[LINK] Education on-line for development

[Tom Worthington]

On 27/09/11 17:05, stephen at melbpc.org.au wrote:

>> I will be talking about "Education on-line for development" at the The
>> Sixth Annual United Nations Internet Governance Forum ANU Remote Hub,
>> Australian National University in Canberra, 3pm, 29 September 2011 ...
>> http://www.tomw.net.au/technology/it/education%20_online_for_development/
>
> Reads well, Tom.

Thanks. Some has recommended "The Commonwealth of Learning" (COL), set 
up by Commonwealth countries for e-learning in developing nations. Does 
anyone have experience of their work? 
http://www.col.org/about/Pages/default.aspx

Also there are:

1. Wikiversity: http://en.wikiversity.org
2. Flat Classroom Project: http://www.flatclassroomproject.org/About

Are there any other initiatives of note?

One key to on-line education is open access to materials. A debate on 
this is currently taking place at University of Canberra: 
http://en.wikiversity.org/wiki/University_of_Canberra/Proposed_policy_on_intellectual_property

ANU has an open access policy for scholarly publishing: 
http://policies.anu.edu.au/policies/code_of_practice_for_scholarly_publication_and_dissemination_at_anu/policy

  International students could start their studies on-line and before 
they come to Australia. As well as being a useful marketing technique, 
this would reduce some of the administrative problems: 
http://www.flexiblelearning.net.au/content/framework-business-activities

> Also perhaps of interest to yourself, other linkers, and/or students ..
>
> ... Virtual Worlds for Academic, Organizational and Life-Long Learning ...

I am not a fan of virtual worlds for learning. The implementations, such 
as Second Life, seem to take a very literal interpretation of what a 
virtual world is, assuming it has to look and work like the real world. 
The worst I have seen are 3D representations of a "library", as a 
building full of paper books and card catalogs, when real libraries are 
becoming virtual.

ps: Also I find it disturbing the avatars which some librarians choose. 
I expect a librarian to be in a tweed suit, not a slinky nightclub 
outfit. ;-)


-- 
Tom Worthington FACS CP HLM, TomW Communications Pty Ltd. t: 0419496150
PO Box 13, Belconnen ACT 2617, Australia  http://www.tomw.net.au
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Adjunct Senior Lecturer, Research School of Computer Science,
Australian National University http://cs.anu.edu.au/courses/COMP7310/