Browsing by Author "Mead Richardson, Alison"

Now showing 1 - 12 of 12
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Open Access
    Beauty Therapy Courses from Botswana
    (2015-08) Sibanda, Laura; Mazhani, One; Deurwaarder, Jan; Muraya, Christine; Mead Richardson, Alison
    The Botswana Technical Education Programme (BTEP) is managed by the Department of Technical and Vocational Education and Training (DTVET) in the Ministry of Education and Skills Development. BTEP is outcomes-based and is designed to provide both, pre-employment training for secondary school leavers and, training for those in the workplace who aspire towards attaining a qualification. The programme has been developed in cooperation with employers to ensure a match between training and skills needed by industry. BTEP consists of 25 vocational areas at 4 levels, Foundation, Certificate, Advanced Certificate and Diploma. One of the vocational areas is Hairdressing & Beauty Therapy. In order to expand access to TVET in Botswana, staff from Francistown College of Technical and Vocational Education and Gaborone Technical College developed print based distance learning modules. DTVET has committed to produce open education resources and has made three Certificate level modules available.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Metadata only
    COL Video Series: Distance Education Leadership and Management
    (2012-07) Lentell, Helen; Abrioux, Dominique A M X; Collinge, Joan; Haughey, Margaret; Keough, Erin; Kwan, Angela; Mead Richardson, Alison; Paul, Ross
    Helen Lentell, a Fellow in Distance Learning at the University of Leicester, UK and former COL staff member co-produced this video series with the Commonwealth of Learning (COL) through conversations held in July 2012 at COL's Offices in Vancouver, Canada. The videos are open educational resources (OER) and available for download and use by anyone. // 1) Introduction - In this introductory video, Helen Lentell discusses the series of videos she helped produce for COL on the subject of distance education leadership and management. (Duration: 4:32) // 2) Conversation with Dominique Abrioux who has led a large single mode distance learning provision and written extensively about leadership in distance learning. (Duration: 23:39) // 3) Conversation with Joan Collinge who has led and managed large distance learning departments within dual mode provision but with different student bodies and institutional missions and has been very active in the professional bodies of Distance Learning. (Duration: 20:29) // 4) Conversation with Margaret Haughey, who has worked for a number of distance learning providers and had many distance learning roles. She has a background in educational administration and policy. She is currently responsible for all academic affairs at a large single mode provider. She is an active researcher and has been very active in the professional bodies of distance learning. (Duration: 21:23) // 5) Conversation with Erin Keough, who has led and managed large distance learning departments within dual mode provision but with different student bodies and institutional missions and has been very active in the professional bodies of Distance Learning. (Duration 21:07) // 6) Conversation with Angela Kwan, who has set up and led COL’s for profit provision within an organisation that is not primarily concerned with direct course provision. (Duration 14:16) // 7) Conversation with Alison Mead-Richardson, who has worked for many development agencies commissioning distance learning provision and she is also a distance learning practitioner having worked in many and diverse contexts. (Duration 13:16) // 8) Conversation with Ross Paul, who has worked in leadership roles in both single mode and dual mode provision and written about leadership in academic institutions. (Duration 16:46)
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Open Access
    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.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Open Access
    Gender Equity in TVET
    (2012-05-02) Mead Richardson, Alison
    Slides from CAPA Conference, TVET Institutions as a Platform for Industrial Development, in Africa, 2–4 May 2012. By Ms. Alison Mead Richardson, Commonwealth of Learning.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Open Access
    Innovation in Vocational Education & Skills Training: Investing in Youth and the Informal Sector
    (2012-11-27) Mead Richardson, Alison
    The informal sector of the economy is becoming increasingly important for youth employment and national development throughout the continent. This paper argues that the vast majority of African youth are locked out of a system which was designed for the 20th Century. Commonwealth of Learning is mandated to support governments and institutions to benefit from educational technology. INVEST Africa is a COL‐CAPA collaborative programme which aims to build the capacity of TVET institutions to harness the potential of ICT to both meet the needs of this important group and also improve the quality of general TVET offerings. The paper will look at the findings of the recent Global Monitoring Report in relation to technical & vocational skills development for the informal sector in sub Saharan Africa and how it can harness ICT and flexible and blended approaches to provide for those who have been disadvantaged.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Open Access
    Lifelong Learning in the Commonwealth: Issues and Challenges
    (2011-11-14) Balasubramanian, K; Lesperance, John; Mead Richardson, Alison; Daniel, John
    International Lifelong Learning Conference, “Transforming Nations through Enculturation of Lifelong Learning” Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, 14-15 November 2011, Lifelong Learning in the Commonwealth: Issues and Challenges by Dr. Balasubramanian Kodhandaraman, Mr. John Lesperance, Ms. Alison Mead Richardson & Sir John Daniel, Commonwealth of Learning // We give examples of how the Commonwealth of Learning (COL) is helping countries to expand and improve lifelong learning. After describing COL and its working context we examine some of the issues and challenges in three of its initiatives. // Governments are shifting their educational priorities from academic programmes to skills development but conventional institutional approaches to technical and vocational education and training (TVET) cannot meet the huge needs. Countries must adopt flexible methods of skills development that make training available wherever people live (distance learning) and expand skills development in support of the informal economy in which many work. We describe how member institutions of the Commonwealth Association of Polytechnics in Africa are facing the challenge of implementing such approaches. // Through ten years of action research, COL and its collaborators have developed a successful model for increasing rural prosperity known as Lifelong Learning for Farmers (L3F). The model works by rendering more effective, for all participants, a value chain that brings together farmers, banks, knowledge providers and communications systems. One issue is to take advantage of new approaches (e.g. to banking) and new technologies (e.g. using cell phones instead of ICT kiosks). The key challenge is to ensure the self-replication of the model. Sustaining current projects is not enough. // eLearning is playing an ever larger role in education and training. The small countries of the Commonwealth (a majority of its member states) are working together to strengthen their tertiary institutions by collaborating in the development of programmes to achieve economies of scale and better quality. The collaborative mechanism is the Virtual University for Small States of the Commonwealth (VUSSC), an idea conceived by Education Ministers in 2000. It is being implemented through professional training, course development, new approaches to delivering eLearning, and the use of a Transnational Qualifications Framework (TQF). A key challenge is to embed the VUSSC’s outputs in the life of the tertiary institutions.
  • Item
    Open Access
    Message to State Resource Centre Kerala on the launch of the Certificate in Community Development by Distance Learning
    (2014-12) Mead Richardson, Alison
    Video presented at State Resource Centre Kerala (December 2014) by Dr. Alison Mead Richardson, Education Specialist, Technical and Vocational Skills Development. Duration: 3:18 // Resource contains a video link as well as a PDF document of the transcript.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Open Access
    The Role of the Focal Point
    (2018-02-16) Mead Richardson, Alison
    Presented by Dr Alison Mead Richardson, Education Specialist: Technical & Vocational Skills Development, Commonwealth of Learning, at the Pacific COL Focal Points Meeting, 16 February 2018, Nadi, Fiji.
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Open Access
    Success Factors in Introducing Distance, Flexible & eLearning in Technical and Vocational Skills Development
    (2011-12-01) Mead Richardson, Alison
    The EduVision 2011 International Conference 1-2 December 2011 Jamaica Conference Center, Kingston, Success Factors in introducing Distance, Flexible and eLearning into Technical and Vocational Skills Development, Alison Mead Richardson, Education Specialist Skills Development, Commonwealth of Learning // Through working with eleven partner institutions in six African countries, Commonwealth of Learning is supporting the achievement of national education objectives through local solutions using educational media and technology in technical and vocational education and training (TVET). Lessons have been learned about the process which may be useful in other national contexts. We begin by looking at the drivers for ICT in TVET and how ICT is being integrated. The paper proposes a four-dimensional model for assessing institutional readiness for new approaches which facilitate the best opportunities for success. It describes how a combination of online and face-to-face training coupled with the development of a community of practice on a social networking platform is contributing to individual, institutional and system development. Although still in the early stages of this work, a formative evaluation of the process of introducing distance, flexible and elearning into TVET has revealed a set of success factors which may be useful for consideration in other countries. Finally, opportunities for partnerships between educational consortia and ICT companies, to support technology use in TVET, are explored.
  • Item
    Metadata only
    Technical and Vocational Skills Development
    (2014) Mead Richardson, Alison
    In this video, Dr. Alison Mead Richardson, Education Specialist - Technical & Vocational Skills Development, Commonwealth of Learning, presents COL's Technical and Vocational Skills Development Programme Initiative. 2014
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Open Access
    Technology Enabled Learning for Sustainable Development
    (2018-05-31) Mead Richardson, Alison
    Presented by Dr Alison Mead Richardson, Education Specialist: Technical & Vocational Skills Development, Commonwealth of Learning, at the International Forum on Dual Education & Corporate Responsibility, Puebla, Mexico, 31 May 2018.
  • Item
    Open Access
    World Report on TVET The Promise and Potential of ICT in TVET
    (2015-05) Mead Richardson, Alison; Herd, George
    This chapter of the World Report considers the global evidence for the efficacy of the use of ICTs in the delivery of technical and vocational education and training (TVET). During the last decade there has been increased focus on the use of ICT for the management and delivery of TVET in both developed and developing nations. Countries are in different stages of development from the industrial to the information age and are establishing strategies to reform TVET to meet the changing demands of the knowledge economy. The concept of knowledge economy is used here to mean “an economy where knowledge is the main engine of economic growth” (Chen & Dahlman 2005). This is a position to which many countries, both developed and developing, aspire. The European Union’s strategic goal, agreed in Lisbon in 2000 was that ten years later, Europeans will live in the most competitive, and dynamic knowledge-based economy in the world. Many countries expect the ICT revolution to spur their economic development and transition to knowledge economies. The knowledge economy is underpinned by information technology – those systems which collect, enhance and commodify knowledge to support high value services and processes. In parallel, a wider ‘knowledge society’ is expected to develop, with knowledge being used to improve public services such as health and education.