05. Pan-Commonwealth Forum 5 (PCF5), 2008

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Browsing 05. Pan-Commonwealth Forum 5 (PCF5), 2008 by Subject "Capacity Building"

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    Capacity Building in ICT Across Nine Developing Countries
    (2008) Greenop, Kirston
    PCF5: Cross-Cutting Themes // Mindset Network is a non government organisation (NGO) which creates open digital educational content that is aligned to national policies and curricula. The digital format of this content includes multi-media, video and print and is made available via satellite technology. The quality assured content is made available to Health education sites and Schools through a website, satellite broadcasts and DVDs. Mindset is partnered with the South African government departments of Health and Educational and provides leadership and innovation in the arena of ICT. // In September 2004, the Department of Education, South Africa, published the white paper on e-Education. The aim of this paper is and was to accelerate learning and teaching within the developing world. The challenge that the developing world faces is to build capacity among educators and educational policy makers in order to implement and utilize the opportunities that ICTs present. To this end, Mindset Network, in collaboration with an educational specialist from the Commonwealth of Learning, designed and developed a two-week capacity building workshop focusing on developing digital educational materials for distance and open learning. Educational representatives from various developing countries in Africa and Asia attended. // The workshop was participatory in nature with Mindset facilitating the learning and production of digital content in print, video and multi-media. The project was evaluated consistently and in a triangulated manner, across all levels, for efficiency, effectiveness, impact, sustainability and relevance. Results demonstrated that positive features of such a capacity building workshop rested on key areas: participation with ones peers, sharing knowledge and experiences, being able to implement new lessons, consistent feedback and evaluation. The format and lessons learnt form this workshop are presented. // Paper ID 84
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    Open Access
    Capacity Building in Open and Distance Learning (ODL) for Agricultural Development in Zambia
    (2008) Chikoye, Mungule D; Siaciwena, Richard
    In its efforts to reduce poverty and improve food security, the Government of Zambia has given priority to agriculture. However, this sector faces a lot of challenges such as the need for trained human resource. // In order to address this challenge, agricultural training institutions need to supply adequate trained human resource to the agricultural sector. One of such institutions is the Natural Resources Development College (NRDC), which is the only public institution offering diploma courses in various fields of agriculture. However, due to inadequate resources and limited physical facilities, NRDC cannot meet the human resource needs of this sector from its residential courses. // As a means of increasing its capacity, the College has introduced an ODL programme. Since the college has no experience in ODL, there was a need to develop capacity in this area. Therefore the In-Service Trust of Zambia (ISTT) and the Directorate of Distance Education (DDE) at the University of Zambia (UNZA) developed a capacity development programme in consultation with NRDC. // The first phase of the programme involved conducting training workshops in Instructional Design and Materials Development. This was because an analysis of the characteristics and situational circumstances of prospective learners showed that the print medium would be the most appropriate mode of delivery. Subsequent training activities will concentrate on other aspects of ODL such as management and learner support. // The paper highlights the importance of agriculture in Zambia and the rationale for adopting ODL in developing human resources for the agricultural sector at NRDC. It also describes the nature of the programme, the output from the first phase and the level of commitment by the college management to provide the necessary resources for the programme, a critical success factor. // Paper ID 560