Friday, May 27, 2005
e-Learning initiatives stand to gain from ccs
By Wairagala Wakabi
JOHANNESBURG--African educationists have showcased some of the leading e-learning and curriculum sharing initiatives on the continent - making a case for the adoption of cc licences to increase the range of resources at their disposal. Most of the initiatives already operate on an open content model that gives users a wide range of rights to use and adapt materials.“There is an interesting opportunity for collaboration across the continent,” said Derek Keats of the University of the Western Cape, adding that African education institutions needed to use existing talent to grow more talent. Keats introduced delegates to the African Virtual Open Initiatives and Resources (AVOIR) project. The program involves the collaborative development of free software and other learning resources in African universities.
AVOIR is based on a growing network of nodes at various universities. The theory is that expanding the network will allow each node to grow and provide training to other nodes that are still being formed. For instance, while AVOIR was largely grown in South Africa, there is currently capacity at Uganda’s Makerere University and the node there is helping nurture one at Rwanda’s national university.Speaking on the same panel, Alan Amory of the Open Learning System of the University of KwaZulu Natal (UKZN) said he regretted that the “neo-commodification” of research and learning materials threatened academic access to knowledge. Keats says information which was previously free has now been packaged in a restrictive way. The academic said they are looking to use cc licences to support tools that help cognitive and content development, as well as visualisation, research and publishing. In West Africa, universities in a number of countries including Benin, Burkina Faso, Mali, Senegal and Togo are teaming up in distance education, with some programmes drawing support from French educational institutions. Papa Youga Dieng, of Senegal’s Resafad teacher training institute, says they are linking researchers and teachers across countries through the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs). Neil Butcher of the South African Education Portal (Thutong) showcased the portal which was launched in January this year by the national education minister to serve as a starting point for South African schooling. The portal provides access to a wide range of curriculum resources. Butcher said: “cc gives us the power to protect the intellectual property of those taking part but also helps us to bring information out there into the public domain.” Thutong has already accumulated 7,000 learning objects.Still in South Africa, the Shuttleworth Foundation has embraced cc, though the organisation’s Karen Bezuidenhout says they face challenges to open content educational material. Among these are inadequate and restrictive licensing, poor information management within and between organisations and the prevalent business model where content is sold.Shafika Isaacs of SchoolNet Africa - which runs the African Education Knowledge Network, says she is looking forward to being part of a continent wide network of educationists employing cc licences to extend their reach and effectiveness.SchoolNet, which was started in 1999, aims to improve education access through the use of ICTs. Defined as a ‘network of networks’ the group has affiliations to 35 African countries. To help the process along, SchoolNet’s African Education knowledge Warehouse has links to resources for setting up schoolnets and resources for teachers, learners and policymakers.
JOHANNESBURG--African educationists have showcased some of the leading e-learning and curriculum sharing initiatives on the continent - making a case for the adoption of cc licences to increase the range of resources at their disposal. Most of the initiatives already operate on an open content model that gives users a wide range of rights to use and adapt materials.“There is an interesting opportunity for collaboration across the continent,” said Derek Keats of the University of the Western Cape, adding that African education institutions needed to use existing talent to grow more talent. Keats introduced delegates to the African Virtual Open Initiatives and Resources (AVOIR) project. The program involves the collaborative development of free software and other learning resources in African universities.
AVOIR is based on a growing network of nodes at various universities. The theory is that expanding the network will allow each node to grow and provide training to other nodes that are still being formed. For instance, while AVOIR was largely grown in South Africa, there is currently capacity at Uganda’s Makerere University and the node there is helping nurture one at Rwanda’s national university.Speaking on the same panel, Alan Amory of the Open Learning System of the University of KwaZulu Natal (UKZN) said he regretted that the “neo-commodification” of research and learning materials threatened academic access to knowledge. Keats says information which was previously free has now been packaged in a restrictive way. The academic said they are looking to use cc licences to support tools that help cognitive and content development, as well as visualisation, research and publishing. In West Africa, universities in a number of countries including Benin, Burkina Faso, Mali, Senegal and Togo are teaming up in distance education, with some programmes drawing support from French educational institutions. Papa Youga Dieng, of Senegal’s Resafad teacher training institute, says they are linking researchers and teachers across countries through the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs). Neil Butcher of the South African Education Portal (Thutong) showcased the portal which was launched in January this year by the national education minister to serve as a starting point for South African schooling. The portal provides access to a wide range of curriculum resources. Butcher said: “cc gives us the power to protect the intellectual property of those taking part but also helps us to bring information out there into the public domain.” Thutong has already accumulated 7,000 learning objects.Still in South Africa, the Shuttleworth Foundation has embraced cc, though the organisation’s Karen Bezuidenhout says they face challenges to open content educational material. Among these are inadequate and restrictive licensing, poor information management within and between organisations and the prevalent business model where content is sold.Shafika Isaacs of SchoolNet Africa - which runs the African Education Knowledge Network, says she is looking forward to being part of a continent wide network of educationists employing cc licences to extend their reach and effectiveness.SchoolNet, which was started in 1999, aims to improve education access through the use of ICTs. Defined as a ‘network of networks’ the group has affiliations to 35 African countries. To help the process along, SchoolNet’s African Education knowledge Warehouse has links to resources for setting up schoolnets and resources for teachers, learners and policymakers.
Comments:
Post a Comment
