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Vol. 17 No. 3 July 2013 A Newsletter of the Commonwealth Educational Media Centre for Asia

In this issue

Guest Column 2

Spotlight On 6

Worth While Web 8

CEMCA News 9

Case Study 14

Regional Round Up 16

Book Review 17

SMART Tips 19

Technology Tracking 21

Software Review 22

Forthcoming Events 24

From Director’s DeskDhanarajan focusses on the need of quality OER,which is also a theme of a book published byCEMCA. In Case Study section, we present toyou the story of student support services at theKorean National Open University (KNOU). Thespotlight section presents a landmark initiative bythe Government of India – the National Missionon Education through Information andCommunication Technology (NMEICT), whichhas resulted in many successful developments,including the A-VIEW reviewed in the SoftwareReview section. In the SMART Tips section, Dr.Kiron Bansal describes how the Community Radiostations can collect data and develop listeners’profile to support content development that arebased on the needs of the listeners. In theTechnology Tracking section, we present to you anew way of displaying knowledge and skills usingOpen Badges. We have tried to put togetheruseful information in the sections such as WorthWhile Web, Book Review and ForthcomingEvents.

The year ahead is full of challenges as wecontinue our work to implement the TYP and useour experiences of the past one year to strengthenour strategies. We will also look into some of theactivities more critically to gather evaluation datato learn from the perspective of a process-oriented evaluation. Your support and continuousengagement is critical to keep us focussed onimplementation of the TYP. We have been able tobring the newsletter due to your support andregular feedback, and I would encourage you tocontinue doing the same to keep the relevance ofthe Newsletter. Do write to us about what youwant to see more in the Newsletter, and how youcan be part of the team of contributors.

Dr. Sanjaya Mishra

A s we enter the second year ofthe current Three Year Plan(TYP) 2012-15, I have takensome time to reflect andreview the past one year to

understand how we implemented variousactivities to reach the planned outcomes. Onlooking back, I feel satisfied to report ouresteemed readers that we achieved almost all theactivities that we started to implement. Most ofthese were possible because of the support wereceived directly and indirectly from many of you.We developed collaborative partnerships withmany institutions in the region, notably theBritish Council in India, Dr. B.R. Ambedkar OpenUniversity, Wawasan Open University, andNational Institute of Open Schooling. We workedin close cooperation of over 30 institutions in sixcountries of the Commonwealth Asia. Over 700people participated in various activities, of which35% were women. Some of the significantdevelopments are Virtual Open Schooling, OER-based eLearning, ICT Leadership, InstitutionalPolicy for Open Educational Resources (OER),Community of Practice for Teacher Educators,Certificate Course in Community RadioTechnology, Community Radio ContinuousImprovement Toolkit, and promotion of WebRadio. While we also completed three workshopson behalf of the Ministry of Information andBroadcasting, Govt of India for creatingawareness on Community Radio, CEMCAestablished leadership role in OER and OpenAccess in the region.

In this issue of EduComm Asia, we bring to youthe regular features with a focus on OER. TheGuest Column by Tan Sri Dato’ Prof. Gajaraj

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Guest Column...

Open Educational Resources: APerspective on QualityBy Tan Sri Dato’ Prof. Gajaraj DhanarajanWawasan Open University, Penang

This Guest Column is an edited version ofthe Keynote presentation by Tan SriDato’ Prof. Gajaraj Dhanarajan at theRegional Consultation Workshop onDeveloping Quality Guidelines for OpenEducational Resources organized byCEMCA. We present the same for thebenefit of our readers. - Editor

Though OER is not an educationprovision but an educational resourceprovision that is open to all, the principlesof quality in the production, distributionand utilization of the resource cannot betotally different from that of good practicein Distance Education (DE), which also isengaged in the production, distribution,utilization, and support of learningcontent. I will therefore draw on thatexperience to discuss four areas:

• The practice of Quality Assurancein Higher education

• A perspective on Quality

• The meaning of QualityAssurance in the context of OpenEducational Resources

• A rethink on Openness

The practice of quality assurancein higher education

In the Asia-Pacific region generally therehas been an increase in activity relating tothe measurement of Quality in HigherEducation. The proliferation of nationalquality assurance agencies [under avariety of names] is a reflection of this

growth. Of the 102 members of the AsiaPacific Qualification Network [APQN]about 22 are National Qualification orAccreditation Agencies. Most of them arealso members of the InternationalNetworks of Quality Assurance Agenciesin Higher Education [INQAAHE 2007]and they collectively had developed aGuideline of Good Practice to ensurequality in institutions of higher learning.This guideline is beginning to influencenational protocols for the measurement ofquality amongst all 102-member states.The systems following the guidelines aremostly set up to measure the quality ofconventional systems and not necessarilyNon-Conventional Systems. With thegrowth of non-conventional forms ofprovisions in Higher Education, bothAPQN and INQAAHE are proposing todevelop separate guidelines to measureQA of non-conventional systems, in thenear future. Until such time the practiceof measuring quality of open, online,virtual and e learning, whenmeasured, will continue to bebenchmarked like any otherconventional system [C.Latcham & Jung, I.S 2009]1 Suchbenchmarks will include teaching,learning, research student support,administration, resource provisionssuch as finance, libraries, staffing,learning resources, staff studentratios, etc. While some of thesehave a lot of commonnessbetween both the conventionaland distance education systems,many others clearly will have

different parameters [e.g. staff: studentratios]. Governments or their agenciesvested with the responsibility ofmonitoring quality and standards in theirinstitutions of higher whether they areconventional or non-conventional in Asiamay need to address issues of this naturein a more thoughtful way where quality isnot compromised and innovations notinhibited. Open Educational Resourceswill fall under this category ofinnovations.

This would mean looking at quality issuesaround a set of parameters onmanagement, teaching, resources,research, governance and learningoutcomes, altogether some eleven areas[see Box 1]. This approach has theadvantage of ensuring parity betweenboth systems in terms of processes,finance, governance and infrastructuralrequirement such as space, IT and qualityof outputs [through conversations withdifferent stakeholders]. Thedisadvantages are the obvious sideliningof serious differences in the vision,mission, entry behavior of students, therigour and team effort in designingcurriculum and transforming it intolearning materials, the flexiblerequirements for completion ofprogrammes, effort in pedagogicalinnovations and a whole range of valueadding elements not found in

1 Latchem, C. and I. Jung 2009. Distance and Blended Learning in Asia. New York: Routledge, Taylor and Francis. pp. 7-14

Box No 1: List of issues subscribed by QAagencies in the region

• The Vision and Mission of the Institution• The design and transformation of

curriculum into self learning materials• Assessment of learners• Learner support systems• Academic Staff - quality, recruitment and

professional development• Educational resources - IT services,

libraries• Program monitoring and evaluation,• Governance and Leadership• Continuous quality improvement• Financing

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conventional systems. This has been acause for concern, generally.

A perspective on quality

The measurement of quality as it iscurrently applied to higher educationgenerally and distance educationparticularly is contentious. There arethose who argue that we are still not veryexplicit in establishing unambiguousparameters for the measurement ofquality, in higher education, when itcomes to learning experience or learningoutcomes. Some of the uncertaintiesrelate to criteria and standards applied tomeasurements, the purpose of thesemeasurements and sometimes even thelegitimacy of these measurements. [Kis,2005]2. A further question onmeasurements of quality relate to thekinds of paradigms applied. Australianresearcher D. Kelly [2003]3 .

Argues that there are two paradigms toconsider. The first is the ‘InstructionParadigm’, and the second the ‘learningParadigm’. These are not mutuallyexclusive to each other but they require aseparation for a fair measurement. Thefirst paradigm is ‘used by most highereducation institutions and themeasurement of success is often basedon the quality of entering students, thenumber of publications completed byacademics, number of books in the libraryand the availability of other resourcessuch as staff, laboratory benches, etc.The ‘learning paradigm’ on the other handemphasizes on learning rather thaninstruction. In the second case, studentlearning and success outcomes, learninggrowth and the quality of exitingstudents, measure success. The othermore important difference is that in the‘Instruction Paradigm’ the time of

2 Kis, V. [2005]. Quality Assurance in Tertiary Education: Current Practices in OECD Countries anda Literature Review on Potential Effects. A contribution to the OECD Thematic Review of TertiaryEducation. Available: www.oecd.org/edu/tertiary/review

3 Kelly, D.K. 2003. Outcomes Approach to Higher Education Quality. NITL News: National Instituteof Transport and Logistics. Spring 2003

learning is held constant and learningvaries. In the ‘Learning Paradigm’, thelearning is held constant and the timevaries, recognizing that students learn atdifferent rates. Open Distance LearningUniversities, which respond to adults andothers, who have been marginalized frommainstream higher education will have tobe looked at in the context of the‘Learning Paradigm’ rather than the‘Instruction Paradigm’. This by ourdefined purpose of OER should alsoinclude it. Table 1 below illustrates somenew basis of practice and measurement.

Quality in the context of OpenEducational Resources

In a world populated by more than 1.5Billion Internet users seeking to establishthe quality of openly availableeducational resources, accessible anduseable by any or all, raises more

questions than the availability ofanswers. Cyberworld is freedomunlimited. Framing quality in such aworld will be at the least, challenging.That in fact is the challenge for thosetaking part in this workshop. Quality inthe context of OER can be about manythings. It could be about accuracy ofcontent, effectiveness or ease of use,branding, peer review, ratings by users,validation, self-evaluation, shareability,timeliness, usability, accessibility,currentness of content, licensingarrangements and others. The taskbecomes a little less challenging if it is

contextualized in one of three aspects.These are the:

i. Quality in the production of OER:

The COL published a set of guidelinesrelating to OER in 20114. Included in theguidelines was a simple set of rules forthe production of OER [see box]. Theseare useful.

Similarly in a report published by JISC5

and periodically revised attention wasdrawn to the importance of trust in

Table 1: Old Vs. New Paradigms for Accreditation and Quality Assurance

Old Paradigm (Instruction) New Paradigm (Learning)

Teacher/Institution Centered Learner Centered

Centralized Local

Hegemonistic Differential

One Size Fits All Tailored

Closed Open

Us vs Them Collaborative

Quantitative Qualitative

Prescriptive Flexible

Time as Constant/ Learning as Variable Learning as Contact/Time as Variable

Teacher Credentials Teacher Skills

Consolidated Experience Aggregated Experience

Regional/National International/Global

Static Dynamic

Single Delivery Model Distributed Delivery Model

Process Outcomes

Infrastructure Services

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establishing the quality of an OER. Thetrust of the community in the creator’sexpertise determined the value placed onthe content made available. This is furtherbuttressed by the reputation of the,institution, the standards of technicalproduction, accessibility as well as thefitness for purpose. The two views arenot contradictory but what is clear is thatthe value of an OER to a potential user ismulti-dimensional and, in highereducation at least, the reputation of thecreator of the OER adds enormous weightto the OER. Wayne Mackintosh6

considers that in education quality is amore a process than a product that in thecase of OER the product that finds itselfon the web has been put there by thecreator who in placing the content on theweb

with its OER label is permitting furtheriteration. The process is a continuouscycle of iterations and with each animprovement of the quality of content andtherefore it begets recognition.

ii. Quality from the perspective of users:

In another context before the era of theOER, Dhanarajan and Timmers in 19977

examined the issues which at that timewere considered most critical for thesuccessful importing and adopting ofcourses from second and third partysources. They identified ten issues ofwhich the following has a resonance tothose wanting to use OER either in aninstitutional or individual basis. Theseare: curriculum/content, instructionaldesign, academic standards, technicalconsiderations, licensing arrangementsand assessment/examination strategies.These are critical elements on theappropriateness of OER use and very

much relate to the quality of usage. Whileat the individual level the stringency ofrequirement may not be absolute at theinstitutional level the quality of usingOER to deliver courses requires absolutestringency. In 2000 the Institute of HigherEducation Policy published a set ofguidelines for online teaching8. Theinstitute made seven recommendations,which it considered essential for qualityinternet-based education of which fivehave a value in the context of thisworkshop. They are:

• Institutional support benchmarks:such as reliable and accessibletechnology platforms

• Course development benchmarks:such as minimum standards for course

4 Commonwealth of Learning and UNESCO [2011]: Guidelines for Open Educational Resources[OER] in Higher Education. Accessed on 06 March 2013 from http://www.col.org/PublicationDocuments/Guidelines_OER_HE.pdf.

5 JISC [accessed on 06 March, 2013] from: https://openeducationalresources.pbworks.com/w/page/24838164/Quality%20considerations

6 Mackintosh, W. in Wikieducator extracted from http://wikieducator.org/WikiEducator:Quality_Assurance_Framework/Contribution_Levels

7 Dhanarajan, G and S. Timmers [1992]: Transfer and adaptation of self-instructional materials.Open Learning 11/1:31-40

8 The Institute for Higher Education Policy [2000]: Quality on the Line. Washington, USA.

Box 2: The COL-UNESCO guideline for producers of OER

1. Include labeling to indicate what learning needs the resource addresses;

2. Allow the creation of variations and enhancements through openlicenses;

3. Support flexible styling (e.g., enlarging the font, enhancing the colourcontrast and adjusting the layout for students with vision impairments ormobile devices);

4. Support keyboard control of functions and navigation (for students whocannot use or do not have access to a mouse or pointing device);

5. Provide audio or text descriptions of non-text information presented invideos, graphics or images (for students who have visual constraints orwho have limited displays);

6. Provide text captions of information presented in audio format (forstudents who have hearing constraints or lack audio interfaces);

7. Cleanly separate text that can be read in the interface from underlyingcode or scripting (to enable translation);

8. Use open formats wherever possible to make it easier for alternativeaccess systems and devices to display and control the resource; and

9. Adhere to international standards of interoperability so that OER can beused on a wide variety of devices and applications.

design, development and delivery andthe learning outcome determine thetechnology being used to accesscourse content; periodic review andrenewal of content as well as contentthat is interactive and requiresstudents to engage themselves inanalysis, synthesis and evaluation.

• Teaching/Learning Benchmarks:such as opportunities for students tointeract with faculty and tutors,feedback mechanisms onassignments and advisories tostudents on methods of research etc.

• Course structure benchmarks:including links to supplementarymaterials, course information oncourse objectives, concepts, ideas andlearning outcomes.

• Student support benchmarks:including information aboutprogrammes, admission criteria,examination requirements, technicalassistance to the technologies.

iii. Quality from an institutional context

Institutions whether they are educationproviders or accrediting agencies of

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academic provisions invariably will applya different lens from those of advocates,producers or consumers of OER. Theirviews will be shaped by both theirtraditions of what higher education is andwhat it should be, to serve its expectedroles and responsibilities as a socialservice to citizens. Both will not onlyconsider the academic content and its fitto the overall curriculum of a programmeor course but also consider how well it issituated within a course in terms ofaccuracy, assessment, value add, contextand of cost, pedagogy and learningoutcomes. There is yet no explicitevidence available on views of accreditingagencies or institutional administration on

the subject of OER. This may reflect oneor both of two things, in Asia. The first isthat OER in the educational milieu has notmade its presence felt despite the effortsof UNESCO, COL and the hundreds ofscholars. The second is that independent,self-directed learning amongst Asia’s 2billion people is not at the level thatgovernments and their policy makers areforced to take notice of OER. Perhaps thiswill change just as the Internet and mobile

phones have forced them to reconsiderpolicies relating to access to information,cost of communication, freedoms andliberties of individuals.

Rethinking Openness

The main and attractive feature aboutOER is the notion that the openness‘removes all restrictions placed inaccessing learning resources fromcopyright regulations to financialconstraints’. In the context of ourworkshop and the practice of educationas we know it in Asia, the literature doesnot adequately address the consequenceof open access in terms of educationalpractice. True openness should mean

not only theremoval ofrestrictions on theresources but alsomore importantly onthe liberalizingpractices andpolicies regulatingeducation. Even withalmost fifty years ofexemplardevelopment ofOpen DistanceEducation, as Iremarked earlier,expectations of andconditions imposedon providers ofeducation bygovernments,

accrediting agencies and institutionaladministrators, has not brought about thetotal liberalization that advocates of OERimply.

Jeremy Knox [2013]9, a Ph.D. student atthe School of Education, University ofEdinburgh, in one of his blogs highlightedfive observations of the open educationalresources movement. I would like to leaveyou with those five statements as youponder quality of OER:

i. “Much of the OER literature focuseson the removal of perceived barriersto access, and thus neglectsadequately to consider how self-directed learning might actually takeplace in the absence of theeducational organization.

ii. OER literature often promotes aparadoxical claim of institutionalcircumvention alongside an explicitendorsement of theaccreditationsystems and prestige ofestablished university structures

iii. This endorsement of the institution isproblematically combined with aneglect to address the role ofpedagogy within the university andan exaggerated and untheorisedpromotion of learner-centrededucation

iv. The OER movement tends to makepresumptions about the ability ofhuman beings to self-direct in theprocesses of learning, oftenappearing to assume the innatequalities of autonomy andinstrumental rationality

v. The use of OER can be perceived, notas a more rational improvement toeducation, or a more humane andnaturalized form of learning, but as afurther refinement in the exercise ofpower.”

OER is an innovation for good, its valueto education, however for now, has to betampered with the reality of educationalpractice and culture in our part of theworld and not just by sheer exuberance ofthe newly converted.

9 Accessed on 10 March, 2013 from http://jeremyknox.net/2012/03/28/five-critiques-of-the- open-educational-resources-movement-oer-highered-elearning-edtech/

Tan Sri Dato’ Prof. Gajaraj Dhanarajanis Chairman, Board of Governors ofWawasan Open University, Penang,Malaysia, and former President & CEOof Commonwealth of Learning. A briefprofile of Raj is available athttp://tinyurl.com/md6jlzt. He can alsobe reached at gdhan@wou.edu.my.

Fig.1. A tiered quality system as described byW. Mackintosh [2009]

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National Mission on Education throughInformation and Communication TechnologyBy Deepali Tyagi

Spotlight On...

With a view to seamlessly provide qualityeducational content and to pool thecollective wisdom for the benefit of all theeligible and willing learners in India byreducing the digital divide, Ministry ofHuman Resources and Development(MHRD) launched its ambitious project -National Mission on Education throughInformation and CommunicationTechnology (NMEICT). NMEICT has avision of catering to the learning needs ofthe working population in India byproviding a one stop solution to all therequirements of the learning community. Ithas envisaged content and connectivityas the twin pedals for initiating andaccelerating ICT-enabled HigherEducation. The ‘One Stop EducationPortal’- “SAKSHAT” was launched onOctober 30, 2006 to facilitate learning forstudents, teachers and those inemployments or in pursuit of knowledgefree of cost to them.

Availability of large number of humanresource of high intellectual caliber; theadvent of very low power consumptiondevices and connectivity options; lack oftimely and easy availability of knowledgeresources to all – are some of the factorsthat have created the need for such aMission.Under this Mission, a properbalance between content generation,research in critical areas relating toimparting of education and connectivityfor integrating our knowledge with theadvancement in other countries are alsobeing attempted. Although disjointedand sporadic efforts have been going onin this area by various institutions andisolated success stories are also available,

a holistic approach is the need of thehour. This Mission seeks to support suchinitiatives and build upon the synergiesbetween various efforts.

The cardinal philosophy of the Mission isthat

• no talent of the country should beallowed to go waste,

• all the services available throughthe content delivery portal shouldbe free, and

• freely available material on theweb should be used so as toavoid reinventing the wheel.

Continuing with the philosophy adoptedfor the construction of SAKSHAT, theMission encourages support andwelcome everyintellectual andagency, whetherNon-governmental orGovernmental, tocontribute for thegrowth anddevelopment ofthe portal by wayof development ofe-content and theuploading of it onto the portal or bycontributing tothe existingfeatures or byadding newfeatures to theportal.

The effort of Ministry of Human ResourceDevelopment (MHRD) is geared towardscreating an open house for knowledge.The approach would be to scrupulouslyavoid reinventing the wheel. Theapproach is to get whatever has alreadybeen developed – by entering into MOUs(Memorandum of Understanding) withthe concerned IPR (Intellectual PropertyRights) holders, and then to further buildthe system, to add value for achieving thedesired goals.

E-books and e-journals are also linkedthrough “SAKSHAT’.The Mission alsoincludes the digitization of video contentso as to make them web enabled.Benchmarking learning content whichensures quality is central to thephilosophy of the Mission. In order toaccomplish its major objective of utilizinglatest technologies to make highereducation easily accessible, the Missionprovides financial assistance for theprocurement of hardware or replacementof the obsolete hardware. Mission alsoencourages individuals as well asinstitutions to undertake researchprojects for the development of newtechnologies and innovations. TheMission also looks into the

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standardization and quality assurance ofcontents & certification. Developingsuitable pedagogical methods for variousclasses and intellectual caliber andresearch in e-learning is also kept in mindwhile framing the objectives of theNMEICT. Presently, the content beingdeveloped for Sakshat under this Missionis in English. So the research project todevelop language converter tool kits soas to convert the content developed inEnglish into Dravidian languages isundergoing in the AmritaVishwaVidyapeetham. Mission alsoencourages the development andrealization of Virtual Laboratories andsupporting facilities for e-learning. In linewith this objective, IIT Delhi set up theVirtual Lab.

Even the best e-content cannot have anysignificant impact unless it reaches thevast majority of learners with ease, as andwhen they demand it. Therefore,experimentation and development of ultra-low cost low power access devices/laptops for a wider coverage of learners &their field trials is also functioning in thisline. Establishing a strong communicationnetwork between institutions of HigherLearning is imperative for the spread ofthe best practices and the best knowledgemodules by encouraging shared learningfrom the experts in the country. It is withthis consideration in mind, institutions ofhigher learning will be connected to eachother through Integrated NationalKnowledge Network (iNKN). Some of theprojects undertaken by NMEICT that areshowing promise and/or results are:

• National Programme on TechnologyEnhanced Learning (NPTEL): Aproject for video-based and web-baedcourses for Engineering andtechnology areas, initiated by sevenIndian Institutes of Technology (IITBombay, Delhi, Guwahati, Kanpur,Kharagpur, Madras and Roorkee) andIndian Institute of Science (IISc). Seehttp://nptel.iitm.ac.in/index.php

• Spoken Tutorial: The Spoken Tutorialproject is about teaching and learninga particular FOSS (Free and OpenSource Software) like Linux, Scilab,LaTeX, PHP & MySQL, Java, C/C++,LibreOffice etc. via an easy Video tool- Spoken Tutorials. See http://spoken-tutorial.org/

• A-View: A versatile eLearning tool fordistance education, developed byAMRITA University, it is a simple,user friendly video conferencing

software, which provides a teacher toteach in a live interactive mode tovarious geographical locations. Seehttp://aview.amrita.ac.in/

• Web-hosting Management System: isa website hosting service that allowsuniversities, colleges and institutionsto create their own website accessiblevia the World Wide Web.

• OSCAR: Open Source CoursewareAnimations Repository (OSCAR) is tomake available a large repository ofweb-based animations withinteractive features for teachingvarious concepts and topics. Inaddition to being a useful aid forclassroom teaching, these animationscan also enable distance educationand independent learning.

CEMCA offers internship to graduate and post-graduate students to gain work experience in the areaof CEMCA’s field of competence and enhance theiracademic knowledge through practical work

Internship Availableassignments. Internships are available for 2-6months, and should be part of the learning anddevelopment plan of the candidate. For details visitKnowledge Management page at CEMCA Website.

Written by Ms. Deepali Tyagi using differentsources.

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Worth While WebMajor OER Platforms:

1. OER Commons: Project created by ISKME. http://www.oercommons.org/

2. Connexions: Educational content repository and a content management system developed and maintained by RiceUniversity. http://cnx.org/

3. Open Courseware Consortium: A high quality educational materials of hundreds of higher education institutions.

http://www.ocwconsortium.org/

4. Curriki: A nonprofit K-12 global community to create share and find free learning resources that enable true personalizedlearning. http://www.curriki.org/welcome/

5. NPTEL - E-learning through online Web and Video courses in Engineering, Science and humanities streams funded byMHRD, Government of India. http://nptel.iitm.ac.in/index.php

6. MERLOT : A free and open online community of resources for higher education, online learning materials.

http://www.merlot.org/merlot/index.htm

7. Khan Academy: An online collection of thousands of video tutorials on various subjects. http://www.khanacademy.org/

8. WikiEducator: Focuses on building capacity in the use of Mediawiki and related free software technologies for mass-collaboration in the authoring of free content. http://wikieducator.org/Main_Page

9. Saylor.org: Over 270 free, self-paced, online undergraduate college level courses and course materials.

http://www.saylor.org/

10. Peer 2 Peer University (P2PU): Helps in course design, content sleuthing, course marketing, and, in some cases, help withtechnical development. https://p2pu.org/en/

11. CK-12: Read online, print a copy, or use it on any device. Our content can be used with the Kindle, iPad, NOOK, andmore. http://www.ck12.org/student/

12. OpenLearn: Open University programme where one can browse the topic to discover articles, videos, games, join thedebates & enroll in free courses. http://www.open.edu/openlearn/

13. IGNOU Flexilearn: Learning resources integrated with learning management systemto access courses of the Indira GandhiNational Open University. http://www.ignouflexilearn.ac.in/flexilearn/

OER Projects:14. OLnet:Supported by the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, OLnet is a partnership project between The Open

University, UK and Carnegie Mellon University, USA. http://www.olnet.org/

15. CC OER Projects: A PER tracking project of Creative Commons, growing with the support of the OER Communityworldwide. http://wiki.creativecommons.org/OER_Project

16. Responsive Open Learning Environments (ROLE): Collaborative project with 16 internationally renowned research groupsfrom 6 EU countries and China. http://www.role-project.eu/

OER Search:17. OCW Finder: A high quality educational materials of higher education institutions based in USA.

http://opencontent.org/ocwfinder/

18. Jorum: Run by Mimas, based at the University of Manchester to collect and share learning and teaching materials,allowing their reuse and repurposing. http://www.jorum.ac.uk/

About OER:19. Commonwealth of Learning: Find lots of resources on OER at our COL website.

http://www.col.org/resources/publications/Pages/default.aspx

20. SCORE: Support individuals, projects, institutions and programmes across the higher education sector in Englandwithcreating, sharing and using OER. http://www.open.ac.uk/score/

21. OER Knowledge Cloud: The OER Knowledge Cloud tracks research on OER and annotate these for enhancing researchopportunities inOER. https://oerknowledgecloud.org/

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CEMCA News

Vocational Educationthrough OpenSchoolingThe rain and beautiful sereneenvironment of Vypin Island at Kochi

provided the right atmosphere for theparticipants of the national consultativeworkshop on developing strategies forimplementing National VocationalEducation Qualifications Framework(NVEQF) for Open Schooling in India from20-21 June 2013. The Ministry of Human

ResourceDevelopment(MHRD), Govt ofIndia notified NVEQFin September 2012 thatenvisaged allvocational educationtraining providers toadopt appropriatesystems for increasingthe number andquality of skilled

human resources in India. CEMCA incollaboration with the National Instituteof Open Schooling (NIOS), Indiaorganized the event attended byrepresentatives of the industries, NationalSkill Development Corporation, SectorSkills Councils, officials of stateGovernments form Haryana, West Bengaland Kerala, and MHRD, and academiafrom universities. With a right balance ofthe stakeholders, the group discussedspecific ways of organizing vocationaleducation though open and distancelearning, and how it can be aligned withthe provisions of NVEQF to providequality skill training. The discussionpaper for the workshop was prepared byProf. Mohan Menon, who facilitated theworkshop, and Prof. Ram Takwale, FormerVice Chancellor of IGNOU inauguratedthe workshop by delivering the Keynoteaddress.

ICT workshops forTeacher Educators ofKarnatakaCommonwealth Educational Media Centrefor Asia (CEMCA) in collaboration withIT for Change, and the Department ofState Education Research and Training,Karnataka organized two workshops onICT integrated Teacher Educationfocussing on ‘Communities of Practicefor Teacher Educators’. Both the five-dayworkshops covered various web tools,free educational software tools andcomponents of basic computer literacy.The participants were introduced to theCoP platform for teacher educators and itsfeatures including access to resources,mailing groups, etc. Educational toolssuch as Geogebra, Audacity, PhET andRecord My Desktop were demonstrated.Some of the advanced learners alsopractised using these tools for learningand for resource creation. The

participants incorporated various digitalresources as video links, images and mindmaps (Free Mind) in their lessons.Resources created by faculty werereviewed through peer discussions andthrough the email group. Participants wereintroduced to Wiki and the ideas ofcollaborative resource creation and theyalso accessed the Karnataka OpenEducational Resources (KOER).The workshop 1 was organisedat the Bangalore Urban DIET(District Institute of Educationand Training), Bangalore from 3-7June, 2013 for CTE (College ofTeacher Education) and DIETfaculty from the Bangalore andMysore divisions. In hisinaugural address, Sri H.S.Ramarao, Director, DSERT spokeabout the revisions ofcurriculum, syllabus andtextbooks and how the newcurricula puts higher demands onteachers in terms of a

constructivist approach to educationaltransaction and assessment. The secondworkshop was organised at the DIET,Dharwad, Karnataka from 11-15 June, 2013for CTE (College of Teacher Education)and DIET faculty from the Belgaumdivisions. In all 42 teacher educatorsattended the workshops and are activelyworking on the CoP to share their work.

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Second InstitutionalCapacity BuildingWorkshop for OER-based eLearningThe second institutional capacity buildingworkshop for OER-based eLearning washeld at Wawasan Open University,Penang, Malaysia from 10-14 June, 2013.Based on the agreement reached at thefirst workshop held in January 2013,participants worked in groups to developfive modules on integrating OER inteaching and learning in between the firstand the second workshop. In the secondworkshop, the participants presented themodules, and through peer review anddiscussion, revised the modules to takethe project to the next level. The fivemodules developed are: (i) Concepts andPractices in Open Education, (ii) Principlesof eLearning Experience Design, (iii)Evaluating and Selecting OER; (iv) OpenContent Licensing, and (v) IntegratingOER in eLearning. Besides these fivemodules, four case studies on integrating

OER in teaching-learning have also beenprepared by the participants. Though thenumber of participants in the workshopdropped from the first one, those 15participants who attend the secondworkshop demonstrated high level ofunderstanding of integrating OER indeveloping new learning resources, asthey developed scenario-based learningmaterials on the subject itself. This

provided the participants a role-basedlearning environment to develop contenton OER. It is expected that these materialswill now undergo a finalization process toenable CEMCA to release these materialsas OER and offer an online professionaldevelopment course. The WOU now hasa pool of individual teachers who havethe capabilities to develop coursesintegrating OER.

OperationalSustainability forCommunity RadioStationsAs the fourteen functional communityradio stations (CRS) in Bangladeshenter their third year, challenges ofmaking CRS a sustainable operationhave begun to emerge. CEMCA with itscontinuing engagement on this issuefacilitated a three day exploratoryworkshop for functional CRS incollaboration with Bangladesh NGONetwork for Radio Communication(BNNRC). Hosted by RadioMahananda at Chapai Nawabgunj, the

workshop was attended by tworepresentatives from twelve out of thefourteen CRS. The workshop discussedthe challenges faced by the CRS inBangladesh,and using theframeworkdeveloped byCEMCA workedin groups tocategorise thechallenges intotechnical,social,institutionaland financialaspects. Theparticipantsdeveloped a

template to prepare action plan in short,mid and long term and identified thespecific issues and actions required tomake the CRS sustainable.

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Workshops on OpenEducationalResourcesCommonwealth Educational Media Centrefor Asia (CEMCA) supported threeWorkshops on Open EducationalResources (OER) during April – June,2013. All the three workshops used theWikiEducator platform to facilitate the useof wiki skills development for creation ofOER. The workshops covered the historyand development of OER, its significance,

basic wiki editing skills, andopen licensing issues to helpthe teacher participants in thethree universities develop abetter understanding of OER.

The first workshop was heldat the Apeejay StyaUniversity (ASU) Campuslocated at Sohna- Palwal Roadfrom 26-28h April, 2013.Attended by 25 teachers ofthe University, the workshopwas facilitated by Dr. Savithri Singh andDr. Sarita Kumar from Acharya NarendraDev College, New Delhi. The secondworkshop was held at the Campus ofOpen Learning of the University of Delhifrom 8-10 May 2013, which was attendedby 30 teachers of the oldest distanceteaching institution in India. The thirdworkshop on OER was organized at theVardhaman Mahaveer Open University(VMOU), Kota from 17-19 May 2013. Boththe second and third workshops werefacilitated by Dr. Pankaj Khare and

Dr. Ramesh Sharma of IGNOU. Theworkshop at Kota was attended by 20teachers, including nine from otheruniversities of the Rajasthan state.

The objectives of these workshops wereto create awareness and basic skills ofwiki-based OER development in tertiarylevel institutions. While the VMOU hasadopted the institutional OER policytemplate developed by CEMCA, the othertwo institutions are actively consideringsharing educational resources and usingOER in development of learning materials.

Workshops toPromoteUnderstanding ofCommunity RadioLicensing in IndiaThe CEMCA Community RadioFacilitation Centre (CCFC) organisedtwo three day workshops on CommunityRadio (CR) licence procedure at RadioLuit, Gauhati University, from 28-30 May, 2013 and Radio FTII,Pune from 5-7 June, 2013. In boththe workshops participantsdeveloped understanding of CRpolicy guidelines, principles andlicencing procedures. Besideslearning about how to guide newapplicants, participants learnedthe empanelment proceduresrequired to receive governmentsponsorships and

advertisements. Both the workshopswere part of the Ford Foundationsupported project entitled “EnablingMedia Access for Community’s SelfExpression”, which comes to an end atCEMCA in August 2013. As part of theproject these two workshops shared theunderstanding developed at CCFC onlicense facilitation with two groups ofparticipants to help them assist otherprospective license seekers to addressthe complex process and tread the pathin a systematic manner.

Expanding Reachthrough Radio on theWebCEMCA in collaboration with Gram VaaniCommunity Media has come-out with ado-it-yourself manual for setting up WebRadio using free and open sourcesoftware. The draft version of the manualwas tested in a workshop over three daysat Hotel Star Rocks, New Delhi from 1-3May 2013 with participants from teninstitutions including Community Radiostations — Alfas-e-Mewat; Radio JUCR;Radio Luit (Gauhati University); RadioGyan Tarnaga (K.K.Handique State OpenUniversity); Kisan Vani ( INDIAN Societyof Agribusiness Professionals); DelhiUniversity Community Radio (DUCR) andODL institutions like Karnataka StateOpen University; B.R. Ambedkar OpenUniversity; Vardhman Mahaveer OpenUniversity and Uttarakhand OpenUniversity. Two participants from each ofthe institutions learned the step-by-step

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process of setting-up Web Radioright from installing open sourceoperating systems to streamingusing the draft manual. Participantsprovided valuable feedback basedon which the manual has beenrevised and the version 1.0published. The Manual is availablein print, digital PDF and ePubversions. The JUCR based on theexperiences in the workshop hasalready launched a test version ofstreaming, indicating the high levelof enthusiasm and motivation amongparticipants. Web radio provides a viablealternative especially in urban areaswhere good bandwidth is available and

Second CommunityWomenBroadcaster’sMaster TrainingThe second Master Trainers’ workshopfor community women broadcasters washeld at Bengaluru, Karnataka from 1-4April, 2013 for participants from eightcommunity radio stations (CRS) fromthree southern Indian states. From theState of Karnataka four CRS namely -Radio Siddhartha, Tumkur;

Nammadhwani, Budikote; Krishi CRS,Dharwad, and Radio Active, Bengaluruparticipated in the training. Two CRS fromAndhra Pradesh namely Radio Deccan,Hyderabad and Vishnu CRS, Bhimavaramparticipated, while from Tamil Naduparticipants came from Kalanjiam SamugaVanoli, Nagapatnam and Holy Cross CRS,Trichy. The four day residential trainingwas held in the picturesque JainUniversity campus at Kanakpura on theoutskirts of Bengaluru.

From each CRS three persons — twowomen from the community with priorengagement with the CRS and a station

representative participated in theworkshop.

The main thrust of the workshop was tobuild upon the participant’scommunication skills leading to:

• Using Community Radio for learningwhich would involve sharing ideason the behavior change and usingradio for learning for better healthand livelihoods.

• Development of facilitation skillswhich included sessions oncommunity engagement andcommunication skills

• Developing CR management skillsby participating in the programmeand content committees

• Planning and conducting trainingsconduct outreach activities to getthe community to participate moreactively in the radio

Post this TOT workshop, CEMCAprovided modest financial support to allthe eight CRS to conduct a localworkshop to train about 10 communitywomen. Overall, the cascading model oftraining of community women to becomeeffective broadcaster has helped inproviding training for over 140 women toengage meaningfully with their CRS.

there is scarcity of frequency forallocation to CR. Besides expandingscope for existing CRS, setting up a webradio will also help current applicants to

begin the process of contentdevelopment and communityengagement while waiting for theirlicences.

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Ensuring Qualitythrough ContinuousImprovement ofCommunity RadioStationsThe Commonwealth Educational MediaCentre for Asia (CEMCA) within itsmandate of learning for development usesCommunity Radio (CR) as a means ofreaching and engaging with the localcommunities to empower them, andprovide access to learning opportunities.CEMCA has been promoting theestablishment and use of CR for the lastsix years and within its current Three YearPlan (2012-13) is developing a continuousimprovement framework for the CRstations. The UNESCO Chair onCommunity Media at University ofHyderabad is the leading partner indeveloping the toolkit for CR practitionersto evolve indicators for continuousimprovement of the performance of CRcovering all aspects of their operationsfocussing on improvement of quality. Thebroad goal of this exercise is to developquality indicators through a participatory

process, adopting the ‘ContinuousImprovement’ framework. The firstconsultative workshop was held atUniversity of Hyderabad on 29-30 March2013, where participants from ten CRstations discussed the frameworkdeveloped by a team of experts at theUniversity of Hyderabad. Over two days,participants debated over severalparameters of good practices that werederived on the basis of a detailedliterature review undertaken by the

UNESCO Chair on Community Mediateam. Working in groups, the participantsdeveloped performance indicators forparameters on station policies,inclusiveness, and communityparticipation in station management,among others.

An expert peer-group workshop tovalidate parameters of the continuousimprovement toolkit for CR was held onApril 25-26 at University of Hyderabad.The main task of the validation workshopwas to review, discuss in detail and refinethe basic parameters and performanceindicators identified in the March 2013workshop. The deliberations led to abroad consensus about the non-negotiable principles such asparticipation, community ownership andmanagement, gender equity, andrepresentation of the marginalized groups,and also identified actionable indicatorsto ensure and place these on animprovement continuum. The UNESCOChair on Community Media team lead byProfessor Vinod Parvarala has preparedthe toolkit that is currently underfinalization. In the next phase, select CRstations in India and Bangladesh willadopt the CR-CIT to provide scope forfurther refinement of the toolkit.

New PublicationsThe following new publications have been released recently

by CEMCA under CC-BY-SA license:

EdTech Notes• Learning Analytics for Open

and Distance Educationby Rebecca Ferguson

• Understanding Massive Open OnlineCourses

by Allison Littlejohn

Books

• Web Radio: A Manual for StreamingAudio on the Web

by Zahir Koradia (Also available in ePub)

• Quality Assurance Guidelines for Open EducationalResources: TIPS Framework

by Paul Kawachi

• Ethical Practice Guidelines for Community RadioStations

by Jayalakshmi C. Parameswaran

Staff News:Dr. Nutan Bharati left CEMCA on 30June 2013 after serving 17 months asProgramme Officer (Education). TheCEMCA team wishes her all the best.

Ms. Deepali Tyagi, who served on atemporary assignment as ProjectAssociate (ICT in Education) leftCEMCA on 30 June 2013. She wasinvolved in all workshops related toOpen Educational Resources organizedby CEMCA in the last six months, andalso supported sourcing and writingparts of the items appearing in this issueof EduComm Asia. The CEMCA teamwishes very best in her career.

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Case Study

Support Services for Distance Learners at theKorea National Open UniversityBy Anirban Ghosh

Introduction

Open and Distance Learning (ODL)system has shown a tremendous growthduring the last few decades due to itsunique feature of being a user friendlysystem. In this system, the students arefree to learn at their own pace andconvenience while being away from theinstitution. At present, the ODL hasbecome an integral part of highereducation globally. It is an effective toolfor making the provision ofheterogeneous group of students as analternative method to impart education allover world. The important objective ofODL is to promote self study among thelearners in the absence of regular face-to-face teaching. To achieve this objective,every ODL institute provides support toits learners, which comprises a cluster offacilities and activities that are intended tomake the teaching-learning process easierand more interesting for the learners.Students in ODL come from diverse agegroup, gender and socio-economic profile.Therefore, distance learners desperatelyneed support before, during and evenafter the study from the ODL institutions.The support service is one of the mostimportant components of anysuccessful ODL system. Accordingto Dirr (1999), learner services are avariety of non-academic interactionsthat a learner expects i.e. pre-enrolment services, admissions andregistration, logistics services,personal and career counselling,social support etc. But supportservices in ODL system not onlyinclude these non-academic servicesbut also the academic services suchas tutoring and practical facilities.

Established in 1972, the Korean NationalOpen University (KNOU) is a mega-university with over 162,000 learners inundergraduate and graduate courses.Themission of the KNOU is to cultivate thetalents needed by the country and societythrough higher education and create anopen society of study to contribute to thedevelopment of lifelong education. TheKNOU was established to i) expand theopportunities for higher education,ii) improve the quality of education andiii) provide education to senior citizensand physically disabled persons.Currently the KNOU has 22 departmentswith over 750 subjects.

Student Support Services

The Student Support Services (SSSs) playan important role in imparting qualityeducation to distance learners. KNOU haswell-structured student support servicesto support its learners. The Universitydelivers its courses through differenttypes of lectures using TV, VCD, Internet,Radio and face-to-face lectures. TheUniversity also provides onlinesupplementary materials for effectivelearning. The University conducts

Summer/Winter classes for weak studentswho score grade F or below C. Theseclasses are conducted through mediaonly, no classroom teaching is providedto these students. Some supplementarylectures through video conference arealso organized at headquarters andstudents attend these classes at theirrespective regional centres. The full-timefaculty members travel around theregional centres in each semester to offerspecial lecture, provide individual supportand to interact with the students. TheUniversity provides free learningmaterials to the disabled students andelectronic textbooks to the students withvisual impairment. Translation softwareautomatically executes and translates thewritten content into audio content (http://library.knou.ac.kr) for the students withsuch disabilities.

Technology for Student Support

The asynchronous technologies likecomputer conferencing, the World WideWeb, and CD-ROM etc. help flexibleaccess to learning package. The KNOU ison right path in utilizing the ICT forhigher education to reach the mass.KNOU launched its own TV Channel(OUN- Open University Network) in 1996which transmits educational programmefor 19.30 hours daily. In 2007, KNOUmerged e-Learning Centre andEducational Media Development Centreinto Digital Media Centre (DMC). TheDMC has enough space for studio (9

nos.), editing room (23 nos.) andVideo conference room. The DMCis entrusted with the production ofcourse materials on Video, Web andMultimedia. Apart from the textbook (course materials) KNOU usesfour types of electronic media likeTV, Cable/Satellite TV, IPTV, InternetLOD (Learning on Demand),Mobile), Multimedia (Internet LOD,Mobile), Web Based Instruction(WBI) and Audio. The TVproductions are prepared on thebasis of studio lecture, outdoor

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reporting and are deliveredthrough cable TV, SatelliteTV, IPTV, Video & MP3download, and M-learning.Multimedia productions arebased on studio lecture, PPTslide, authoring tool likeanimation, picture and HTMLpage. Multimediaproductions are deliveredthrough the LOD, MP3 andM-learning. The webproduction for WBI are offour types viz. tutorial,discussion, project and experimental, andis delivered through learning managementsystem (LMS), MP3 and PDF download.The audio type productions are based onlanguage courses and are in the nature oflecture/ narration. These productions aredelivered through LOD, MP3 downloadand M-learning. All the materials inelectronic form are either uploaded on thewebsite or are broadcast through OUN(Open University Network). The studentscan access their lesson at any time theywish. 70% of the course is deliveredthrough TV, Internet and mobile andremaining 30% is delivered through faceto face teaching either by on-campusteaching or by video conferencing.

Though in the early years the audiomedium was popular, but over the period,this medium has lost its popularity from57% to 10%. Now-a-days the multimediais more attractive than any other forms ofmedia. The Centre for Lifelong Educationis also taking the benefit of Internet for itsdelivery of courses. All the multimediacontents are available on LOD. One of theadvantages of multimedia is that it isinteractive and students can check theirprogress by giving feedback, as itcontains self-check question banks.

The web lectures (Video+PPT) are foundto be the most helpful and the studentsoften solve their own problems. TheKNOU graduate school is 100% online.Though lectures are delivered online,workshops and seminars are conductedoffline at different regional centres ofKNOU to facilitate the learning process.

Tutoring System

The University has a unique system oftutoring. The objective of tutoring systemis to i) establish a learner orientedteaching & learning system and enhancequality of education, ii) to prevent thestudents from dropping out and tomotivate for continuous study andlearning, and iii) to complement theshortcomings of non-interactive distanceeducation. There are three types of tutorsin KNOU viz. i) Department Tutors(engaged in academic guidance for majorsubjects and counselling for campus life,on and offline through tutorial website,regional campuses or study centres), ii)Regional Campus Tutors (engaged in faceto face counselling through regionalcentres and study centres) and iii) CyberTutors (engaged in academic guidanceand management of Internet lecturesthrough Internet lecture site). TheUniversity has amentoring system forstudents. A senior experienced studentacts as a mentor for helping new studentsin distance education.

Student Welfare

To establish a student friendly schoolenvironment through autonomousactivities and self management theuniversity maintains Nationwide StudentUnion, Regional Student Union andNationwide Student Club Association. Itis observed that those who are involvedin club activities show higher academicachievement and are less likely to give uptheir study. It is also analyzed that most

problems regarding thedifficulties of self study aresolved in sharing with fellowand senior students. Theuniversity’s regional centresalso maintain Nursing Roomfor mothers to keep theirchildren during their studyand examination. TheUniversity providesscholarship to students fromits own fund as well as fromoutside agencies.

Conclusions

The KNOU is playing a significant role innational higher education in Korea andgiving the opportunities to the peoplewho could not continue their studybecause of varied socio-economicreasons. KNOU utilizes a combination ofmedia like satellite broadcasting, cable TV,Internet, mobile, IPTV etc. Textbooks andmedia lectures are provided to the undergraduate students while graduatestudents have to depend only on medialectures or web based LMS.

Though the University is adopting multi-channel support services, most of thelearners have to depend on ICT services.The University is promoting education insuch a way that the students sitting atdistance do not feel that they are isolatedfrom their peers and feel comfortable withthe support services.

Note: The case study is based on the projectcarried out under the AAOU Staff ExchangeFellowship programme in 2010.

Reference:

Dirr, P.J. (1999). Putting Principles intoPractice: Promoting effective support servicesfor students in distance learning programme- Areport. Denver: Western Cooperative for

Educational Telecommunications.

Anirban Ghosh is Assistant Professor atNetaji Subhas Open University, Kolkata,India. He can be reached atanirban1972@gmail.com

16

Regional Round Up

Education for all:Role of OpenSchoolingA 3-day International Conferenceon “Education for all: Role ofOpen Schooling” was organizedby National Institute of OpenSchooling (NIOS) which was heldon March 13-15, 2013 at IDSA,Rao Tula Ram Marg, New Delhi,India. The conference wassupported by Commonwealth ofLearning (COL), Vancouver,Canada, United NationsPopulation Fund (UNFPA) India, andIntel. Spread over three days theconference involved six keynoteaddresses, delivered by world renownededucationists of India and abroad, threePanel Discussions and seventy paperspresented in eleven sessions. Theconference was attended by more than200 delegates and guests from nearlytwenty countries from all over the world.

Dr. M.M. Pallam Raju, Hon’ble Minister,Human Resource Development, Govt. ofIndia inaugurated the event. Sh. R.Bhattacharya, Secretary, Ministry ofHuman Resource Development (MHRD),Govt. of India was the Guest of Honour.Dr. S.S. Jena, Chairman, NIOS welcomedthe delegates and emphasized the need towork relentlessly to ensure Right toEducation (RTE) in letter and spirit. Ms.Frances Ferreira conveyed that COL isproud to partner with NIOS and MHRD.She stated that the conference allowsODL stakeholders to share, consult andcollaborate, and she congratulated NIOSfor organising the conference. Dr. PallamRaju released the Framework ofRecognition of Prior Learning during theevent. While speaking on the occasion heoutlined the success of Sarv Shikha

Abhiyan (Education for All) and how itmeans that secondary education mustalso become universal. He felt that openschooling has significant role to play inachieving the target of Education for All.

Keynote addresses were delivered by Ms.Frances Ferreira, Dr. Sugata Mitra, Dr.Vinod Raina, Prof. Shyam Menon, Prof.Santosh Panda, and Prof. (Dr.) MuktiMishra. A panel discussion on “Issues ofAccess and Equity” was chaired by Fr.T.V. Kunnunkal, Founder Chairman, NIOS,and moderated by Ms. Lystra SampsonOvid, Trinidad & Tobago. The panellistswere Prof. Usha Nayar, Professor (Retd.),

NCERT and Prof. Janaki Rajan, of JamiaMillia Islamia. Another panel discussionwas on “Vocational Education and SkillDevelopment”, chaired by Ms. FancyAmey, Director, Learner Support,Botswana College of Distance and OpenLearning (BOCODOL), Botswana. Themoderator for the session was Mr. JoshuaMallet, Director, CENDLOS, Ghana. Thepanellists were Dr. Joginder S. Sodhi, ShriRam Centre for Industrial Relations,Human Resources, Economic & SocialDevelopment, New Delhi; Ms. AnkitaMishra Bundela, Dy. Secretary, Ministryof Human Resource Development(MHRD), Govt. of India, New Delhi; andDr. K.P. Wasnik, Director (VocationalEducation), NIOS, NOIDA.The third paneldiscussion was on “Institutional RelatedIssues and Operational Strategies”, whichwas chaired by Prof. M.M. Pant, FormerPro-Vice Chancellor, IGNOU. Thespeakers were Prof. M.N. Deshmukh,Former Director, SSA, IGNOU; Dr. R.C.Sharma, IGNOU, New Delhi; Dr. KuldeepAgarwal, Director (Academic), NIOS,Delhi; and Sh. S.K. Prasad, SAP, NIOS.

Ms. Fredricka Meijer, UNFPARepresentative India and CountryDirector Bhutan was the Chief Guest forthe Valedictory Programme. Sh. U.N.Khaware, Secretary, NIOS delivered thevote of thanks.

17

Book Review

Open Educational Resources: An AsianPerspectiveGAJARAJ DHANARAJAN and DAVID PORTER (Eds), Commonwealth of Learning,Vancouver, 2013, pp. xvii, 274, ISBN 978-1-894975-61-2 (pbk)

IDEA 2013Indian Distance Education Association(IDEA) organised the IDEA-2013International Conference at the MaulanaAzad National Open University(MANUU) on April 5 - 7, 2013. About200 delegates, including representativesfrom Sri Lanka, Pakistan, andBangladesh participated in theconference.The Conference took off to astimulating start on 5th of April 2013 withthe inauguration of the event by ShriJitin Prasada, Hon’ble Minister for Statefor HRD, Govt of India. He highlightedthe role of open and distance learning in

the 21st Century. Shri Prasada laid stresson the need for the education sector tomeet the increasing demands from allstakeholders and also emphasised theneed to educate for employment andempowerment, providing access andequity to serve as a support mechanismfor the disadvantaged groups.

The main objectives of the conferencewere to share ideas, information andexperiences on different issues, methodsand technologies for quality assurance,standardization and delivery of educationbeyond boarders. Under the theme“Disseminating Learning, DiminishingBorders - ODL in 21st Century” the

conference discussed quality concernsand best practices in open and distancelearning, social networking andcollaborative learning, learners’ supportand learning communities, user friendlytechnologies, research anddevelopment, capacity building,language barriers, women in ODL etc.Prof. V. S. Prasad, presented Prof. G. RamReddy Memorial Lecture, on “TheDisconnect between Dharma and Karmain Indian ODL”.

(Report by Dr. Mushtaq Ahmed I. Patel)

By Dr. S. K. Pulist

The Commonwealth of Learning (COL) isleading the Open Educational Resources(OER) movement across the globe. Whileits main thrust is on ‘learning fordevelopment’, it uses OER to increaseaccess to quality learning resources. Thebook under review, jointly published byCOL and OER Asia, with support fromWawasan Open University (WOU),Malaysia and International DevelopmentResearch Centre (IDRC), Canada providesa comprehensive overview of countryreports from China, Hong Kong, India,Indonesia, Japan, Korea, Malaysia,Pakistan, Philippines and Vietnam and ten

different case studies undertaken on OERmovements in higher educationinstitutions in the Asian region.

The development of OER activities inAsian region is presented in this volumefrom different perspectives. The book isdivided into three main parts - ‘Overview’,‘Country Perspectives’ and ‘CaseStudies’, further sub-divided into 20Chapters in all. Each Chapter shares anexclusive experience with the readers. The‘Overview’ by Dhanarajan andAbeywardena presents the currentscenario on OER in the Asian region. Theauthors see the OER movement as a ‘wayof addressing the dual challenge of

quality and equity’. However, they areconcerned about the knowledge, effectiveuse and policy provisions with regard toOER. While Chapter 1 presents thecurrent status of OER initiatives anddevelopment in the mainland China,Chapter 2 presents result of a surveyconducted in Hong Kong on thedevelopment and use of OER. In Chapter

18

Dr. S. K. Pulist is Deputy Director atIGNOU, New Delhi. He can be reachedat skpulist@ignou.ac.in

3 the authors highlight the steps taken bythe Indian Government in popularizationof OER as a movement while discussingthe overview of higher education in thecountry. Chapter 4 discusses theprospects and challenges in promotion ofOER in Indonesia, and Chapter 5presents a report on the OER in Japan.Chapter 6 focuses on the OER initiativesin Korea and discusses different barriersin use of OER and necessary measureswhich would help the country inpromoting the development and sharingof OER with the rest of the world.

The OER awareness in Malaysia isspreading now and the higher educationinstitutions feel the need of intensifyingthis movement. Chapter 7 highlights thatfor want of a concrete policy on OER atnational level, the institutions are yet tomake full use of OER as a ‘mainstream’practice in Malaysia. Chapter 8 discussesthe development and use of OER at theVirtual University of Pakistan, andidentifies enablers and barriers in itspromotion. In Chapter 9, authors presentthe findings of a study on OER inPhilippines Higher Education system.Chapter 10 presents that institutions inVietnam have participated in the OERmovement. However, ‘traditional teachinghabits, indifferent attitude and absence of‘sharing culture’ among others haveproved to be obstacles in open and liberaluse of OER in the country. Chapter 11discusses the development process,licensing issues, institutional policyissues and advantages connected to thedevelopment of OER application entitled“TCC242/05 Web Database Application”in Wawasan Open University, which has

adopted the approach of developing self-contained course material. In Chapter 12,the authors analyse the OER efforts madeat the International Crops ResearchInstitute for the Semi-Arid Tropics(ICRISAT) through the Virtual Academyfor the Semi-Arid Tropics (VASAT).Chapter 13 presents the status ofdifferent OER projects launched inPhilippines in different times such as‘WikiPilipinas’ , ‘Filipiniana.net’,‘Philippine online Chronicles’ and ‘E-turo’. These projects are launched underthe aegis of “The Vibal Foundation”funded by Vibal Publishing House, Inc.

Chapter 14 and 15 present two casesfrom India. While the former is thenarration of the process ofconceptualization, development, use,evaluation and re-use of the OERrepository in University of Madras, thelatter presents the findings of a casestudy done on the ‘digital repository’developed at Indira Gandhi National OpenUniversity, India under the ‘e-Gyankosh’initiative. Chapter 16 discusses theprocess of creation of Korean OpenCourseware (KOCW) which aims atincreasing the public access to collegelectures.

Chapter 17 presents the NationalProgramme on Technology EnhancedLearning (NPTEL) that focusses onimproving the quality of undergraduateand postgraduate curricula of Engineeringand Technology programmes in Indiathrough OER route. Chapter 18 peepsinto the activities organised by the‘Teachers’ Online Forum’ at theUniversitas Terbuka Indonesia. Chapter

19 shares the policies and practicesadopted and followed taking advantageof ‘emerging technologies’ at differentphases of development of OER at theOpen University of Hong Kong. Chapter20 discusses the genesis of OER at theBeijing Open University, China and itscollaboration with ‘iTunes U’ toconceptualize, develop and share the OERcontent with the rest of the world.

The OER movement is slowly gainingmomentum across the world. Differentinstitutions are at different stages ofconceptualization and development ofOER. While some have welcomed themove appreciating its capabilities tointernationalise education and providequality ‘education for all’ at affordablecost, others support the move but arehesitant to be open to the world with theirresources. In many cases, the institutionshave started digitizing their content whichis the first step in the direction of creatingan OER repository. The book is a richresource of stories showcasing the statusof the OER in different institutions andcountries in Asian region. It trulypresents the Asian perspective on OERmovement. The ideas, status reports andsurvey results presented by the authorsindicate that the OER movement in Asia isstill in the nascent stage and requirespolicy development and capacitybuilding. The Book is a rich source ofinformation on OER for planners, policymakers, teachers and researchers.

EduComm Asia is your newsletter of useful ideas, views and information. From one issue to the next, we aim tostrengthen the newsletter. The best way to do so is by keeping content diverse. You can help us to do so by becoming acontributor. Write to us about educational media news and other events that you would like to see in the newsletter. Allcontributions shall be duly acknowledged and appreciated.

- EduComm Asia

Dear readers,

19

SMART Tips

Listeners’ Profile for Community Radio

By Kiron Bansal

Successful Media and Research Techniques (SMART) Tips is a section where wediscuss useful aspects of research and learning. One of the issues faced byCommunity Radio Stations is to understand their listeners and how to meet theirneeds. Dr. Bansal presents here a simple way to prepare Listerners’Profile.

Community Radio (CR) is people’s radiowhich reflects the hopes, needs andaspirations of communities in ageographical area and provides a forum toshare their views, problems and concerns.Research input is required for variouspurposes such as identifying the locationof a Community Radio Station (CRS),preparing listeners’ profile, undertakingneeds assessment, content planning andprogramming, and eliciting audiencefeedback to facilitate continuousimprovement in the programme delivery.

For any CRS, it is extremely important tohave a good understanding of thelisteners. Listeners’ profile aims torepresent their socio-demographic profile,media habits and utilization patterns toproduce programmes that are need-based,relevant and interesting. Since CRStations follow participatory approachesand their dynamics are different fromother media forms, the medium requiresspecific approaches to data collection. Inthis SMART Tips section, we shall focuson preparation of listeners’ profile usingsurvey method for which the stepsinvolved are planning, sample selection,designing interview schedule,administering the schedule and dataanalysis and reporting.

Planning

At the planning stage you need toconsider what information are to be

collected, which group of population tobe studied and which method will beappropriate for data collection. Plan tocollect data to understand who thecommunity members are, what is theirdemographic profile in terms ofdistribution of age groups, gender, familytype and size, educational levels,languages spoken, type of housing,occupation and income levels, etc?

The profile needs to cover issues relatingto media access and habits, for exampleaccess to newspapers, radio, television;the ownership patterns – are theseavailable at home or community centres orany other place? What are the utilizationpatterns – how often do they listen toradio/watch television, use mobile phone,etc. It is also useful to ascertain the typeof folk media available and their usage inthe community.

The researcher may also collectinformation relating to the historicalbackground, geographical factors, climate,

landholding and crops produced toprovide a holistic picture. Someinformation about the local customs,festivals and leisure time activities of thelisteners may also be elicited. Anunderstanding of the general healthscenario in the village such as commonhealth problems, medical facilitiesavailable, maternal and child health care,mortality rates, and population growthpatterns reveal ground realities and aid inprogramming.

Sample Selection

At this stage, you need to decide whetherthe entire village has to be covered or arepresentative sample from the populationwould suffice. The normal reach of a CRSis within the radius of 10-15 KMs.Considering this surveying all thehouseholds in the villages covered in therange is difficult. Therefore, you may liketo do a stratified random sampling basedon caste and gender of the people in allthe villages within the range of the CRS.

Survey is the most commonly usedquantitative method which aims to gatherdata from many respondents andgeneralize results from a smaller sample tolarger population. Questionnaires/Interview Schedules comprise tools ofdata collection for survey method. Incontrast with Questionnaires which areposted (through regular mail/email) andneed to be filled-in by the respondents,interview schedule has been found moreuseful in collecting data from rural,illiterate/semi-literate respondents as itallows the researcher to build rapport withrespondents and explain the questions, ifneeded. The schedule can be filled-inquickly and the data obtained iscomparable, hence easier to analyze. Theresponse rate of schedules is higher ascompared to questionnaires. However, theresearcher needs to visit each householdwhich can be time consuming, at timespeople may not be available and thoseavailable may be reluctant to answer thequestions.

... surveying all the households

in the villages covered in the

range is difficult. Therefore,

you may like to do a stratified

random sampling based on

caste and gender of the people

in all the villages within the

range of the CRS

20

Designing Interview Schedule

Interview schedule needs to be designedwith care and requires time and efforts. Awell-designed schedule is easy tounderstand, has a flow comprising bothclose-ended and open-ended questions.Closed-ended questions allow therespondents to select an answer from thelist of options, are simpler to answer, offeruniformity in responses and can be easilyquantified, hence easier to process ascompared to open-ended questions.However, while designing them theresearcher has to list all possible range ofresponses. Different types of closed-ended questions such as limited choice,multiple choice, rating scales and rankingscales may be used in the schedule.

In addition, some open-ended questionsmay be included to elicit qualitative dataand the simplest form of open-endedquestion relate to the inclusion of ‘why’and ‘how’ to offer scope for detailedresponses. Such questions are useful toelicit data on beliefs and opinions andalso when researcher is not sure of theentire range of possible responses.However, at the analysis stage detailedresponses are relatively difficult toprocess and interpret. Here are some do’sand don’ts of designing a schedule:

Do’s

• Use simple, easy to understandlanguage

• Keep sentences short and to thepoint

• Keep in view the level ofeducation and knowledge of therespondents

• Proceed in a logical order - fromgeneral to specific, simple tocomplex

• Ask one information in a question

• Define certain terms to removeambiguity.

• Ask only those questions whichare relevant to the studyobjectives.

Don’ts

• Include ‘leading’ or ‘loaded’questions

• Include ambiguous questions asthey will yield ambiguous data

• Include questions which requireunreasonable effort to answer

If an interview schedule is to beadministered in Hindi/regional language,then either it should be developed in thesame language or translated as whileadministering the schedule, the researcheris likely to add/omit information leading todisparity in responses. The Schedulethen has to be pre-tested to identify gapsand ensure clarity and based on thefeedback, the schedule is finalized.

Administering Interview Schedule

For administering the schedule, therespondents may be met at casualsettings such as chaupal (public place),community centres or even the CRS.Women members may be met at homes,farms and similar spaces where they feelcomfortable to give information withoutinhibitions. At the outset, the researchershould introduce himself/herself andconvey the purpose of data collection --why the information is being collectedand how it will be used and request for

their cooperation. He/She should fill in allthe columns and ensure that the scheduleis complete in all respects and thank therespondents for their time andcontribution. Explaining anonymity of theresponses is an important aspect ofbuilding rapport to elicit response.

Data Analysis and Reporting

Once all the filled in schedules arecollected, the data is processed andinterpreted to draw findings. Thenumerical data is expressed in frequencyand percentages and the findings arepresented in a report in textual and tabularforms, interspersed with graphs andcharts. The main purpose of the report isto help the CRS understand its listeners,hence it is written in simple, easy to readmanner devoid of technical jargon. The

report serves as a baseline data forvarious purposes to make the CRS moreresponsive to the audience needs.Experience has revealed that it is useful toinvolve those engaged in production fromthe beginning for greater acceptance andutilization of the report.

Dr. Kiron Bansal is Associate Professor at theSchool of Journalism & New Media Studies,Indira Gandhi National Open University andat present is Director I/c of the School. She canbe reached at kbansal@ignou.ac.in

21

Technology Tracking

Mozilla Open BadgesBy Sanjaya Mishra

Assessment of learnerperformance is one of the mostimportant aspects of theeducation system to certifyknowledge and skills for theemployment market. The currentsystem of student evaluation isthe most rigid and inflexible one inthe contemporary educationsystem. Despite the advancementin technology, it is a difficult taskto authenticate a certificate issuedby an educational institution.Today, due to high speed ofchange in the employment marketand need for diversified skills,employees need to update and upgradethemselves while in service. Onlineeducation and training has thereforebecome common. If as an educationalprovider, you are thinking of providingtraining and certification online that canbe checked for authentication byprospective employers, and the learnersthemselves can use the certificate to bedisplayed in their online CVs, thenMozilla Open Badges is the perfectsolution for you.

A digital badge is an online certificate onthe skills acquired by an individual.Mozilla Open Badge Infrastructure(MOBI) gives a framework to earn, issueand display skills earned in an onlineenvironment. With MOBI you can earnbadges for skills you learn online andoffline, give recognition for things youteach in an organization, and show yourbadges in your online and offline CV.

Open Badges allows you to verify skills,interests and achievements through acredible process in an organization. The

MOBI is based on open standard thatallows combining multiple badges fromdifferent issuers. This is a free softwarethat can be used by any organization toissue badges. More than 600organizations ranging from schools touniversities and non-profits to companiesare already using Open Badges for theirtraining programmes.

Lots of learning happens outside the fourwalls of a classroom, and in an openbadge framework, an institution can evenorganize these into badges. What itenables is to organize evidence basedassessment, and certify skills byproviding a visual insignia that can beused in websites as well as printed CVs todemonstrate that an individual has aparticular skill set.

The software uses an identitymanagement system, information on thebadge, and the data about the skillsacquired. An issuing organization orindividual makes a badge or series ofbadges available on a website and

prompts prospective users to earn them.The earner sends the badge to theirBackpack. The badge becomes portablethrough the Issuer API which providesscript to present the earner with a dialogthat requests their consent to add theissuer’s badge(s) to their Backpack.Issuer can also push badges to the

Mozilla Baking Service. This isonly necessary if the issuer wantsthe earner to have the ability tostore badges outside of the OBI.Otherwise badge baking is handledthrough the Issuer API. Earnerscan share their badges throughtheir Backpack and grantpermission for a particular site todisplay that collection of badges.Displayers authenticate badgeswith the Issuer using theverification check.

While anyone can earn badges andrequire access to Internet andemail, issuing organizations need

to have the following:

• Issuers must have web servercapable of serving requests to thegeneral Internet.

• Issuers must have hosting ability.

• Issuers must have ability to make aPOST request from their serverbackend and read a JSONresponse.

• Issuers must have email addressesfor earners and must be able toemail earners.

• Issuers must have badges (or beable to convert their badges) intothe format (metadata spec) that theAssertion expects.

Implications of Open Badges

What you as reader of EduComm Asiacan do? You can take the advantage, andearn several badges available oneducational technology and related areas.This means, Open Badges can reflect

Open Badge Anatomy (CC-BY-SA, Class Hack) http://classhack.com/post/45364649211/open-badge-anatomy-updated

22

your additional skills, and enrich your CV.If you are a teacher or trainer, you canthink of offering badges for your trainingprogrammes using the MOBI. What doesthis mean? Overall, the Open Badgescreates a new ecosystem for certificationof skills by any one. While certificationhas been a monopoly of educationalinstitutions, education and trainingactivities are performed in a variety oforganizations and contexts. These canoffer badges that can be then accreditedby certifying agencies. Skill developmentprogrammes can be taken up by anyonewho has a mastery and offer to others

through Open Badges to be earned.Multiple badges earned by individualscan be displayed at one place to developa portfolio that can be seen byprospective employers. Learningbecomes continuous, and certificationcan be modular, and need-based. Open

Badges are already implemented in majorLearning Management Systems likeCanvas and Moodle. The Moodle 2.5 hasMOBI in-inbuilt to help design coursesoffering learners to earn badges. Badgescreate a scenario that facilitates opennessin assessment of student learning. Nowwith Open Badges, assessment is open,modular, visible, authenticated andsearchable.

See http://www.openbadges.org/

This presentation is prepared fromvarious sources by Sanjaya Mishra, PhD

Software Review

A-VIEW (Amrita Vir tual InteractiveE-Learning World)Reviewed by Ramesh C. Sharma

Introduction

E-Learning in India received a boost fromthe recommendations of the NationalKnowledge Commission, which identifiedfive key areas - access to knowledge,knowledge concepts, knowledge creation,knowledge application and knowledgeservices, transforming India into aknowledge society. Various eLearningsolutions, services and platforms areavailable to students, teachers andinstitutions. A-VIEW is one of suchinteractive multimedia e-learning platformswhich has been developed as a part of“Talk to a Teacher” programme under theIndian Government’s National Mission forEducation using Information andCommunication Technology (NMEICT)by Amrita E-Learning Research Lab,Kerala, India in association with IITBombay.

Technical aspects

A-VIEW, a versatile e-learning tool for

distance education is available for free touse basis. It can run successfully onmultiple platforms like Windows,Macintosh, Linux, iPADs, Mobile deviceslike Android phones and tablets. Therecent update version 3.5 allows up to 8attendees to have video interaction withthe presenter along with audio with many.Users can have a private chat withpresenter or moderator, in addition toasking questions in general chat tab. Oneof the main features of A-VIEW is torecord the session. The viewers can thensee it from the library archives.PowerPoint animations are supported inthis version. The functionalityof whiteboard allows formanaging text and drawings.The presenter can do videosharing, desktop sharing anddocument sharing. The videoscan be uploaded in mp4/flvformats, in addition to sharing aYouTube link. The video

editing feature allows the presenter/moderator to edit the unwanted videoscenes from a recording. Anotherimprovement in this software is supportfor multi-bitrate streaming for ‘HighDefinition’ and ‘Low Latency’. Thus theattendees can select low, medium or highbitrate stream of the presenter based onthe bandwidth available to them. Thedevelopers have taken care of securityfeature too. The face recognition featureallows authenticated login once the userregisters face through the application.

A-VIEW has useful features for teachersin the form of live Quiz (where theattendees can see their results), polling toobtain feedback on a topic or issue duringdiscussion, allowing attendees to posequestions through question interface, andapplication sharing for training ortroubleshooting purposes. The teacher isfurther allowed for collaborativesynchronized sharing of 2D and 3Danimations and Videos.

23

Potential to teach masses

A-VIEW is very suitable for teaching tolarge classes (can be a good platform forteaching as a MOOC – Massive OpenOnline Course). Its interface is very simpleand thus even non-tech persons caneasily use A-VIEW to teach or attendsessions by others.

Educational Reach /Implementation of A-VIEWClassroom

A-VIEW is being used not only in Indiabut many other institutions over the globelike Radbound University, Netherlands;University of Texas at Dallas, USA;University of California, Los Angeles;Oakland University, USA; CarnegieMellon University, USA; AthabascaUniversity, Canada; etc. In India morethan 350 universities and around 1000colleges are taking benefit of this e-learning tool to connect qualified expertsto the students.

How to use A-VIEW

In order to teach or attend sessions, weneed to install A-VIEW. (Download fromhttp://aview.in/index). We need acomputer / laptop with Internetconnection, a web-cam or a video camera,and headset/speakers/microphone.

Challenges

There are some areas which need to beattended to by the A-VIEW team:

• To make use of this platform, one needto download the software (around 50MB), this may be a challenge at placeswith low bandwidth. Web-basedhosted service that does not requiredownload would be a better option tousers.

• To schedule a class, A-VIEW teamneed to be contacted, thus a teacher oruser cannot schedule a class on his orher own. This reduces usability of thesoftware by an institution and createsdependency on the A-VIEW team.Thus, institutions cannot host the

services themselves at present.

• In the classroom interface there aretwo windows, one for chat and otherfor questions. These may beintegrated to improve usability.

• The older recordings available inlibrary sometime give problem inloading or running.

• It needs good bandwidth at theteacher end to teach courses withgraphical content.

• Provision of uploading files / contentby the user be made so that (say in theform of assignment) teaching andlearning can be made interactive.

End-note

A-VIEW is getting popular among theinstitutions due to its capabilities ofattending to large number of students,technical features and governmentalsupport. The team from A-VIEW providesfull support in terms of hardware likevideo camera, speakers, microphone andlaptop computer to the teacherconducting a session. It is hoped thatfuture updates of the software willaddress some of the current challenges.Considering the fact that it is supportedby Govt of India, it would make sense torelease A-VIEW as Open Source Software(with downloadable source code), therebyhelping to create a community ofdevelopers around the software who canupgrade and support the same at userorganizations. It is also important becausethe government support for softwaredevelopment will not be there forever, andthe software to remain up-to-date andcompetitive requires a business modelaround Open Source to remainsustainable for the user organizations.

http://aview.in/

http://aview.amrita.ac.in/

Dr. Ramesh C. Sharma is Deputy Directorat the Defence Unit of Indira GandhiNational Open University, New Delhi. Hecan be reached atrcsharma@ignoua.ac.in

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24

Forthcoming Events

27th Annual Conference of theAsian Association of OpenUniversities

Conference Theme:Leveraging the Powerof Open and DistanceEducation forBuilding a DivergentWorld - Today’sSolutions and

Tomorrow’s Vision

01-04 October 2013, Islamabad, Pakistan.

For more information, contact:

AAOU 2013 Conference SecretariatRoom-8, Block-7,Allama Iqbal Open University, Islamabad,Pakistan.Email:aaou2013@aiou.edu.pkWeb site: http://overseas.aiou.edu.pk/aaou.asp

25th ICDE World Conference inChina

The 25th ICDE World Conference will behosted by Tianjin Open University, China,on 16-18 October 2013.

Conference Theme: New Strategies forGlobal Open, Flexible and DistanceLearning

For more information, contact:

The 25th ICDE World ConferenceOrganizing CommitteeTianjin Open UniversityNo.1 Yingshui Road, Nankai District,Tianjin 300191, P.R. ChinaTel: +86 22 23679937Fax: +86 22 23678502Email: icde@tjrtvu.edu.cn

63rd Annual Conference ofInternational Council forEducation Media

ICEM 2013 1-4 October 2013, NanyangTechnological University, Singapore

For more information:

Website: http://icem2013.ntu.edu.sg/

E-LEARN 2013 - WorldConference on E-Learning inCorporate, Government,Healthcare & Higher Education

Las Vegas, Nevada: October 21-25, 2013

For more information, see:

Web site: http://www.aace.org/conf/elearn/

PCF7: Empowerment &Transformation

The theme of COL’sSeventh Pan-CommonwealthForum on OpenLearning (PCF7, 2 – 6

December 2013 in Abuja, Nigeria) is OpenLearning for Development: TowardsEmpowerment and Transformation.PCF7’s co-host, the Federal Ministry ofEducation, Nigeria, and the lead partnerinstitution, the National Open Universityof Nigeria (NOUN) are working to makethe conference fruitful within the contextof development in Africa.

For more information, see:

http://www.pcf7.net

International MalaysianEducational TechnologyConvention,

7th, Bandung,Indonesia. September16-18, 2013.

For more information, see:

http://imetc2013.yolasite.com/

International Conference onDigital Libraries (ICDL2013)27-29 November 2013, New Delhi, India.

The international conference on digitallibraries will have conferencepresentations, workshops and tutorialson a range of topics of interest tolibrarians and academics. TheCommonwealth Educational MediaCentre (CEMCA) is one of theassociates of the event to supportparticipants from the CommonwealthAsian countries.

For more information, contact:

ICDL 2013 SecretariatThe Energy and Resources Institute(TERI)India Habitat Centre Complex, LodhiRoad,New Delhi-110003, IndiaTel: +91 11 24682100 or 41504900,24644654 (Direct)Fax: 24682144Email: ICDL2013@teri.res.inWebsite: www.teriin.org/events/icdl