Highlighting the Adult Education and Local development aspect of the REVIT Distance Learning (Remoteness in Communion)

Thanasis HadzilacosOpen University of Cyprus

Revit closing conferenceNios, Cyclades, Greece - September 2010

Behind this project…

… there is • a feeling, • a belief (ideology, philosophy), • lots of knowledge and experience

(technical, pedagogical, managerial), • an attitude and a will

Synagogue, Vidin

Mosque, Vidin

Church, Vidin

Roman castle, Vidin

We are here because we believe that this place

does not have only an important past but also an exciting future.

• We do not believe that the future of places like Ios in Europe is to be abandoned and used only as places for richer tourists from other places to visit and relax;

• We believe that the future of such places includes productive people living and working here.

Outline

• The (social) need:Education in remote areas

• The (technological) opportunity:Web 2.0 computing for e-learning

• A (sophisticated) response to the need:The REVIT project

How well does our (sophisticated) response utilize the (technological) opportunity

in order to serve the (social) need?

The 5th Mediterranean Confererence on Information Systems (MCIS2010),

September 12-14,2010, Tel-Aviv Yafo

The 5th Mediterranean Confererence on Information Systems (MCIS2010),

September 12-14,2010, Tel-Aviv Yafo

The 5th Mediterranean Confererence on Information Systems (MCIS2010),

September 12-14,2010, Tel-Aviv Yafo

What is a remote area?

• (Ithaca, New York vs. Harlem, New York)• “Distance” in the communication society

(who is thy neighbor?) • Remoteness: product & service availability

locally/globally available civilization• ‘Distant’ as a relative attribute• Is remoteness negative (and for whom)?

(when it is not a matter of choice)

The 5th Mediterranean Confererence on Information Systems (MCIS2010),

September 12-14,2010, Tel-Aviv Yafo

An area is ‘remote’ when…

The young leave

Remote areas

• Distant? Small? Isolated? Poor?

• technology is changing the meaning of remoteness.

• We shall use it to help improving the lives of all of us

Education

The connecting tissue of civilization through time

Main ingredients (innovative and otherwise)

• School (= community)• Customized, relevant education• Distant, adult education• Roles: Local (teachers, moderators) and remote

(tutor, course designer/developer)• Distant functions (course delivery, development)• “we can handle distance”(with web 2.0 technology, psychology, & a little f2f)

Revit building blocks

• Educational methodology centered on learners’ activities, not teachers’

• Good, reliable, internet-based technology• Web 2.0• Understanding local• Utilizing remote

An educational methodology that is

• Scalable and Sustainable• Lean and Efficient• Flexible, Motivating and Effective• Simple but not simplistic• Straightforward but not superficial• High tech but not “tecky”• Uses what is available without missing what is not• Pedagogically sound and deep but not complex• Educationally sophisticated but not complicated

A tentative and preliminaryReport of a conceptSuccessfully proven