowerment. The paper reports the results of the analysis and proposes ways to integrate gender responsive pedagogical methods in distance learning resources, for inclusion and sustainable development. Results indicate program has great potential for gender mainstreaming. // Paper ID 1556
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    Mega-Schools and Technology: Lifelong Learning Systems for the 21st Century
    (2009-10-16) Daniel, John; Ferreira, Frances
    International Forum on Open and Distance Education (30th anniversary celebration of the CCRTVU) Beijing, China 16/17 October 2009, Theme: Challenges and Opportunities for ODL in Lifelong Learning in a Global Financial and Economic Crisis, Sub-theme: Institutional Efficiency: New mission, value, strategies and policies, Keynote address: Mega-Schools and Technology: Lifelong Learning Systems for the 21st Century by Sir John Daniel and Ms. Frances Ferreira, Commonwealth of Learning // It is a pleasure to join you all in congratulating the CCRTVU on reaching the milestone of its 30th anniversary. This is a huge achievement and when I think of the tens of millions of people who have been empowered by higher education and training as a result of your work it puts our modest efforts in the rest of the world somewhat in the shade. // But having said that I am delighted that you have chosen to follow frequent practice elsewhere and refer to CCRTVU as the Open University of China. The first good reason for doing that is that tying the name of any educational institution to the teaching medium that it uses means that you will one day be overtaken by the onward march of technology. That applies just as much to terms like ‘virtual university’, ‘online university’ and ‘eUniversity’ as it does to names referring to television and radio.
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    OCL4Ed Frances Ferreira Welcome Video
    (2012-12) Ferreira, Frances
    A short video welcoming participants to session 5: What license should I use for open educational resources I create? of the Open Content Licensing for Educators (OCL4Ed) event. Session 5: 13-14 Dec 2012. Duration 5:29
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    Open Schooling: Broadening Access to Learning Opportunities
    (2014) Ferreira, Frances
    In this video, Mrs. Frances J. Ferreira, Education Specialist, Open Schooling, Commonwealth of Learning, presents COL's Open Schooling Programme Initiative. 2014
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    Open Schooling: the International Perspective & Possibilities of Collaboration
    (2009-10-13) Daniel, John; Ferreira, Frances
    National Institute for Open Schooling, Delhi, 13 October 2009, by Sir John Daniel and Ms. Frances Ferreira, Commonwealth of Learning // It is a pleasure to be here at NIOS for the first time and to congratulate your new Chair, Dr Jena, on his appointment. With the help of my co-author Frances Ferreira I am going to address the challenges and opportunities for ODL in secondary education. // The title you have given us is Open Schooling: The International Perspective & Possibilities of Collaboration. We shall argue that expanding secondary education is – or soon will be – the key priority for many developing countries. We shall also note that in a time of economic difficulty countries need to strive for greater efficiency and observe that in many countries secondary education is not at all efficient. This will lead us to propose the expansion of open schooling. // But we are not simply proposing the creation and expansion of open schools as a separate and distinct element within national school systems. We believe that open schools should be seen as catalysts for integrating all elements of schooling into an educational ecosystem fit for the 21st century.
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    Open Schools have the Potential to Provide Equitable Access to Appropriate Learning and Life Skills Programmes
    (2012-02-17) Ferreira, Frances
    Open Schools have the Potential to Provide Equitable Access to Appropriate Learning and Life Skills Programmes: A video presented at the Integration of Academic Courses with Vocational Education in Secondary Schools, National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS), New Delhi, India (17-19 February 2012) by Frances Ferreira, Education Specialist - Open Schooling, Commonwealth of Learning. Duration: 11:24