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1 A Newsletter of the Commonwealth Educational Media Centre for Asia Vol. 18 No. 3 July 2014 In this issue Guest Column 2 Spotlight On 6 Worth While Web 8 CEMCA News 9 Case Study 15 Regional Round Up 18 Book Reviews 19 SMART Tips 21 Technology Tracking 22 Forthcoming Events 24 1994 - 2014 Commonwealth Educational Media Centre for Asia
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Page 1: EduComAsia, July 2014

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A Newsletter of the Commonwealth Educational Media Centre for AsiaVol. 18 No. 3 July 2014

In this issue

Guest Column 2

Spotlight On 6

Worth While Web 8

CEMCA News 9

Case Study 15

Regional Round Up 18

Book Reviews 19

SMART Tips 21

Technology Tracking 22

Forthcoming Events 24

1994 - 2014

Commonwealth Educational Media

Centre for Asia

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Guest Column...

Information andCommunicationsTechnology as a ChangeAgent for Higher Education

By Uma Coomaraswamy

This is an edited version of the Keynote presentation delivered by Prof.Coomaraswamy at the Regional Workshop on ICT Leadership in Higher Education atKandy, Sri Lanka, organized by Commonwealth Educational Media Centre for Asia(CEMCA) and Open University of Sri Lanka for the senior leaders of Sri Lanka and

the region.

“The significant problem we

face cannot be solved at the

same level of thinking we were

at when we created them”

- Albert Einstein

How is the World of HigherEducation Changing?

The nature of work and expectationsabout the role of higher education and thebasis of the role of graduates in economiclife are changing as a result of:

• Knowledge society;

• Increasing uncertainty;

• ICT revolution;

• High performance workplaces;

• Globalization; and

• Change of the economic structure.

Universities are expected to produceversatile and engaging graduates withmultidisciplinary knowledge and manycapabilities. Universities have acommitment to equip graduates with 21st

century skills, i.e. a set of essential skillsthat qualified graduates must possess inorder to survive and work in this digitalage. 21st Century Learning OutcomesProject has identified eight clusters ofsuch skills (Table 1).

Understanding the student body and howthey learn, the different trends on thelabor market and its efforts on the skills

Technology Skills Acquiring computer literacy and internet skills retrieving andmanaging information via technology

Communication Skills Reading, writing, speaking, listening

Computation Skills Understanding and applying mathematical concepts andreasoning, analyzing and using mathematical data

Critical Thinking and Evaluating, analysis, synthesis, decision making, creative thinkingProblem Solving Skills

Information Collecting, analyzing and organizing information from variety ofManagement Skills sources

Interpersonal Skills Developing teamwork, relationship management, conflictresolution and workplace skills

Personal Skills Understanding self, managing change, learning to learn, takingpersonal responsibilities, understanding aesthetic responsivenessand wellness.

Community Skills Building ethical, citizenship, diversity/pluralism and localcommunity, global and environmental awareness.

Table 1: 21st Century Skills

that graduates need to have in order tostay employable is only the first piece ofthe puzzle.

In order to make use of this knowledge weneed to understand the features of highereducation that enables students(graduates-to-be) to develop these skills.The major shift in higher education isfrom instructional paradigm to learningparadigm with the driver in thistransformation of education beingadvances in ICTs. Increasingly aspects ofteaching and learning are being mediatedthrough ICTs, both on- and off-campus.

The character of higher education (HE) isalso changing. Delivery of HE is changingboth in perception and implementation.Research and developments fromdistance educators, such as practitionersof Open Universities, are now setting theagenda for ICT use in HE in general.Thanks to the global reach of Internetbased technologies, virtual educationnow occupies a point beyond distance atone end of the continuum from distanceto F2F, while at the other, flexible, blendedand distributed learning whichincorporate elements of tutor mediated orself-directed, resource based, online

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learning feature in the life of most campussituations. Many traditional universitiesof the developed world are adapting ablended learning approach, that is,merging of face-to-face (F2F) andtechnology mediated learning.

In the developing world so far ICT hasbeen introduced into conventionalsystems largely as a supplement toexisting teaching and learning practices.There is still much to be done in terms ofexploiting ICT for rich pedagogical uses,(ie. enhanced forms of teaching andlearning) and for serving learners indifferent target groups.

Vice-Chancellor of the University of SouthQueensland, in 2004, posed a question —will universities become extinct in thenetworked world? He argued“that present traditional approachesbased on conventional classroomteaching and learning and ahierarchical bureaucratic academicstructure would not be capable ofmeeting the escalating demand of HE inthe knowledge society and that theuniversities must therefore adapt or facethe fate of dinosaurs”.

Proportion of Type of course Typical descriptioncontent deliveredonline

0 % Traditional Course with no online technology used-content is delivered in writing or orally.

1 to 29% Web facilitated Course which uses web-based technology tofacilitate what is essentially a face-to-facecourse. Might use black board or WebCT topost the syllabus and assignments, forexample.

30 to 79% Blended/Hybrid Course that is a blend of the online and face-to-face course. Substantial proportion of thecontent is delivered online, typically has someface-to-face meetings.

80+% Online A course where the vast bulk of the content isdelivered online. Typically has no face-to-facemeeting.

100% Virtual Fully online.

Box: Typical learning environments

Primary focus of this guest column is onthe use of ICT on teaching and learning.However ICT has impacted on everyaspect of operations of universities. Whatmight be a new paradigm of highereducation?

Paradigm Shift in HigherEducation

Education is seen as the macro term whichincludes the concepts teaching andlearning. Teaching and learning areinherently intertwined. The move towardsan information economy and knowledgesociety necessitates a change in theapproach to teaching and learning. Majorshift has been from the centuries oldmodel of ‘instructional paradigm’(knowledge adoption era) to ‘learningparadigm’ (knowledge production era).

In its briefest form in instructionalparadigm, teacher was the ‘sage on thestage’, and primary source of knowledge(teacher-centred) transferring it tostudents, whereas in the learningparadigm teacher facilitates the learningprocess as a ‘guide on the side’.

Knowledge production is the centralissue of what teaching and learning is;thus the focus of learning is on ‘creating,producing’ knowledge to an experiencethat brings students to discover andconstruct knowledge for themselves andtake responsibility for their own learning(student-centred) in the learningparadigm.

Hence responsibility is a ‘Win Win’ gamewhere in two agents (teacher and student)take responsibility for the same outcomethough neither is in complete control ofall the variables. Measurement ofsuccess is often based on inputs andprocesses in the instructional paradigm.

On the other hand success is measuredby student learning and successoutcomes and quality of exiting studentsin the learning paradigm (Kelly, 2003). Theshift from the ‘instructional paradigm’ to‘learning paradigm’ creates tremendouspressure for change on all components ofthe educational system and practices. Ithas a profound implication for what istaught, how teachers teach, how it islearned, how students are tested and howHE institutions are structured. This hassignificant implications in changes foreducational policy.

Reaching the goal of the learningparadigm will require the integration ofseveral critical approaches:

• Ultimate goal is a transition to studentcentred communities which can beachieved with student centredtechnology.

• Transitioning to student centredtechnology will requiretransformational faculty development

• Transformational development mustbe coupled with the institutionalchange

• Course management system will be acritical enabling force driving theinstitutional change.

Putting learning at the heart of academicenterprise will mean overhauling the

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conceptual procedural curricula and otherarchitecture of university education.

Hastening the potential for that overhaulwas the emergence of ICT as a changeagent. While the role of the teacher firstshifted from ‘teaching’ to ‘learningfacilitation’ — the later shift is towards‘facilitated and supported enquiry’. Thecontemporary educational paradigmsfocus not only on the production ofknowledge, but arebeginning to focus moreand more on the effectiveapplication/ integration/manipulation of existinginformation and knowledge.

ICT as a ChangeAgent: the main driverof the paradigm shift

The first revolution relatingto education came with the invention ofwritten language which meant that for thefirst time people could store informationand retrieve it without needing to rely onmemory.

The second revolution that occurred inthe middle of the 15th century came withthe invention of the Guttenberg’s printingpress. With this revolution information inbooks and pamphlets could bedisseminated much more widely andquickly.

The 3rd revolution brought about by ICTwhich embraces many technologies forcapturing, interpreting, storing andtransmitting information, is acceleratingthe dissemination of information andknowledge.

Throughout much of the 20th centuryefforts were made to introduce newtechnologies into teaching and learning.Information and communicationstechnology (ICT) is increasingly utilizedby higher education institutionsworldwide. ICT is emerging as a part ofon-campus delivery as well as open anddistance modalities of higher educationdelivery.

In Asian countries, higher educationinstitutions have been using both low andhigh technologies, and many that havebeen using low technologies such asanalogue broadcast radio and televisionand print have been gradually moving intandem with the evolution oftechnologies, i.e. from analogue to thedigital realm using the Internet, theWWW and developing multimedia.

The advent of the Internet and thetransformation ofinformation into digitalformat and later emergenceof newer technologiessuch as wiki, blogs,podcasts, and mobiletelephones have alsobegun to influence manyinstitutions (ADB, 2012).With the introduction ofeach new technology boldclaims have been made

about significant impact they would haveon the education system. Each newtechnology came to be incorporated intothe traditional form of instruction butalways on the margin and the educationalsystems remained fundamentallyunchanged (Kozma, 2011).

The impact of ICT on learning is currentlydiscussed almost entirely in relation to theuse of new technologies. These newtechnologies are significantly morepowerful than the previous technologies;the power of the term comes from theconvergence of the ever increasinginformation processing capabilities ofcomputers and the information exchangecapabilities of networks.

Whereas the old technologies are capableof distributing information in variousforms, the new technologies fit with theeducation system that is tuned toknowledge creation and that is alignedwith the emerging technological,economic and social paradigm whichdemand a very different response fromthe educational system, one more orientedto the information economy andknowledge society.

Within this paradigm, the multimediacapabilities of computers providestudents with personalized instructionand interactive animations, games andsimulations that can make complexconcepts and systems moreunderstandable. The interactiveproductive capabilities of ICTs allow bothteachers and students to engage incollaborative projects and investigate andgenerate their own knowledge products.The networking capability of ICTs allowsboth teachers and students to work withdistant collaborators, participate inknowledge building communities andaccess outside mentors, experts,scientists and business people. Inaddition knowledge resources andproductive capabilities are available on an‘anywhere’, ‘anytime’ basis inside andoutside the institution. Thus, ICT enablededucation will ultimately lead todemocratization of education.

Impact of ICT on HigherEducation

Education policy makers want to knowthe research findings that test the hypeand bold claims of technology advocates.They want evidence to justify thesignificant financial investments that areneeded to integrate ICT into theeducation system. They want to know ifthe use of ICTs makes a difference inteaching and learning. Many studies havebeen made to evaluate the educationalimpact of ICTs, i.e. inputs on students,classroom and institutions and outcomes.The new ICTs have made it possible tochange institutional thinking about howinstruction can be delivered, about wholearns, how to learn and when and wherethey learn.

More and more institutions are usingICTs for many reasons:

• Improved student outcomes withregard to motivation, self-esteem, ICTskills, collaborative skills, subjectknowledge, information handlingskills, metacognitive skills, etc. andreputation for the programmes;

Putting learning at the

heart of academic

enterprise will mean

overhauling the

conceptual procedural

curricula and other

architecture of

university education

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• Increased engagement in programmeson the part of both teachers andstudents;

• Increased retention and enrollment;

• Increased flexibility of delivery;

• Increased quality of learning andlearner’s performance;

• Increased credibility with government,funding agencies stemming from theperception that uses of ICTs increasethe institution’s ability to servelearners;

• New market niches;

• Facilitates changing the orientation ofclassroom of conventional systemsinto a learner-centred environment;

• Impact on open educational resources(OER) movement;

• Serves as a vehicle and a platform formeaningful educational reform gearedtoward a shift from didacticinstructivism to constructivism.

ICTs have been used far beyondenhancing teaching and learning toinclude promoting research, scholarlycommunity engagement andadministration. Young (2002) describesthe convergence of online and face-to-face instruction at several universities asthe ‘single greatest unrecognized trend inhigher education today’.

Factors influencing the use ofICT in Higher Education

A number of studies have shown thatthere are wide ranging factors whichinfluence educator’s under-utilisation ofICT in their teaching and learning. Thefundamental factors influencing the use ofICT in teaching learning have beenidentified by researchers: teacher’sattitudes, professional development ofteachers, technical support, leadershipsupport, pressure to use technology,institutional policies and support, e-readiness, access to resources, ease ofuse, incentives to change, andgovernment policies and support.

Need for Organizational Change

To respond to taking advantages of the

opportunities possible through ICT,policy makers need to make crucialchanges. These outcomes do not emergesimply by introducing computers into thelearning setting. An appropriate policyframework should cover the following:

• Use of ICTs to higher educationalproblems,

• Significant investment in trainingteachers and managers to changemindsets and increase theirknowledge in ICT application toteaching and learning and inadministration,

• Availability of qualified teachers andsupport staff,

• Funding for maintenance, and

• Access to Internet and upgrading issustainable.

These conditions are rarely met especiallyin developing countries. Many argue thatthe potential impact of the implementationof ICT in higher education will not beobservable without organizational changeat the level of the whole system (Youssefand Dahmani, 2008). ICT should beintegrated in the educational system. Atpresent ICT integration remains sporadicwithout clear direction. Access to ICT bystudents and teachers has begun. Yet, itsuse supports traditional teaching ratherthan the shift to new roles andpedagogical practices. Too often theemphasis is on equipment than onopportunities for teachers to teach andexperiment effectively.

Conclusion

There are massive benefits that can bederived from effective usage of ICT in HE.But there are intervening issues,conditions, and situational contexts thatencourage or hinder effective use oftechnology in different settings, andtherefore the impact that technologywould have on different audiences. Theimpact of ICT on teaching and learningwould therefore vary according tocircumstances of a given case, and weshould be weary of “one-size fits-allsolutions”. ICT intervention meets aneducational need and adds value to theeducational activity.

HE in developing countries has to beinnovative and leverage in thedevelopment of ICT to provide moreaccessible, affordable, efficient, andrelevant quality HE. For those institutionswho accept the challenge this will be anexciting adventure. For those who do notaccept the challenge or perhaps do notbelieve that it is necessary to do so forthe sake of our youth I suspect might beon their way to becoming ‘dinosaurs’.

We cannot do it alone. This is not a timefor competition - for winners and losers,but rather a time for collaboration. It isalso a time for strong intellectualleadership.

Today’s job should be done with today’stools. You can’t expect to meet the

challenges of today with yesterday’stools and expect to be in business

tomorrow”.

References

ADB (2012). Access Without Equity? Finding a Better Balance in Higher Education in Asia. AsianDevelopment Bank: Manila

Kelly, D.K. (2003). Outcomes Approach to Higher Education Quality. Cited in ADB (2012).

Kozma, R.(2011). ‘The Technological, Economical, and Social Context for Education’. In ICTpolicies in Transforming Education: The Role of ICT Policies, UNESCO: Paris

Young, T. (2002). The 24-hour Professor. The Chronicle of Higher Education, 48 (38), pp. 31-33

Youssef, Adel Ben and Dahmani, Mounir (2008). ‘The Impact of ICT on Student Performance inHigher Education: Direct Effects, Indirect Effects and Organisational Change’. TheEconomics of Learning RUSC, 5, pp. 45-53

Dr. Coomaraswamy is an Emeritus Professor of Botany and a former Vice Chancellor ofOpen University of Sri Lanka. The Commonwealth of Learning conferred the title ofHonanrary Fellow on her in 2008. She can be reached at umacoom[at]gmail[dot]com

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Higher Education Commission, Pakistan

By Manas Ranjan Panigrahi and Ankuran Dutta

Spotlight On...

The National EducationPolicy, Pakistan of 2009 (p.17)says ‘Our education systemmust provide qualityeducation to our children andyouth to enable them torealize their individualpotential and contribute todevelopment of society and nation,creating a sense of Pakistani nationhood,the concepts of tolerance, social justice,democracy, their regional and local cultureand history based on the basic ideologyenunciated in the Constitution of theIslamic Republic of Pakistan.’

In Pakistan, 1,558 degree colleges and 135universities are providing highereducation of which about 74% degreecolleges and 56% universities are underpublic sector. About 64,000 teachers areengaged in the higher education institutesof the country1. To facilitate the institutesof higher learning to serve as an engine ofgrowth for the socio-economicdevelopment of Pakistan, the HigherEducation Commission has beenestablished. The gross enrolment ratio(GER) in higher education in Pakistan isfar below the world’s average. ThePresident of Pakistan in a messagevisualised an enhancement from 2.6% to5% of GER in higher education by 20092.

The Higher Education Commission (HEC)of Pakistan is an independent,

autonomous, and constitutionallyestablished institution primarily forfunding, overseeing, regulating, andaccrediting the higher education efforts inPakistan. Preceded by the UniversityGrant Commission of Pakistan in 2002 by aconstitutional amendment, theuniversities were formerly accredited bythe UGC established in 1947; theinstitution was revived in 1974 and cameits modern form in 2002 with additionalexecutive reforms granted by theconstitution. Under the new and revisedreform, the HEC is responsible forformulating higher education policy andquality assurance to meet theinternational standards as well asaccrediting academic degrees,development of new institutions, anduplift of existing institutions in Pakistan.

The five-year agenda for reform wasoutlined in the HEC Medium TermDevelopment Framework (MTDF), inwhich Access, Quality, and Relevancewere identified as the key challengesfaced by the sector. To address thesechallenges a comprehensive strategy was

defined that identified the core strategicaims for reform as (i) FacultyDevelopment, (ii) Improving Access, (iii)Excellence in Learning and Research, and(iv) Relevance to National Priorities.These strategic aims are supported bywell-integrated cross-cutting themes fordeveloping Leadership, Governance, andManagement, enhancing Quality

Assessment andAccreditation and Physicaland TechnologicalInfrastructure Development.

The HEC also facilitated thedevelopment of highereducational system in thecountry with main purpose of

upgrading the 118 Universities andInstitutions in the country to be focalpoint of the higher learning, research, anddevelopment. Over the several years, theHEC plays an important and leading roletowards building a knowledge basedeconomy in Pakistan by giving outhundreds of doctoral scholarships foreducation abroad every year.

Higher Education Commissiondedicatedly carryout the manyprogrammes for the proper developmentin the higher education sector. Mainprogrammes of HEC are:

• Degree Attestation

• Faculty development

• Curriculum revision

• Higher education infrastructuredevelopment

• Indigenous scholarships

• Foreign scholarships

• Patent filing support

• Conference travel grants

• Increase industry and universityresearch collaboration

• Developing new technology parks1 Pakistan Education Statistics 2010-11. http://www.aepam.edu.pk/Files/Education Statistics/PakistanEducationStatistics2010-11.pdf

2 http://www.hec.gov.pk/InsideHEC/AboutHEC/PresidentofPakistan/Pages/newmain.aspx

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With regards to faculty development

programme, scholarships have beenawarded under the indigenous PhD

programme, undertaking measures at each

step of the process to ensure thatinternational standards of quality are not

compromised. Supervisors guiding the

PhD scholars in the pursuit of researchexcellence are carefully screened to

ensure they possess adequate teaching

and research record. The foreignscholarship programmes have been

geared towards improving the research

base in areas of key national relevancewhere the requisite facilities are not

available within Pakistan, particularly in

areas relating to engineering, applied andpure sciences. Selected via an

independent and rigorous screening

process, PhD scholars have proceeded toGermany, France, Austria, Netherlands,

Korea, and China. In addition, scholars

have also been sent to premier researchinstitutions in the US, UK, Australia and

New Zealand. After years of sending

scholars abroad, Pakistan has finallybegun to see the return of scholars back

to the country. During 2007, already more

than 40 scholars have returned to take uppositions in academia and research.

Higher Education Commission has

developed a programme through whichinventions (with appropriate supporting

material) may be submitted for evaluation

and potential awarding of a patent. HECcertifies that submission will remain

completely confidential and no step will

be taken without the consent of theinventors. In case an invention is

determined to be patentable, the inventor

will be encouraged to file for aninternational patent. Should it be decided

that a patent would be filed, patent

attorneys, supported by HEC assists incompleting the process. It also

encourages Pakistani industrial

enterprises to work with academia in a 20-

80 industry-university programme whereHEC matches 4:1 funding provided by

industry to work on a problem of interest

to the industrial enterprise.

In order to improve the standard of higher

education, HEC has established Quality

Enhancement Cells (QEC) in all the publicsector universities/institutions and

private sector institutions. QECs have

already been established in 69 institutionsin four different phases. During 2010-11,

another 24 public sector university/

institutions have been selected as nextphase with aim that an independent and

internally recognized system/process of

internal audit/assessment could beinitiated to improve the institutions and

the quality programme/department.

The creation of HEC has had a positiveimpact on higher education in Pakistan.

• Established the finest Digital Library

in Pakistan: Every student in everypublic sector university today has

access to 50,000 textbooks research

monographs from 220 internationalpublishers as well as to 25,000

international research journals -

regarded as one of the best digitallibraries anywhere in the world.

• Increased University enrolment.

• Promoted research, resulting in hugeexpansion of international research

publications from Pakistan.

• Four year undergraduate programmeintroduced so that degrees are

internationally recognized.

• About 5000 Ph.D. level scholarships

awarded for study in technologicallyadvanced countries (largest

programme in developing world) and

some 3,000 indigenous Ph.D.scholarships have been awarded. The

world’s largest Fulbright Scholarship

programme (US $ 150 million)launched with joint funding (HEC/

USAID).

• Seven Pakistan universities becameranked for the first time among the top

250 universities of Asia according to

QS World University Rankings 2013.

• Research output out of Pakistan

increased by over 50% within two

years, which was the second highestincrease worldwide. According to

Scimago world scientific database, if

Pakistan continues at the same pace,its ranking will increase from 43 to 27

globally by 2017.

As a consequence of a focused attentionto higher education along with consistent

policies and financial support of the

Government of Pakistan, the highereducation sector in Pakistan has a new

occupancy on life. Enrolment along with

research output is growing rapidly anduniversities/institutions of higher

education in Pakistan are becoming

repositories of knowledge focused on thedissemination and creation of new

knowledge with the support of Higher

Education Commission, Pakistan.

Source: http://www.hec.gov.pk.

EduComm Asia acknowledges Ms. Zia Batool (ziabatool[at]yahoo[dot]com), Director General –QA, Higher Education Commission, Islamabad for reviewing this write-up sourced from HECwebsite by Dr. Panigrahi (mpanigrahi[at]col[dot]org) and Dr. Dutta (adutta[at]col[dot]org), bothprogramme officers at CEMCA, New Delhi.

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Worth While Web…

Ten Platforms for Audio Sharing

1. Sound Cloud, https://soundcloud.com

SoundCloud is the world’s one of the leading social sound platforms where anyone can create sounds andshare them everywhere. It can be accessed anywhere using the iPhone and Android apps, as well ashundreds of creation and sharing apps built on the SoundCloud platform.

2. Podbean, http://www.podbean.com/

Podbean is an online podcast-publishing service that provides free and premium hosting packages forindividuals and businesses. It offers a user-friendly interface that integrates publishing, management,syndication and analysis tools into an easy to use podcasting package.

3. Chirbit, http://www .chirbit.com/

Chirbit is a useful and fun tool that enables any individual to record, upload and share voice or audio fileseasily.

4. The Internet Ar chive, https://archive.org/

The Internet Archive is a 501(c)(3) non-profit Internet library. Its purposes include offering permanentaccess for researchers, historians, scholars, people with disabilities, and the general public to historicalcollections that exist in digital format.

5. Ourmedia, http://ourmedia.org/

Ourmedia is an internet project, which is a digital archive in collaboration with the Internet Archive lastingprovides storage space for text, images, audio files, videos and other media present in digital form.

6. PodOmatic, https://www.podomatic.com/

PodOmatic is a website specialized in the creation of tools and services that enable users to easily find,create, distribute, promote and listen to both audio and video podcasts.

7. Buzzsprout, http://www.buzzsprout.com/

Buzzsprout is the best way to create and publish a podcast online, in iTunes or on the individual websiteand it is very user friendly.

8. YourListen, http://yourlisten.com/

YourListen is the first user generated music and audio content platform of its kind. The users can upload,listen, search, sell, share, download and store any audio and music files.

9. Audiofarm, http://audiofarm.org/

Audiofarm helps any individual to broadcast audio files and connect with other people. It´s one of theeasiest ways to find new and interesting music, audio recordings, people and friends from around the world.

10.Audiobase, https://audibase.com/

Audiobase is a lightweight Windows application that allows to organise, catalogue and keep track of anindividual’s physical music collection (CDs, LPs, tapes, etc). Audiobase is also a portable application.

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CEMCA News

CEMCA Study Tourto MalaysiaCommonwealth Educational Media Centreof Asia (CEMCA) has been supportingstudy tour opportunities to senior andmiddle level teachers and policy makers tounderstand the best practices followed byother Open Universities of the

Commonwealth Asia. Prof. Vinay KumarPathak, Vice Chancellor, VardhamanMahaveer Open University, ProfManjulika Srivastava, Professor ofDistance Education, Distance EducationBureau, University Grants Commissionand Dr Binod Kumar Bhadri, AssistantEducation Advisor, Ministry of HumanResource Development, Govt. of Indiavisited Malaysia between 17 - 21 March,

CEMCA-EDAAAwardsIn order to enhance the level ofparticipation of Community Radiostations on the Ek Duniya Anek Awaz(EDAA) content exchange platform,CEMCA in partnership with One Worldinstituted “EDAA Awards forKnowledge Sharing”. The first awardfor all-time top contributor (as on 31st

August 2013) was announced on 1stSeptember 2013 which also marked the5 years of EDAA. In this context,Radio Benziger by contributing 234programmes received the top award forknowledge sharing.

A total of seven Community Radiostations were recognized for regularlysharing of radio programmes on EDAAportal from September 2013 to March2014. The awarded stations are: RadioMedia Village, Radio Rimjhim,MSPICM CR, Vayalaga Vanoli, RadioBenziger, NIVH Hello Doon andShyamalavani. Another award forstations contributing highest numberof programmes during August 2013 –March 2014 was given to RadioRimjhim for sharing more than 1400programmes with Community Radiostations.

Under the IDRC supported “Researchon Open Educational Resources forDevelopment” (ROER4D),Commonwealth Educational MediaCentre for Asia (CEMCA) has initiatedthe project entitled ‘Teachers’Attitudes, Motivations, andConceptions of Quality and Barriers toOER in India’. This research projectattempts to understand teacher’spsychological and behavioraldeterminants that may influence whysome teacher share their educationalmaterials and some other do not.

OER4D Project Initiated

2014. CEMCA planned and organized thetour for the team to visit the OpenUniversity Malaysia (OUM), KualaLumpur, Malaysian Qualifications Agency(MQA), Kuala Lumpur, and WawasanOpen University (WOU), Penang. Themain objectives of this study tour were tounderstand the functioning of the twomajor open universities and to find outthe role of Malaysian QualificationsAgency in assuring quality of all HigherEducation Institutions, including the ODLpractices in Malaysia.

Dr. Sanjaya Mishra, Director ofCEMCA is the Principal Investigator ofthis project. Dr. Atul Thakur and Ms.Meenu Sharma are ResearchAssociates.

The research team has developed acommunication website for the project(http://roer.cemca.org.in). Researchassociates also participated in onlinediscussions on question harmonizationorganized by University of Cape Townteam. Review of related literature hasbeen completed and the team is nowfocusing on development of researchtools.

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Research Initiated for Sustainable CommunityRadio

CEMCA incollaboration withIdeosync MediaCombine andUNESCO initiated aparticipatory researchprocess to explore theparameters thatimpact thesustainability ofCommunity Radio inthe South Asia.

Under this research initiative, selected CR Stations from India, Bangladesh and Nepal willparticipate to gather data to provide evidence based approach to sustainable CommunityRadio.

Ideosync Media Combine organized two workshops (one to validate the research designand the other to train community researchers) on 16 May, 2014 and 5 June 2014 atFaridabad, NCR of India. Eight CR stations from India, two from Bangladesh and two fromNepal were selected using purposive sampling methodology and based onrecommendations from key CR networks of these countries to participate in the study andthe workshop. The initiative undertook a desk research to study existing materials andinternational literature on ideas and understanding around sustainability of communityradio with a special focus on South Asia. Ideosync Media Combine designed aparticipatory research methodology to work with selected CR Stations in India, Nepal andBangladesh. Findings of the study would be available in March, 2015.

Pilot Online Programme onOER-Based eLearning

Staff News

Dr. Manas Ranjan Panigrahi joinedCEMCA as Programme Officer(Education) in May 2014. Beforejoining CEMCA he served in theDepartment of EducationalPlanning and Management, Collegeof Education and BehaviouralSciences, Haramaya University,Ethiopia, East Africa as AssociateProfessor in Education from 2010-2014. Dr. Panigrahi has also servedIGNOU, NCERT, and ManavRachna International University,amongst others in differentcapacities.

We at CEMCA and COL welcomeDr. Manas Ranjan Panigrahi andlook forward to his contributions toserve our stakeholder better.

CEMCA launched the online professional developmentprogramme on ‘OER-based eLearning’ from April 1 toJuly 7, 2014 in a pilot mode for selected institutionalparticipants from Asia. The programme has beendeveloped collaboratively with the support of manyindividuals, and through a series of capacity buildingworkshops with the staff of the Wawasan OpenUniversity, and therefore, is designed keeping in mindthe needs of teachers interested in offering courses andprogrammes using Open Educational Resources. Fortyteachers from Bangladesh, India, Malaysia, and SriLanka registered for this five module programme.Participants have been showing commitment to study inasynchronous mode online and participate actively inthe online experiences to earn Open Badge for each ofthe modules. The material developed and theexperiences will be shared with institutions in Asia andelsewhere to assist them adapt these for offeringprogrammes of their own.

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Workshop on e-Content Developmentfor Vir tual OpenSchooling

Commonwealth Educational Media Centrefor Asia (CEMCA) organised a workshop

on e-Content Development for VirtualOpen Schooling (VOS) for the academicstaff of National Institute of OpenSchooling (NIOS) from 26-27 May, 2014 atNIOS, Noida.

With the support of CEMCA, the NIOSlaunched the Virtual OpenSchooling (VOS) to servediverse group of learners withaccess to Internet. Under theVOS, the learners get theopportunity to study a formalschool-based course onlineand gain credit for certificationpurpose. Learners can studyusing asynchronously orsynchronously technologies

provided in the VOS platform. The VOSplatform uses the power of Wiki, Learning

Management System and two way videoconferences on the web. The platform isbased Open Source software, and NIOShas developed internal capacity tomanage the platform on its own. However,the academic staff need to develop courseto be offered on the platform, andtherefore the two days trainingprogramme was held. Twenty-threeacademic staff of NIOS attended theworkshop.

The programme was inaugurated by Dr.Sitansu S. Jena, Chairman, NIOS, whoshared the experience of NIOS on VOSinitiatives. Addressing about issues ofoffering online courses, Dr. Jena told thatthere is need to change the presentcourse structure and the course has to becredit-based.

Curriculum Development forFlexible Skill Training

CEMCAassistedTamil NaduOpenUniversity(TNOU),Chennai toalign itsvocationalcourses tothe NationalSkills

Qualifications Framework (NSQF). The University organised aworkshop on curriculum development for flexible skill trainingfrom 26-28 May 2014 in Chennai to consult the experts fromNational Skill Development Corporation (NSDC), Sector SkillCouncils, subject matter experts and educational technologiststo review its courses. As per the NSQF, all educationalproviders need to align its courses by 2018 and use theNational Occupational Standards (NOS) for skill developmentin different domains. The TNOU has taken a lead in thisdirection to make its courses more relevant and appropriate forits learners and improve the employability of its graduates.

The curricula developed by TNOU will have appropriate inputsfor technology enabled blended learning designs that can beused by other Open and Distance Learning (ODL) institutionsin the country.

Tutor Training Workshop onCommunity Radio TechnologyCommonwealthEducational MediaCentre for Asia(CEMCA) with itsdeep engagement inthe CommunityRadio (CR) sectorhas developed acertificate course oncommunity radio technology (CCRT). The course developed withthe experts has 9 modules and 12 videos. The basic objective is tocraft an environment for creating new technical and vocationalskill-based jobs at local level to enhance the technicalsustainability of CR stations in India. CEMCA has entered intoMemorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the GauhatiUniversity to offer the certificate course in distance learning modefrom August 2014.

CEMCA in collaboration with Gauhati University and BroadcastEngineering Consultants India Limited (BECIL) organised a five-days intensive capacity building workshop for the potential tutor-counsellor of CCRT course from 16- 20 June, 2014 at Guwahati,India. A total of 37 participants attended the workshop.

Mr. Y.K. Sharma, Mr. Khuswinder Singh Bhatia, Mr. Pankaj Giri andMr. Raghvendra Singh from BECIL served as Resource Persons.Dr. Ankuran Dutta of CEMCA facilitated the workshop. Prof.Kandarpa Das, Director, IDOL, Gauhati University coordinated thisfive day intensive workshop for CCRT tutor- counsellors.

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Workshop on ICTLeadership in HigherEducation

With the believe that Policy, Technology and Capacityare three pillars of any effective organization, CEMCAhas been engaged with institutional leaders forappropriate policy development. The RegionalWorkshop on ICT Leadership in Higher Education wasorganized by the Commonwealth Educational MediaCentre for Asia (CEMCA), in association with the OpenUniversity of Sri Lanka at Kandy from 6-7 June 2014.

The workshop in Kandy was organized for the ViceChancellors of Sri Lankan universities. Some otherleaders from India and Bangladesh also participated inthe event. Inaugurating the event, Mr S.B. Dissanayake,honourable Minister for Higher Education, Sri Lankaurged the participating Vice Chancellors and leaders inhigher education to focus on improving student learningthrough the use of appropriate information andcommunication technology. Prof. Ranjith Senarathne,Vice Chairman, UGC, Sri Lanka emphasized the role ofICT in improving Gross Enrollment Ratio (GER). Theworkshop focused on development of appropriatepolicies for use of ICTs in the universities, OER policies,and developing institutional strategies for open,distance and online learning. Prof. Uma Coomaraswamy,Former Vice Chancellor of OUSL and Honorary Fellow,COL delivered the Keynote address on ICT as Changeagent to set the tone of the workshop. Participatingleaders discussed, and worked individually and ingroups to equip themselves with better understandingto lead from the front in their respective institutions touse ICT for teaching, learning, research andadministration.

The next edition of the event will be organized for selectVice Chancellors of Bangladesh in 2014-15.

ICT shall help sharpen thinking

By S B Dissanayake

Minister for Higher Education, Government ofSri Lanka

I am pleased to be here with you today, as theChief Guest, at the occasion of inaugurating theWorkshop on ICT Leadership in HigherEducation. Let me thank the organisers for theirefficient organizational skills and commitment. Let me also thank theCommonwealth Education Media Centre for Asia, for its continuoussupport extended to the Open University of Sri Lanka.

Integrating Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) ineducation is highly challenging, especially in the higher educationsector. While there are several factors for successful integration of ICTsin teaching and learning, strong leadership support and institutionalcommitment play significant role. Leadership has been regarded as acritical component in successful ICT integration in education. Whiledistributed leadership and shared responsibility are necessary, to sustainany innovation and implementation of technology plan, in highereducation, the vision of leadership with reference to ICTs becomeimportant in taking initiatives, and develop action plan forimplementation. A successful ICT leader in education should be able tolead from the front to not only give vision, but also to manage changeand influence major stakeholders to buy in. With this background thepresent initiative intends to engage with the Vice Chancellors inUniversities in Asia, over the three years, during the current plan.

As I understood the main objectives of this programme are to createawareness of ICT integration in teaching and learning, it will sensitizeinstitutional leaders about the importance of developing technologymaster plan. Within this framework some of the more specific objectivesof the programme, intend to address are to provide a platform forinstitutional leaders, to discuss issues related to use of ICTs in teaching,and learning in higher education; and assist the participant leaders todevelop strategic plan and roadmap, for ICT application in all activitiesof the university.

The expected outcomes of this deliberation as I was told, are forUniversities to develop strategic plans for ICT use in teaching andlearning, informed leadership in higher education institutions, and todrive implementation of technology plan, and integration of ICTs inteaching and learning in a more a systematic way.

However let me caution you, on the use of ICT in higher education.Consider ICT as an enabling technique to speed up, and organize youreducational programmes. Don’t consider the ICT as your master, as myown conviction it is only a tool to assist you, but don’t allow it tocontrol you. The ultimate impact of the technology is that it should beable to sharpen the thinking process of the user in this event, theteachers and students of our university system.

Thank you.

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Case Study

Technology Based Delivery of Skills Training

Changing Lives in Bangladesh

By Shahnewaz Khan

Introduction

Bangladesh is predominantly anagriculture-based developing countryhaving a population of approximately 160million, living in 147,570 squarekilometers. Here, the informal economyplays a vital role by creating jobs andcontributing to total economic output ofthe country and has sizeable impact onthe national economy as a whole. ‘InBangladesh, a labor forceof around 49.5 million insize is involved in eitherthe formal or the informalsectors. Of them, about88% of the workers areemployed in the informalvertical of the economy. Thehighest concentrations ofworkers in the informaleconomy (92%) are located inthe rural areas and are engaged inthe agricultural sector’1. Theseasonal uncertainties of theagriculture scenario ofBangladesh leave theemployment of this workforcehighly volatile and susceptible tounemployment and hunger for aconsiderable period in a year. Adverseeffect of climate change, mismanagementof natural resources and the massivepressure of a huge unskilled populationon a limited amount of land forcesBangladesh to stay in the back foot in itsfight against poverty.

Despite the fact that the informaleconomy is growing at a rapid rate,Bangladesh’s workforce is still deprivedof opportunities to develop their skillsand potentials. People of all ages andlocations, especially in the remote andnon-accessible areas of Bangladesh arebeing deprived of their rights to be trained

up through conventional vocational skillstraining institutions of the country. Mostof the poor people, especially womencannot afford to get training from formalskills training centers due to physicaldistance of the training institutions fromtheir locality as well as due to their pooreconomic conditions and social barriers.

TVET Programmes inBangladesh

At present the vocational and technicalskills development courses are beingoffered by various vocational traininginstitutes, polytechnics and privatetraining providers. Nevertheless, presentcapacity of the Technical and VocationalEducation and Training (TVET) system ofBangladesh in terms of resources,expertise and experience is inadequateconsidering the increasing need, scopeand population it needs to address.Existing TVET mainly serves young maleswho have completed at least the eighthgrade of education, overlooking the rightsof millions of Bangladeshis who cannotsurvive in the education system up tograde VIII. It is estimated that around 40%of the total labor force in Bangladeshlacks any form of education and

possesses little or no skills at all.

Need for a New StrategicIntervention

It is acknowledged that skillsdevelopment cannot be the

responsibility of the formal systemof TVET alone. Scope should be

widened to make provision foracquiring skills through all levels of

education and training, occurring informal, non-formal, informal and on-thejob-settings. There should be a widerange of modalities of delivery,organizational and institutionalmechanism to address the needs ofdiverse clientele for developinglivelihood skills. This concern has beenreflected in the Bangladesh national skillsdevelopment policy 2009, which statedthat ‘To more effectively manage itshuman resources, and develop anintegrated approach for skillsdevelopment, there is a need to thinkbeyond state controlled TVET systemand emphasis must be given on the variedtypes of formal and non-formal trainingthrough which skills are developed’. Tocreate alternative provisions of vocational1 http://www.swisscontact.org.bd/inner.php?Title=35

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skills training in rural areas in line with thespirit of Bangladesh government’scommitment towards use of ICT in theeducational purpose, the delivery oflivelihood skills training throughtechnology based approach is anappropriate alternative to produce hugenumber of skilled human resource inBangladesh.

Innovations in Skills Training

Dhaka Ahsania Mission (DAM), since itsinception in 1958 has focused oneducation, and has been operatingvarious non-formal education programmesfor different groups of people. In additionto its formal skills development courses,DAM has been implementing skillsdevelopment training through non-formaldelivery approach and developed a seriesof booklets on skills enhancement andincome generation.

Banking on DAM’s experience ofdeveloping literacy and skills trainingmaterials over several decades, in 2012with the support from Commonwealth ofLearning (COL), the Center forInternational Education and Development(CINED) of DAM has developed a skillsdevelopment training package for use inthe livelihood skills training. The packagewas developed for youths, women and

men having limited reading skills andthose who have never had theopportunity to participate in any formalskills training programmes.

With the heading ‘Let’s Work and BuildOur Lives’ 5 pictorial and instructionalbooklets and 5 animation videos (each of15 minutes duration) have beendeveloped on 5 topics. The vocationaltrades covered under this series are:Flower Gardening, Poultry Rearing, BatikPrint, Vermi Compost and Nursery. Asystematic step by step process wasfollowed for development of the bookletsand animation videos. All booklets of thisseries follow an easy to understandlanguage to describe entire cycle from

production to marketing along with aguideline for self-assessment. DAMdeveloped guidelines for the facilitator’swho are willing to use this packagematerial for organizing skills training. Thispackaged material can be used as self-learning materials by anyone, at any timeand from anywhere. Colorful booklets andanimation videos were designed to bringexcitement in the learning process,encouraging learners to read the bookletsand watch the videos as many times asthey require. For wider replication of thisinnovative delivery approach in othercountries, an English version of the 5animation videos and the 5 booklets hasbeen prepared with support from COL.

Delivery Approach

Utilizing the strengths of Open, Distanceand Flexible Learning (ODFL) thispackage has introduced a technologybased delivery approach for livelihoodskills training. This approach is acombination of watching videos andreading booklets individually or in agroup guided by a local facilitator usingdifferent delivery platforms. CommunityLearning Centers (CLC) or local clubshaving audio-visual facility are arrangingskills training programme with support ofthis package materials for the delivery ofskills training for anyone who isinterested in a community. To get access

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to the people of the remotest areas,Mobile Library Van is also being used asa delivery platform to provide skillstraining.

For wider application of this innovativelivelihood skills training materials, CINEDtook the initiative to utilize the effectivedelivery mode of Community Radio fordissemination of the messages of skillstraining. To enhance the capacity andmotivation of the community radios todevelop and transmit audio contents onlivelihood skills, CINED has organized aworkshop in cooperation withCommonwealth Educational Media Centrefor Asia (CEMCA)/ Commonwealth ofLearning (COL).

Technical training institutes located indifferent parts of Bangladesh lackingcompetency based trade curriculum,skilled instructors and necessaryequipment for providing practical trainingare now recognizing this livelihood skillstraining package as very useful resourcefor their training.

To further popularize the skills trainingpackage, as well as disseminate goodpractices of small entrepreneurs of thecountry, a partnership has beenestablished with a national dailynewspaper “Alokito Bangladesh”. Underthis partnership a unit has beenestablished in CINED in the name of“Small Entrepreneurs Support Unit”(SESU) with a helpline number so thatanyone can call and get proper guidanceand advice to start and upgrade smallenterprises or identify job opportunitiesin the market. A website has beenlaunched (www.alokitobangladesh.com/

sesu) where anyone can read anddownload booklets and animation videosas well as success stories of smallentrepreneurs and useful information andpublications on skills development.

Through this combined deliveryapproach, innumerable number ofunemployed urban and rural youths,women and men are developing theirhome-based small businesses foreconomic self-reliance. After a colorfullaunching ceremony in February 2013, sofar 2065 persons of whom 1589 are femalereceived training through this newlydeveloped skills training package. Mostof the trainees are members of ruralcommunities and received training on oneor more trades. After receiving training, sofar, 490 female and 168 male trainees have

taken initiative to start their own smallenterprises. They are now at differentstages of operating small businesses.Many individuals upon receivinginformation regarding this skills trainingpackage through website and otherpublicity measures are collecting thispackage from DAM and developing smallenterprise irrespective of age and sex.Dhaka Ahsania Mission through its fieldoffices in 46 districts are popularizing thispackage and have made it available in theDistrict, Upazila and Village levels. Thisskills training packages are being sentthrough currier services on demand.

Conclusion

Developing training materials for peoplewith limited reading skills on livelihoodissues is a very difficult job, especiallywhen it comes to narrating the productionprocess. But it is observed that animationvideos are very effective in demonstratingthe process which is otherwise difficult tovisualize. People who received trainingthrough this package highly appreciatedthe innovative and effective deliverymethods of the skills training. Althoughthe production of animation videos aretime consuming and costly, they are veryeffective and enjoyable for the people inthe remote and rural areas where there isno skilled trainer and institutionalarrangements for skills training.

Mr. Khan is the Chief Executive Officer at Center for International Education andDevelopment (CINED), Dhaka Ahsania Mission, Dhaka, Bangladesh and he can bereached at shahnewazbd03[at]gmail[dot]com

Technical training institutes

located in different parts of

Bangladesh lacking

competency based trade

curriculum, skilled instructors

and necessary equipment for

providing practical training are

now recognizing this livelihood

skills training package as very

useful resource for their

training.

CEMCA offers internship to graduate and post-graduate students to gain work experience in the area of CEMCA’sfield of competence and enhance their academic knowledge through practical work assignments. Internshipsare available for 2-6 months, and should be part of the learning and development plan of the candidate. Fordetails visit Knowledge Management page at CEMCA Website.

Internship Available

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Regional Round Up

2nd RegionalSymposium on OpenEducationalResourcesOER-Asia organised the 2nd RegionalSymposium on Open EducationalResources: Beyond Advocacy, Researchand Policy at Wawasan Open University(WOU), Penang, Malaysia from 24-27June, 2014.

Prof. Ho Sinn Chye, Vice Chancellor ofWOU, Penang welcomed all theparticipants in the opening ceremony. Ms.Ng Wan Peng, Chief Operating Officer,Multimedia Development Corporation(MDeC), Malaysia, presided over the

opening ceremony andappreciated the initiative ofWOU. She informed thattechnology can bring change inthe development of education inMalaysia in particular and Asiain general. At the end of theopening ceremony Tan Sri Dato’Prof. Gajaraj Dhanarajan,Convenor of the symposium, inhis closing remarks, enumeratedwhy it is a symposium and not aseminar. Further he emphasised on theimportance of OER and objectives of thesymposium. In the four day symposiumparticipants from 20 different countriesparticipated. Five keynote speakers and19 papers were presented in five sub-themes i.e. collaboration, impact, content,innovation and quality of Open

Educational Resources. Each session wasquite interesting with strong andsignificant discussions. TheCommonwealth of Learning (COL)supported the event by facilitatingparticipation of delegates, while CEMCAsupported the participation of Prof. V.SPrasad, Keynote Speaker on Quality ofOER.

COL President delivers RamReddy Memorial LectureProfessor Asha Kanwar, President and CEO of Commonwealth ofLearning (COL), Vancouver delivered the 19th Professor G. RamReddy Memorial Lecture on 2nd July, 2014 at the ConventionCentre of Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), NewDelhi. In the memory of Professor G. Ram Reddy, IGNOU has beenorganizing a lecture series since 2nd July, 1996. The topic of the19th lecture was ‘Open Universities in the Time of MOOCs:Reaching the Unreached’. Presiding over this prestigiousmemorial lecture, Professor M. Aslam, Vice Chancellor of IGNOUgave an overview of how IGNOU is serving all sections of thesociety through open and distance learning.

Whiledelivering the19th Ram ReddyMemorialLecture,Professor AshaKanwarrememberedProfessorReddy as a

visionary who spoke of equity and social justice long before heinaugurated the notion of open education in India. Enumeratingthe importance of the OER and MOOC, Professor Kanwar said‘the MOOC effect is unexpected in some sense. 270, 000 peoplesigned up for the Computer Science (CS) course offered byUdacity which is much larger than the total number of learnerswho aspire to do CS courses in nearly 3000 degree grantinginstitutions in the USA’. Justifying the increasing need of MOOCin the Open University system, Professor Kanwar stated ‘It issignificant that universities are investing in MOOCs to leadinnovations in teaching and learning. This is an important andwelcome development as the focus is on good teaching ratherthan only on research’.

Dr P Prakash, Pro Vice Chancellor, IGNOU delivered the welcomeaddress and the Registrar, Sh. J Ernest Samuel Ratnakumarproposed the voteof thanks in theevent. SrimatiPramila Ram Reddy,spouse of LateProf. Ram Reddywas also presentalong with a hugegathering ofacademia in thisevent.

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Book Reviews

Women and Leadershipin Open and Distance Learning andDevelopment

Edited by Asha Kanwar, Frances Ferreira and Colin Latchem; published byCommonwealth of Learning, Vancouver, 2013, pp. 1-xx, 1-176, ISBN978-1-894975-63-6 (pbk).

By Trisha D. Baruah

Asha Kanwar, Frances Ferreira and ColinLatchem (Eds) , in their book, ‘Women andLeadership in Open and DistanceLearning and Development’ clearly andeloquently demonstrates that women’sleadership is a critical step in promotinggender equality. The book is acompilation of articles by twelveremarkable women who have made a markfor themselves in the field of open anddistance learning in the society. The bookhas been divided into three parts witheach part dealing with an underlyingtheme of open and distance learning. Thebook basically deals with three aspects ofODL- women and leadership in Open andDistance Higher Education, OpenSchooling, and in Open and DistanceNon-Formal Education and Development.

First part of the book has laid emphasison the importance of Women andLeadership in the field of Open andDistance Higher Education withinspirational inputs provided by CarolineSeelig, Abtar Kaur, Brenda Gourley andDenise Bradley. Caroline Seelig, the ChiefExecutive of New Zealand’s leadingdistance learning provider, the OpenPolytechnic, pens down her thoughtsabout being a leader; Abtar Kaur, aprofessor in the Faculty of Education andLanguages at Open University Malaysia,

describes her experience of becoming aleader in instructional design at an openuniversity, and Brenda Gourley, a formerVice Chancellor of The Open University,in the UK, provides a lucid account aboutproviding the necessary help to otherwomen to become leaders. DeniseBradley, a former Vice Chancellor andPresident of the University of SouthAustralia contributed the review chapteron the work and accomplishments of theaforementioned women achievers. Bradleyhas eulogised the achievements of the triofor being able to balance professional and

personal work with ease and fortitude.

Second part of the book lays downemphasis on Women and Leadership inOpen Schooling through the eyes ofLystra Sampson-Ovid, Sushmita Mitra,Lambertha Mahai and Cindy Gauthier.Lystra Sampson-Ovid, former Director ofthe Ministry of Education’s NationalOpen School, Trinidad and Tobago andSushmita Mitra, National Institute ofOpen Schooling, India talk about theirexperiences of being a leader in openeducation system while at the same timeimploring the people to have a well-defined vision and to be prepared for thevagaries of politically chargedenvironments. Lambertha Mahai, theformer Director of the Institute of AdultEducation, in Tanzania says that womenneed to develop greater self-confidence,set higher goals for themselves andpursue their dreams and ambitions. CindyGauthier, Principal of the VancouverLearning Network, a distributed learningschool with the Vancouver Board ofEducation, in British Columbia, Canadahas contributed the review chapter whereshe outlined the fact that family support,hard work and role models have aprofound influence on the lives of theseremarkable women.

Third part of the book focuses on Womenand Leadership in Non-formal Educationand Development. Batchuluun Yembuu,the Director of the National Centre forLifelong Education, in the MongolianMinistry of Education and Science,describes her leadership role in non-formal education. She elaborated how shehad to put in a lot of thought and effortinto being an advocate and developingpolicies and practices for non-formal andlifelong education. Nodumo Dhlaminiwrites about becoming a leader in non-formal education in African contexts,while Chetna Gala Sinha, economist,farmer, activist as well as founder andPresident of the Mann Deshi MahilaBank, in India, tells about her experiences

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Open Schooling with Open EducationalResources: Opening doors, creatingopportunities

Edited by Frances Ferreira and Cindy Gauthier; published byCommonwealth of Learning, Vancouver, 2013, pp. 1-xvii, 1-128, ISBN978-1-894975-66-7 (pbk).

By S. K. Pulist

The incessant efforts from UNESCO andCommonwealth of Learning have madethe Open Educational Resources (OER)revolution happen globally. The volumein hand is the product of such acollaborative effort of William and FloraHewlett Foundation and Commonwealthof Learning in the form of the Project –Open Educational Resources for OpenSchools (OER4OS) initiated in 2008. Theproject culminated in creation of OERcourses at secondary education level bythe teachers from six countries(Botswana, Trinidad and Tobago,Lesotho, Namibia, Seychelles andZambia). At the initial stage, India alsowas on active partner, however, withdrewsubsequently. The volume is divided intoeight different chapters excluding the‘Introduction’ and ‘Conclusion’.

The book is the storyboard of variedexperiences based on local expertise as aresult of international collaboration. Itpresents the insight that focuses ondevelopment of OER at secondary level ofeducation with the help of diverse peoplecreating a synergic effect. In the form of

country chapters, the book presents thefirst-hand experience gained by theauthors who were involved with theproject at different country locations. Thechapters address some of the commontopics like instructional design,integration and use of ICT, professionaldevelopment of teachers involved indevelopment of OER, etc. in differentsettings.

The project took a long time deviatingfrom the specified time-line due to various

challenges faced by not only the contentdevelopers but also the project leaderswhich have been described in the book.The project completed OER on 20subjects in print and 10 subjects inMoodle virtual platform with the help of88 teachers from 6 different countries.Challenges faced in the project wererelated to pedagogical, quality, trainingand development, technological andconnectivity, organisational, project timemanagement and withdrawal by a partner.

I like the book on two accounts – one - itshares the administrative and logistictools and techniques which would benecessarily indispensable for the peoplehandling any international projectinvolving participants from differentnationalities -and two - it unearths thetreasure of experience gained by theteacher-authors in creation of OER, in theform of country chapters. While the bookraises number of issues and discussesconstraints on different accounts, at thesame time it provides possible solutionsand the ways these can be optimallyaddressed in creation of OER. Suchprojects are yet the need of the mankindand the book would prove to be a pathfinding effort not only for the educationaladministrators, policy planners andeducational project managers but also theteachers who would like to involvethemselves in one form or the other withthe OER movement.

Dr. Pulist can be reached atskpulist[at]ignou[dot]ac[dot]in

Dr. Baruah is an Assistant Professor in Mass Communication at K K Handiqui StateOpen University, Guwahati, India and she can be reached attrisha[dot]baruah[at]gmail[dot]com

in helping other women through non-formal education. The review chaptercontributed by Dame Carol Kidu, anAustralian-born Papua New Guineanpolitician emphasizes that whilst leadersmust have clear visions and goals, theymust also be willing and able to readjustin the face of the inevitable setbacks,

disappointments and shiftingcircumstances. The book will thus, helpeducators, scholars and trainers to gain

an insight into the fact that women’sleadership is a critical step in promotinggender equality.

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SMART Tips

Creating a Podcast

By Vasuki Belavadi

A number of radio stations put up theirpopular programmes on the Internet forpeople to download and listen at leisure.One can also use audios on the Internetfor stories, interviews, experiences and ofcourse music. This facility is popularlyknown as Podcast. Apple is luckyenough that one of their brands waswrapped into a term for a new technologymuch like the Sony Walkman becomingthe popular name for a portable audioplayer. The word “podcast” comes fromcombining the words iPod andbroadcast. Let’s start with the basics.What is a podcast?

Podcast is a multimedia digital file madeavailable on the Internet for hearingonline or for downloading to a portablemedia player or computer. One can makeavailable either an audio or video file onthe Internet. However, this article shalllimit itself to creating audio podcasts.Podcast is a popular technology not onlyfor entertainment, but also for educationand information. Teachers find it a usefultool to put their lessons in audio format.

Let’s look at the requirements to create apodcast. You will need:

1. A digital audio recorder

2. A computer with sound card,speakers and audio editing software

3. Web space to host your audio files

4. A feed burner to create an RSS fileso you can distribute it online

So, what kind of digital audio recorderwould one need? There are severaldigital audio recorders in the marketsuiting various budgets. You can eithertry the cost effective Sony ICD recorders

or the slightly more expensive recorderssuch as Zoom or even Olympus.

Remember to record your ‘programme’ in aplace that doesn’t reverb or is free fromexternal noises. If you have an audiostudio, it’s always better to record yourprogramme in a studio.Next, install an audio editor on acomputer. One can use a free, open sourceaudio editor like Audacity (http://audacity.sourceforge.net/). Interestingly,you can even record audio directly usingAudacity, and therefore can save cost ofrecording software or hardware. The bestpart about Audacity is that it works onWindows, Linux and also Mac platforms!Having installed the software, import theaudio you recorded using the USBconnections on your audio recorder andcomputer. Edit the programme to suityour need.Having edited your programme, you will

need some web space. Some free and feebased audio hosting services that alsooffer some free plans have been listed inthe Worth While Web section of thisissue of EduComm Asia. However, if youwere to go in for a web hosting solution

(if you are affiliated to an institution, youwould probably have a website andhosting space) the space you require willdepend on the following:

a) The length and the file size of eachshow/ programme you create. Thelonger the show, larger will be thespace required. Similarly, if thequality of your audio file is higher, itwill take up more space on the web.One of the ways of getting aroundthis is to export your editedprogramme at lower kpbs.

b) The number of shows/ programmesyou create or want to upload aspodcasts.

Table-1 shouldgive you an ideaof how muchspace your oneminute show cantake up.

Audio hostingsolutions oftenprovide youwith an optionto embed youraudio into yourwebsite. Afteruploading your

audio into the audio hosting website, itthrows up a couple of options. One caneither embed the audio into a websiteusing the html code or even just provide alink to the audio file from where todownload.

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Technology Tracking

Learning Designer

By Indira Koneru

The Learning Designer (LD), a web-basedtool enables teachers to create andorganize Teaching and Learning Activities(TLA). LD suit of tools allows teachersdesign, describe and sequence thelearning activities and share their learningdesigns (session / lesson plans) using itspedagogical templates. The LearningDesigner (version 0.98.2014) suitcomprises browser and designer tools.

Browser

The Browser tool enables us browsevarious designs organized as (i) Curateddesigns - by pedagogy, by topic, (ii)Submitted designs - Submitted, Reviewed,Designs not yet reviewed, (iii) Viewdesigns as a list, (iv) Personal space - Mydesigns, Public. My designs list the

designs we create; whereas Public liststhe designs we submitted for publicuse. It allows us browse others’ samplepatterns and adapt. Or we can create ourown learning design from scratch usingthe designer tool.

Designer

The Designer tool enables us use thepedagogical pattern template to designlearning for a session / lesson / course.We need to:

(i) name our session and topic,(ii) define aim(s), formulate and

categorize learning outcomes as perBlooms taxonomy

(iii) specify the estimated learning time inminutes,

(iv) add number of students(v) describe session (see Fig. 1).

Using the designer interface, we cancreate the required number of TLAs

Mr. Belavadi is Associate Professor at the Department of Communication, University ofHyderabad and can be reached at [email protected] Note: An Edtech Noteon ‘Pedagogical Podcasting for Learning’ would be soon released by CEMCA.

If you do not have a website or aweb hosting account, you can alsopublish your podcasts on a blog.For example, create an account onblogspot.com. In the blog settings,enable the ‘Set the link field’ to Yes.

Now, create a new post and use theurl of your audio from your audiohosting site in the link field. Saveyour post and your first podcast isready!

Creation of a podcast is not enoughfor your purpose. It should beknown by the public. You have touse the Podcast XML Creator tool tocreate an RSS feed of your podcast. Youwill, of course, use social networking sitessuch as Facebook and Twitter to

popularize your podcasts. The XMLcreator tool essentially creates anXML file which you can use tosubmit various podcastingplatforms. If you create a newpodcast episode, you should add anew item section to your RSSpodcast feed. The order in whichthe episodes appear is based on thepublication Date for each item, withthe most recent episodes appearingat the top of the list. Hope you willbe able to create podcast on thetopics of your interest.

Fig 1: Designer Tool

Table - 1: Space requirement

Bit Rate(type ofMP3 encodingto use)

220-260kbpsStereo/44kHz

155-195kbpsStereo/44kHz

65-90kbpsStereo/22kHz

Audio Quality

CD Quality (usedfor most musicMP3s)

Near CD

Like FM Radio

File Size

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Page 22: EduComAsia, July 2014

23

ISSN 0972-284X

is normally published quarterly by

Commonwealth Educational Media Centrefor Asia (CEMCA).

CEMCA, a regional centre of theCommonwealth of Learning (COL)Vancouver, Canada, is an international

agency.

CEMCA’s mission is to promote the

meaningful, relevant and appropriate use of

ICTs to serve the educational and training

needs of Commonwealth member states of

Asia. For more information,

visit us at:13/14, Sarv Priya Vihar

New Delhi 110 016 India

please call us at:

0091 11 2653 71460091 11 2653 71480091 11 2651 6681

Our Fax No. is

0091 11 2653 7147or visit our website:

http://www.cemca.org.ine-mail: admin[at]cemca[dot]org[dot]in

Editor-in-ChiefSanjaya Mishra, PhD

EditorsAnkuran Dutta, PhD

Manas Ranjan Panigrahi, PhD

LayoutSabyasachi Panja

Printed and Published byR. Thyagarajan

For and on behalf of CEMCA

Printed atPrint Solus

New Delhi

You are welcome to reproduce or translate

any material in this newsletter. Please credit

us appropriately and send a copy of the

reproduced material for our information.

The views expressed in the articles are those

of the authors and not necessarily that of the

publisher. Products mentioned in the

newsletter are only for information and do

not mean endorsement by CEMCA or COL.

Dr. Koneru is an e-Learning Administrator & Trainer at IBS India and she can bereached at indkon[at]gmail[dot]com

(Teaching and Learning Activity) in asession / lesson / course. TLA allows usto choose the learning type, timeallocated to a TLA, number of students(individual or group activity), teacherpresence is required or not,attach resources - URL andFile (attaching a file is notcurrently supported). Wecan create a TLA with one ormore learning types -

(i) Read Watch Listen,(ii) Collaborate,(iii) Discuss,(iv) Investigate,(v) Practice and(vi) Produce (see Fig. 2).

We can use the Notes area for addingadditional information about each TLA.

Analyzing and Reflecting on theLearning Design

The system provides us instant feedbackon the designed time and nature oflearning experience. It calculates anddisplays the total time designed(Designed time) for completing the TLAs(see Fig. 3). A pie chart depicts the natureof learning experience we have createdunder different learning types withpercentage. This (visual) feedbackenables us to analyse and reflect on ourlearning design and change the type of

learning and activity description or theamount of time on an activity. LearningDesigner supports the well establishediterative reflective design approach usedby educators.

Exporting and Sharing LearningDesign

We can export the design to

(i) LDJ and (ii) MS Word. The .ldj file canbe imported into the LearningDesigner. We can sharethe shortened URL of the design,which enables others to view andexport our design (see Fig. 4).We can view the design as

(i) List view or (ii) Block view. LDautomatically saves our design onthe browser every 1 minute andon the server about every 5minutes under our profile.However, it is recommended thatwe immediately save the design

before start working with it, so that itcreates a URL with a unique identifier.

Learning designs submitted to theLearning Designer are under CreativeCommons Attribution Licence (CCBY). We need to attribute the author ofthe original design while adapting it. TheLearning Designer works best usingChrome or Firefox because of theirHTML5 standards compliance.

Website: http://web.lkldev.ioe.ac.uk/LD/or http://learningdesigner.org/

Fig 2: Designing Teaching & Learning Activities

Fig 3: Sample Learning Design

Fig 4: Exporting & Sharing Features

Page 23: EduComAsia, July 2014

24

Forthcoming Events

7th International Conference one-Learning and InnovativePedagogies

3-4 October 2014 in Portland, Oregon,United States of America

For more information visit:

http://ubi-learn.com/the-conference-2014

ICDE International Conference2014

25-26 September in Moscow

Conference Theme: Connecting theWorld through Open, Distance and e-Learning

For more information, contact:

Moscow State University of Economics,Statistics and Informatics (MESI)Marketing Department (room 31/í2)7, Nezhinskaya Street, Moscow 119501,Russian Federation

E-mail: [email protected]

ACE2014

6th AsianConferenceonEducation

October 28- November 2, 2014 at Osaka,Osaka Prefecture, Japan

Conference Theme: Transforming andChanging Education: Individuals,Communities, Societies

For more information, contact:

E-mail: [email protected]

AIEC 2014

28th Australian International EducationConference (AIEC)

From 7-10 October, 2014 at BrisbaneConvention and Exhibition Centre, CnrMerivale and Glenelg Streets, South Bank,Brisbane, Queensland Australia

For more information, contact:

AIEC 2014 Conference OrganisersEpic Conferences & Events

E-mail:[email protected]

28th Annual Conference of theAsian Association of OpenUniversities

From 28 - 30 October 2014 at The OpenUniversity of Hong Kong, Hong KongSAR, China

Conference theme : Advancing Open andDistance Learning: Research andPractices

For more information, contact:

AAOU SecretariatOpen University of Hong Kong30 Good Shepherd StreetHomantin, Kowloon, Hong Kong, China

http://aaou2014.ouhk.edu.hk

OpenEd14

November 19 - 21, 2014 in Washington,DC

Theme: Achieving the Potential of Open

For more information, visit:

http://openedconference.org/2014/

UNESCO InternationalConference on ICTs forDisability

November 24-27, 2014 in New Delhi

Theme: From Exclusion to Empowerment -The Role of Information andCommunication Technologies for Personswith Disabilities

For more information, visit:

http://en.unesco.org/events/exclusion-empowerment-role-information-and-communication-technologies-persons-disabilities

NIFT ICLAM 2014

November 27-29, 2014 in New Delhi

Theme: International Conference on theConvergence of Libraries, Archives andMuseums (ICLAM)

For more information, visit:

http://www.nift.ac.in/iclam-2014/


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