Browsing by Region "Europe"
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Publication15th Triennial Conference of Commonwealth Education Ministers( 2003-10-30)Notes for Remarks to Commonwealth Education Ministers 15th triennial Conference of Commonwealth Education Ministers (15CCEM) Edinburgh, Scotland, 30 October 2003 by Mr. Lewis Perinbam, O.C. Chairman of the Board of Governors, Commonwealth of Learning // As the new Chairman of the Commonwealth of Learning I am honoured to speak to you briefly on behalf of COL's Board of Governors. I count it a privilege to have been asked to become its Chairman. I accepted this invitation because of my respect and admiration for COL's impressive achievements since it was created fifteen years ago - and my desire to contribute to its advancement. And because I consider that COL adds new dimensions to Commonwealth cooperation and enhances the Commonwealth. -
Publication15th triennial Conference of Commonwealth Education Ministers (15CCEM), Edinburgh, Scotland (27 - 30 October 2003)( 2003-10)Notes for Remarks to Commonwealth Education Ministers, 15th triennial Conference of Commonwealth Education Ministers (15CCEM) Edinburgh, Scotland, 30 October 2003 by Mr. Lewis Perinbam, O.C. Chairman of the Board of Governors, Commonwealth of Learning
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Publication4d Technologies: Can ICT Make a Real Difference in Achieving the Goal of Universal Primary Education?( 2004-07)PCF3 // Working paper presented by Jenny Leach and Bob Moon at the Pan-Commonwealth Forum on Open Learning (PCF3) in Dunedin, New Zealand.
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PublicationA Business Led Approach to Open Learning( 1999-03)PCF1 // A business-led approach // There is a trend throughout the world for organizations to invest predominately in development that will support their business goals and change. Organizations are also increasingly expecting individual members of their workforce to manage their own learning and commit a great proportion of their free time to company-led learning initiatives. Open Learning is seen by many organizations as on ideal vehicle for developing their people, so long as the development results in a competent work force and an improvement in business performance. //
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PublicationA commonwealth 'Credit Bank'( 1999-03)PCF1 // In March 1995 the Commonwealth of Learning (CoL) commissioned the UK Open University to explore the establishment of a Commonwealth 'credit bank'. The final report was published in February 1997, Adam et al (1997). // Two main functions were envisaged: // · The establishment of Commonwealth-wide credit equivalencies for distance learning courses; // · The provision of a central agency through which the credit could be accumulated and applied to credentials. // The study drew on earlier work by the CoL which identified the advantages of developing credit transfer arrangements between Commonwealth distance education programmes. // Recent pedagogic developments have resulted in universities worldwide exploring ways of crediting students' previous learning, facilitating student mobility, encouraging the recognition of qualifications for academic and vocational purposes and collaborating in the production of course materials. Technological developments, particularly the rapid increase in the availability of the internet, have opened up new possibilities and potential demand for the transfer of learning credit. // In view of this and changed economic circumstances we have revised our original proposals. This paper seeks to make discuss those proposals, and to provide a background to the discussion of case studies. //
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PublicationA Learncasting Exchange: Using a Mobile-Enabled Electronic Market to Enhance Regional Education and Economic Development( 2006-10)PCF4 // This paper will introduce an online ‘learncasting exchange' and discuss how it might help to enhance the education of young people and the economic development of a region. // The paper will start with a background discussion covering a number of diverse areas of relevance to using technology to improve prospects for education and regional development. The topics to be covered include: // Economic development // The mobile phone and mobile commerce // Approaches to learning // Electronic markets // Blended learning // Open source software and // Object technology // The paper will then summarise these disparate ideas to distil the key guidelines encapsulated in this writing. It will then use these principles to guide the planning and implementation of an open source application designed to offer some concrete assistance in facilitating the kind of educational and economic development sought by the leaders of the Caribbean and elsewhere. // The paper will finish by outlining the kind of future research and development which might prove useful in this area, and discussing the potential implications of the key deliverables. // Paper ID 298
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PublicationA Recipe for a Good Blend( 2002-07)PCF2 // Working paper presented by Michael Alford at the Second Pan-Commonwealth Forum on Open Learning (PCF2) in Durban, South Africa. //
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PublicationAccess to Higher Education, Language and Academic Literacy( 2008-09)PCF5 Sub-theme: Governance and social justice // The Open University in Scotland’s Learning Development Team’s remit includes educational development and working to widen access to higher education. This paper reports on work in progress with refugees, asylum seekers and new migrants in Scotland. Over the last two years, the team has worked in partnership with other educational institutions and with agencies supporting refugees, asylum seekers and new migrants. Practical outcomes of this work include a guidance pack and website and the development of a self-diagnostic resource for individuals whose first language isn’t English. The paper outlines the evolution of this activity and highlights some of the issues that have arisen. These are discussed in the context of a selective review of the literature on the creation of transnational identities. The review focuses on work, education and the importance of language skills. Based on reflection on experience and insights from the literature it is argued that a better understanding of the interaction between the development of language skills and academic literacy is important for supporting adult migrants into the education system in the ‘host’ country. // Paper ID 213
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PublicationAccess to Learning for Development( 2007-05-17)Launch of the 5th Pan-Commonwealth Forum on Open Learning, University of London, 17 May 2007, Access to Learning for Development, Remarks by Sir John Daniel, Commonwealth of Learning // It is a great pleasure to be here with our colleagues from the University of London to participate in the launch of the 5th Pan-Commonwealth Forum on Open Learning. I am particularly delighted that my former UNESCO colleague Dr Abdul Khan was able to give the keynote address. He and I were appointed Assistant Directors-General at UNESCO at the same time at the end of the year 2000 but our links go back longer than that. We have both led open universities, he in India, me in the UK, and we have both worked for the Commonwealth of Learning. Today UNESCO and the Commonwealth of Learning are working together to harness information, communications and educational technologies to development. I thank him for his inspiring words. // The Commonwealth of Learning is delighted to be working with the University of London to put on the 5th Pan-Commonwealth Forum on Open Learning here in London in July next year. Let me begin with a few words about the Commonwealth of Learning before I talk about the Forum itself.
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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.
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PublicationAchieving SDG 4: Are ICTs the Answer( 2018-11-06)Presented by Professor Asha Kanwar, President & CEO, Commonwealth of Learning, at the United Nationals Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO), Paris, France, 6 November 2018, to address how ICTs can help achieve progress towards the Sustainable Development Goals.
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PublicationAchieving SDG 4: Are ICTs the Answer?( 2019-01-24)Presented by Professor Asha Kanwar, President & CEO, Commonwealth of Learning, at the Education Ministers Action Group (EMAG), London, UK, 24 January 2019.
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PublicationActive Learning and Open Learning (Case Study)( 1999-03)PCF1 // Working paper presented by Judith Greene at the First Pan-Commonwealth Forum on Open Learning (PCF1) in Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei Darussalam. //
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PublicationAddressing the Teacher Gap through Open and Distance Learning: the Work of the Commonwealth of Learning( 2009-06-22)Meeting of the International Task Force on ‘Teachers for Education for All’, UNESCO HQ, Paris, 22 June 2009, Stamenka Uvalić-Trumbić (UNESCO), Abdurrahman Umar & Sir John Daniel (COL) // In its Teacher Education work COL starts from the challenge of the desperate shortage of teachers in both developing and developed countries. Many millions of teachers need training or retraining. This is a challenge of scale that, in COL’s view, can only be addressed by using technology, particularly the technologies of open and distance learning, ODL.
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PublicationAdventures of a Former Open University Vice-Chancellor in International Development( 2009-12-05)Association of Open University Graduates, London, 5 December 2009, By Sir John Daniel, Commonwealth of Learning // Thank you so much for this invitation. During my time as Vice-Chancellor I very much appreciated the existence and work of the AOUG. Those were the days when the OU put in place the University-run alumni operation. That serves an important purpose but it seemed to me important to encourage AOUG, as an independent association to continue its work, which has – or had in my day as VC – a stronger academic focus with a journal and meetings such as this. /// However, I am not going to give you an academic lecture. My title is Adventures of a former OU Vice-Chancellor in International Development and these remarks will be by turns autobiographical, anecdotal and analytical. // There is life after being Vice-Chancellor of the Open University! Looking back my eleven years at the OU were undoubtedly the high point of my career for both achievement and enjoyment. It was also my longest tenure in any job. The OU is an extraordinary institution and serving it was a huge privilege. Before I came to the OU I had been associated, either as student or staff member, with half a dozen universities in Canada, France and the UK. None of them came close to the OU in idealism, student centeredness and intellectual rigour in both teaching and administration. Nor did any give students such a large role in the running of the university. // Another very rewarding feature of the OU was the longevity of its students. In other universities students are there for three or four years. Some become active in student and university affairs in their second year but then focus on other things in their final year, so you are dealing with students who know little about how the committees work and have no institutional memory. Contrast this to the OU where OUSA has a better institutional memory than most of the staff! This not only gives more maturity and a greater sense of common purpose to debates in Senate and Council, but also allows OU staff to get to know well some of the student and graduate representatives on these bodies.
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PublicationAfrica Focal Points Meeting( 2020-04)Presentation by Professor Asha Kanwar, COL President and CEO, at the online Focal Points Meeting for Africa and Europe, April 28-29, 2020.
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PublicationAgriculture for Sustainable Livelihood through DE( 2006-10)PCF4 // The Open University with the assistance of Operation Days Work of Norway has launched in 2005, a certificate programme on Agriculture for Sustainable Livelihood. This is a follow up programme of the Rural Communication Project that was completed in 2004, undertaken by the Rural Research Unit (RRU) of OUSL and COL, which identified technologies that are of immediate relevance to the rural poor. The ability of the rural people to adapt technologies to suit their needs was demonstrated. RRU decided to embark on a programme for the rural youth using a combination of distance learning methods and learning by doing. Norwegian Operation Day’s Work approved the concept of taking technology to underserved distant regions to empower youth to seek livelihoods in their own situation instead of migrating to the urban areas. The Open University began the programme, operating five rural study centres in remote locations catering to 90 students, supported by five animators. The programme is conducted in Sinhala and Tamil using printed material supported by work done using local resources. The main activities chosen by the students address rural food needs and value addition to agricultural produce. On completion of the students’ projects, in March 2006, the students will be awarded a certificate in Agriculture for Sustainable Livelihood. Plans are afoot to expand the programme to two more centres from this year. In the coming years emphasis will be paid to meeting energy needs, as it has been identified as a crucial constraint that hampers rural development. // Paper ID 35
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PublicationAm I good Enough? The Mediated use of Open Educational Resources to Empower Learners in Excluded Communities( 2008-09)PCF5 Sub-theme: Governance and social justice // This paper explores the issues involved in providing education to excluded communities and reviews some case studies where the mediated use of open educational resources available from the UK Open University’s OpenLearn website has empowered socially excluded groups. It argues that the successful use of e-learning in the long term is dependent on appropriate interventions within excluded groups and communities, and that open educational resources provide a safer option for them to gain confidence and competence and so become more empowered. // Paper ID 405
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PublicationAsa Briggs Lecture: Educational Resilience in Times of Division( 2022-09-14)Asa Briggs Lecture presented by Professor Tim Blackman, Vice-Chancellor, The Open University, at the Tenth Pan-Commonwealth Forum on Open Learning (PCF10), in Calgary, Canada on 14 September 2022.
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PublicationAsa Briggs Lecture: New Technologies: New Possibilities for Reaching the Unreached( 2008-07-15)Asa Briggs Lecture presented by Professor Brenda Gourley, Vice-Chancellor, Open University in UK, at the Fifth Pan-Commonwealth Forum on Open Learning, 15 July 2008, London, United Kingdom.