<<March 2, 2000>>
Guenther Cyranek <g.cyranek@unesco.org>
Claudio Menezes <CLAUDIO@UNESCO.ORG.BR>
Paulo Jorge Melo <pmelo@ccr-c.pt>
Dr. David A. Johnson, AICP <daj@utk.edu>
Peter T. Knight <ptknight@attglobal.net>
Emilio Vento <evento@unido.org>
Alexandre Rivas, Ph.D. <alex_mau@argo.com.br>
Dr. Ihor Bogdan Katerniak <ik@litech.net>
Dr. Paul Lefrere <p.lefrere@open.ac.uk>
Dr. Teresita I. Barcelo <tbarcelo@iconn.com.ph>
Kimberly K. Obbink <kobbink@montana.edu>
John C. Afele, Ph.D <jafele@plant.uoguelph.ca>
Mr. Lane Smith <lasmith@usaid.gov>
Dear Guenther:
==============
(1) Many thanks for your msg (ATTACHMENT I).
(2) Your workshop in Maputo on 6/8-9/00 would be very interesting!!
Wishing
you a very good luck!!
Pls convey my best personal regards to Claudio when you
meet him at the
workshop.
(3) Our contact in Portugal is Paulo who was introduced by
David Johnson.
Paulo participated my workshop in Florianopolis in the summer
of 1997
via POTS while I retrieved his web site.
Pls feel free to contact Peter Knight -- I am sure that
he would be very
pleased, since he speaks Portuguese fluently -- everyday
with his
Brazilian wife.
(4) I am taking the liberty of distributing your excellent
write-up
UNESCO's View on Virtual Learning Environments: Examples
in the African
Context" (ATTACHMENT II), albeit rather long.
This is very well written. I learned a lot.
Dear Vento:
===========
(5) Referring to your distance learning project for 6 African
countries,
Guenther's write-up may be of some interest to you.
Dear Alex and David -- for the mini-workshop in Manaus,
Dear Ihor and Paul -- for the mini-workshop at Open University,
Dear Teresita and Kim -- for the mini-workshop in Manila:
===============================================================
(6) Pls read through to;
5. Sample of Recommendations for Distance Education,
6. UNESCO Workshop for Portuguese speaking African countries
about
Virtual Learning Environments.
These sections give us a very good guidance for the conduct of our mini-workshop
-- subjects listed in them should be brainstormed during our events.
Dear John and Lane:
===================
(7) You may also be interested in reading his write-up.
Best, Tak
****************************************
ATTACHMENT I
From: "Guenther Cyranek" <cyranek@hotmail.com>
To: utsumi@columbia.edu
Cc: ptknight@attglobal.net, cmenezes@unesco.org.uy, j.rose@unesco.org,
venancio@nambu.uem.mz
Subject: Virtual Learning workshop in Mozambique
Date: Tue, 25 Jan 2000 00:23:15 PST
DEAR Tak,
UNESCO plans in cooperation with the Regional Informatics Network
for Africa
(RINAF) and the University of Eduardo Mondlane (vice rector Venancio
Massingue) in Maputo a workshop 8-9 June on Virtual Learning for
portuguese
speaking countries.My UNESCO colleague for Brazil, Claudio MEnezes,
you also
met during IFIP conference 1997 in Florianopolis.
For preparation we had a workshop in Fortaleza Brazil.Attached
my article
about Virtual Learning related to Africa, as I work for sub-Saharan
Africa.
In January I also visited the FEderal University of Santa Catarina
and their
studios for Videoconferencing. Quite a success.
Are you in touch with people from Portugal in the field of Virtual Learning?
I know that Peter Knight is very interested in the co-operation
with
portuguese speaking African countries (PALOP).
Best regards G‰nther
****************************************
ATTACHMENT II
Virtual Learning Environments WISE'99
University of the State of Cear÷
In cooperation with IFIP WG 9.5
Fortaleza, Brazil
9-11 December 1999
UNESCO's View on Virtual Learning Environments
Examples in the African Context
G‰nther Cyranek
UNESCO Addis Ababa Office
Regional Informatics & Telematics Adviser
g.cyranek@unesco.org
Summary
UNESCO is supporting the Information Society by stressing the
benefits for
education, science, culture and communication. Interactive media
promise a
broader access to distance education material in urban and rural
areas.
Traditional media like newspaper, book, radio and TV can benefit
from
combining e-mail and Internet use for educational purposes. CD-ROM
production
and delivery is important for developing countries as long as
access to on-line
information is too slow and too expensive. Beside traditional
institutions like libraries, schools and universities Multipurpuse
Community
Telecentres offer access points to learning material. Concepts
of virtual
learning environments are discussed like the African Virtual University.
A new
media,Satellite Radio Broadcasting (SRB) is accessable throughout
a continent
and offers in addition access to Internet content without a phone
line e.g. a
distance education course for development in rural areas. Recommendations
for
implementing distance education are introduced.
1 UNESCO's Support for an Information Society
Virtual environments are getting more and more popular: We
are talking about
virtual libraries, virtual schools, virtual universities, or virtual
laboratories (IITAP & UNESCO 1999) to broaden access to knowledge
and skills
as far as connectivity is available. In combination with traditional
face-to-face
classroom based teaching and learning, virtual environments
become
efficient means in translating the principle of the right to access
to
knowledge into reality. Informatics and telematics can now offer
effective and
efficient learning environments for primary and secondary education,
vocational training, universities, continous education, but also
literacy training.
When considering the underlying infrastructure for virtual
learning, we have
to keep in mind that there are substantial differences among geographical
regions and countries in the availability and in the capacity
of network
services. Examples for research and development on appropriate
use of advanced
IT for virtual learning environments are the information highway
initiative
and the related higher education and school programmes in the
USA, programmes
of the European Commission, the Francophone Virtual University
or the African
Virtual University of the Worldbank. Specific educational technology
standards
are needed to ensure re-usability of contents, methods and tools,
interoperability of services, quality, multilinguality, harmonized
curriculum,
accreditation etc. Educational systems and other public service
organizations
will have to work closely with industrial concerns to develop
standards which
are flexible, open, freely available, and meet the needs of both
industrialized and developing countries. The international community,
including UNESCO, has a special role in promoting and guiding
this process
(Hunya & Rose 1998).
In basic education, the main challenges of the information
society include
providing tools for students to share ideas, to learn in collaborative
environments, and to become literate in the information technologies
which
will be part of the future work places and lives. Lifelong and
non-formal
learning will be increasingly pursued by a large number of people
in the
information-based society. The labour market and changing working
conditions
will necessitate more re-training. The availability of non-traditional
learning materials will encourage those who prefer the edutainment
style.
Crucial issues are intelligent course design, adaptability of
use, high
quality, accessibility and affordability.
In higher education the development of virtual universities
is very promising
(EU 1998). The Open University of Catalunya was established as
a virtual
campus from the beginning. The Spanish national open university
UNED with over
150,000 students, has made significant progress in using ICT.
The Fern-Universit‹t Hagen in Germany offers courses on its
WWW-based virtual campus.
In Switzerland the Swiss Virtual Campus is growing (Levrat 1997).
Other
examples for virtual approaches in the USA are the World Lecture
Hall of the
Houston University, the Maryland Virtual High School Project,
the Virtual
Washington University Project, or the University of Central Florida.
Examples for UNESCO projects
UNESCO is developing a strong focus on ICT in education, working
closely with
institutions in industrialized and developing countries and international
organizations like the European Commission and the Commonwealth
of Learning.
The overall goal is to promote the appropriate use of ICT in education
world-wide,
taking account of the economic, technological, organizational
and
educational constraints faced by Member States.
_ Creating Learning Networks for African Teachers
Within its objective of promoting the application on telematics
in achieving
Learning without Frontiers and of Education for All in Africa,
UNESCO is
supporting an initiative called Creating Learning Networks for
African
Teachers (UNESCO 1998) which foresees the development of a network
connecting
African teacher training colleges and educational authorities
to the Internet,
to promote educational reform, upgrade the capacity of teacher
trainers and
in-service teachers, develop educational resource centres in the
libraries of
colleges, and initiate pilot experiences on technology-based learning
in the
surrounding schools (Qu«au & Rose 1998). Pilot projects started
1997 in
Zimbabwe with connection of five teacher training colleges, courses
for
network use, and Web content development (e.g. Mutare Teachers
College:
http://www.uz.ac.zw;80/distanceeducation/lwf/ mutare/).
_ Educational Application of Interactive TV
The purpose is to test the usefulness of this technology, which
has been
applied up until now mainly in commercial applications such as
video on demand
in industrialized countries. First applications are tested in
co-operation
with ITU in primary teacher training in rural, peri-rural and
urban settings
in India and Marocco.
_ International Virtual Classroom Environment
In pilot projects tools were collected and tested for creating
and operating
virtual learning services (temporary address www.szit.bme.hu/vlc/list.php3
)
_ International Institute for Information Technologies in
Education (IITE)
This institute was launched 1997 in Moscow. The Institute will
establish an
international Internet-based information system on education.
This will
provide students, teachers, educational managers and decision
makers with
information on technologies in the learning process, on leading
educational
institutions and programmes, on freely available tools for virtual
learning.
_ IMAGINE Project
The initiative IMAGINE means Interactive Multimedia Access to
Global
Initiatives through Networking for Education. Technological and
pedagogical
research should respond to essential questions: How can the information
society support learning processes, and how can education contribute
to build
the information society. Also education processes should benefit
from
globalisation.
_ World Communication and Information Report
Every two years this informative report with chapters on ICT and
social
processes, on evolution of ICT with continental overviews is published
(UNESCO
1999).
Learning to learn, and learning to use information, will be
essential in the
Information Society. Therefore we have to redefine current conceptions
of
literacy and basic education. In addition, pedagogical research
needs to look
at new forms of teaching and learning as well as new learning
tools and
materials.
2 Initiatives in Africa
43 African countries out of 53 are now participating in the
Regional
Information Society Network for Africa (RINAF) as part of the
Intergovernmental Informatics Programme (IIP) of UNESCO. RINAF
is particularly
concerned with strengthening the roles of the public sector and
the civil
society in Africa in exploiting information and communication
technologies for
development. In the coming years we have to strengthen RINAF networking
for
the inclusion of all societal sectors including rural, isolated
and other
disadvantaged communities. During the last RINAF meeting in Addis
Ababa during
African Development Forum October 1999 ten priority projects were
identified:
1 Linking Scientists, 2 Content Development for Interactive Media,
3 Tertiary
Education & Research Organisations, 4 Promote wireless based
technology, 5
Provide infos about solar panel for PCs and MCTs, 6 Future Training
activities, 7 Distance Education, 8 Multimedia, Printing, Radio,
9 Public
access, 10 Computer recycling/maintenance.
The role of Virtual Information Space in the context of African
Culture (see
e.g. Web presence of Panafrican Film and Television Festival of
Ouagadougou
http://www.fespaco.bf or International African Arts and Crafts
Trade Show
http://www.siao.gov.bf/) has to be extended, to be able to support
development
of indigenous Internet content at the regional, sub-regional and
local levels,
particularly in collecting, interpreting, evaluating and disseminating
traditional knowledge for development in cooperation with technical
and social
science departments of universities, together with teacher training
and
vocational training institutions, radio stations, artists, musicians,
computer
specialists, librarians, etc.
UNESCO supports strongly the installation of African digital
libraries (Qu«au
& Rose 1998). However, the advances to network libraries were
concentrated in
university-based libraries, and therefore school and public libraries
have
been largely excluded. African libraries have to strengthen their
efforts to
become gateways to information highways for development, by making
textbooks
and periodicals electronically available, as well as audiovisual
materials and
computer-based courseware. All appropriate technologies should
be applied to
bring needed information to the community level, including CD-ROM,
telematics
and inexpensive local reprographic facilities.
The potential of virtual learning environment has to be understood
by decision
makers in the educational and vocational sector. To support and
evaluate
virtual learning environments for distance education is now the
task. First
hands-on experiences in the field are necessary with Internet
browsing for
relevant materials, E-mail for communication with teachers and
professors,
CD-ROM access for documents and interactive simulations. In
addition, the access
to virtual libraries improves educational institutions with state-of-the-art
didactical and methodological materials, access to international
scientific
journals and conference documentation. Just as important as electronic
access
are print-outs at free or nominal charge for educational or other
public
service use. The implementation of Virtual Laboratories (IITAO
& UNESCO 1999)
and the production of CD-ROMs with examples of good practice are
one way to
support educational institutions, using simulation tools, groupware
and other
new software techniques as appropriate. Nevertheless, this approach
has to be
supported by affordable delivery channels which means that public
service
sector users have to consolidate their needs in negotiations with
telecommunication and telematics service providers, and that the
public
authorities have to assume a proactive, constructive role in promoting
the
installation of infostructure in schools, communities and other
public service
sector institutions.
In the field of communication we have to be aware of merging
technologies.
Internet, TV, radio and press media are used together. Therefore,
workshops
about Internet applications and change of patterns for access
to information
for the whole media sector have to be developed and organized
in cooperation
with associations of journalists and media organizations.
In addition to affordable information infrastructure, informatics
and
telematics applications based on African needs, for building information
communities in Africa requires appropriate political, legal and
ethical
frameworks ensuring the development of a dynamic electronic public
domain and
affordable access to information and telematics facilities by
all sectors of
society including professional and grass roots communities. These
are part of
the wider domain "info-ethical" considerations which
are a key part of the
UNESCO concerns (http://www.unesco.org/webworld/).
Limitations of networking technology are often discussed as
strengthening the
disparity of urban rich and rural poor in developing countries,
increasing the
capacity of the urban elite to dominate and influence decision-making
(Madon
1995). In addition, culture and language are different factors
for
consideration with the new communication channels. The availability
of local
language interfaces is a demand. The many different local languages
in African
countries stress an oral tradition. To strengthen this languages
that are not
written, Internet could be used as medium for exchanging features
between
different local radio stations.
Constructing a technical infrastructure for Internet is not
sufficient. At the
same time it is neccessary to support interested groups who are
able after
some supportive and cooperative training to develop ideas for
useful social
applications with the Internet. That is valid in education as
well as in
health, or in the agriculture sector. Therefore to develop social
pilot
projects with Internet is necessary for local adaptation and to
support with
optimism local demand for sustainable development.
3 Different Approaches for the Concept of the Virtual University
The promising Internet applications in education are virtual
libraries,
lesson experience environments and course-support environments
(Collis 1998).
The private library made from collections of resources of virtual
libraries
becomes the bookmark collection of one's browser. These virtual
materials are
available on the basis of interest, rather than location restrictions
and
cost. The lesson experience approach is attractive for linked
creative
educational projects e.g. on water pollution, second language
courses.
Educationally oriented Java applets allow instructional animations,
interactive quiz and simulation. These virtual laboratories offer
simulations
e.g. for a gas turbine, for building and testing of digital circuits,
for the
investigation of the mechanical design of various structures,
for
demonstration of computational fluid dynamics (Reed & Afjeh
1998).
More and more course-support environments are experienced all
over the world
at University level and as seminars for business people. This
virtual campus
approach is a fashionable word for organizing the institutional
process in
education, but has to be developed in a stronger regional and
local manner for
cooperation and exchange of educational knowledge. We need more
experience to
develop the medium in new directions. The expression Virtual University
offers
different approaches how to benefit from and how to use this interactive
medium for access to resource persons, documents and virtual libraries,
videoconferencing, chatrooms etc. Unfortunately, the access to
educational
services is more and more seen as a branch of electronic commerce
(IMS-Project 1997).
One criteria to look at the concept of virtual university is:
How do different
virtual learning environments support regional cooperation within
the existing
educational institutional context? Generally spoken, for all these
approaches
is very important: for a better understanding and the development
of local
Internet didactics (Harris 1998, Winnips 1998) there is a strong
need for
courses to traditional professors at the collaborating universities
about
self learning, cooperation, autonomy and self-organizing of the
learning
process and about what the options are for designing virtual learning
environments (Ramos & Fagundes 1998).
Very important is the type of evaluation process looking very
clearly to learn
from the use, possible misuse, advantages and disappointments
in cooperation
with the actors in future projects. Therefore the evaluation methodology
should include participating observation with follow-up and assistance
in the
activities evaluated, and which is based on interviews and videotaped
on
location for further demonstration and discussion.
3.1 South Africa: UNISA
During a visit to South Africa's largest distance education university
UNISA
attempts were discussed to go on-line. It was indicated that UNISA's
education
system still depends on postal services. Experiences from the
States have
shown that on-line courses are very difficult to manage when targeting
a large
number of students (as is the case with UNISA). Benefiting from
new
technology, UNISA which offers courses cheaper than most open
or distance
universities, is spreading its wings across the world. Experiments,
especially
in co-operation with Canada are now under way to have technical
courses on-line accessible.
3.2 Virtual Francophone University
The project of Virtual Francophone University (l'Universit« Virtuelle
Francophone UVF) is supporting with its approach the cooperation
of regional
research institutions. Open questions are the role of local professors
in
study centers, the acceptance of credits, the didactical structure
of the
courses. The idea for members of the expert committee in each
country is one
head from the North, one from the South.
3.3 African Virtual University of the Worldbank
The African Virtual University (AVU) started 1997 in 12 English
speaking
coutries, continued with seven French speaking countries and three
Portuguese
speaking countries in 1998 (Jensen 1998, Vol II., 117). The courses
are
developed in Canada, the USA and Europe. The videotapes and live
lectures are
broadcasted from uplinking facilities in the USA via INTELSAT.
A digital
library program offers access to 1700 scientific journals for
African students
and faculty. Training of librarians who will in turn train students
and
faculty, are organized.
The concept of the African Virtual University (AVU) is a interactive-instructional
telecommunications network established to serve the countries
of
Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA). The mission of AVU is to use the power
of modern
information technologies to increase access to educational resources
throughout Sub-Saharan Africa. The objective of the AVU is to
build
world-class degree programs that support economic development
by educating and
training world-class scientists, technicians, engineers, business
managers,
health care providers, and other professionals. The AVU is a project
of the
World Bank, the central scheduling for broadcasting courses is
headquartered
in Washington, DC.
Existing university programs in SSA, particularly in scientific
and
technological disciplines, are inadequate to meet the rapidly
increasing
demands of students. Use of technology in the implementation of
the AVU
enables institutions of higher education to supplement their existing
programs
with the resources of a global "virtual university".
Through the establishment
of the AVU, institutions of higher education can provide more
cost-effective
mass education in the disciplines that are so critically needed
in SSA by
using technology to share the highest quality academic faculty,
library
resources, and laboratory experiences available in the world.
The AVU taps the
potential offered by technology to overcome the existing barriers
of declining
budgets, too few faculty, outdated equipment, and limited space
and facilities
that prevent increased access to higher education for a significant
majority
of students in SSA.
The AVU design
The AVU network design is modeled after numerous highly successful
distance
learning networks operational in the United States. However, the
AVU surpasses
these existing operations in the multi-national scope of its program
development effort, its academic support plan, and its network
operations. The
AVU works with program development affiliates, instructional support
staff,
and satellite uplink facilities in the United States and
Europe. Implementation of the AVU in each country in SSA is the
responsibility
of one or more local partner institutions. Courses of instruction
are
customized by the faculty of selected partner institutions through
the
development of class notes, application examples, problem sets,
and exam
questions. Partner institutions also secure student registrations
and award
local credit for courses. The AVU is truly a global project, collaborating
with the very best academic resource and operational support providers
around
the world to provide the curriculum, instructional support, and
technical
infrastructure, while partnering with institutions across SSA
to make the
resources accessible to as many students as possible.
The AVU is being developed and implemented in three phases.
The first phase is
the prototype service phase, which started in 1997. The purpose
of this phase
is to establish partnerships with institutions of higher education
throughout
SSA for the offering of technology-based credit courses and noncredit
seminars
using digital satellite technology. Up to five countries in Anglophone
Africa
and five countries in Francophone Africa were participating in
the prototype
service phase. Academic resources being offered during this initial
phase of
operations are being adapted from the existing videotaped curricula
of some of
the leading universities in the United States. Other courses are
being
developed specifically for the AVU by institutions of higher education
in
Ireland and in countries of continental Europe (e.g. Belgium for
french-speaking countries). Programs will be broadcasted to
partner institutions in
Africa via satellite from the U.S. and Europe.
A successful prototype service will provide the foundation
for the second
phase of the AVU project, which will include the offering of complete
undergraduate degree programs from leading universities worldwide.
The third
phase of the AVU project will follow with the development and
offering of
science and technology curricula from one or more partner institutions
in SSA.
The full implementation of the third phase will be the resource
sharing of
technology-based degree programs among institutions of higher
education
throughout SSA.
The Beginning of AVU
Activities being carried out under the pilot phase consist of
the delivery, by
satellite, of credit and non-credit instructional programs, from
universities
and educational institutions in the United States and other developed
countries. The World Bank financed the supply and installation
of satellite
receive terminals at 14 universities in English speaking African
countries,
Ethiopia, Namibia, Uganda and Zimbabwe, 3 in Ghana, 2 in Kenya
(the Kenyatta
University Nairobi, Egerton University in Kenya), 2 in Tanzania.
The pilot sample of participating African partner institutions
includes public
and private universities, large and small, located in the capital
cities and
in the countryside. Another 9 satellite receive terminals were
installed in 7
French speaking countries since April 1998. By end 1998, 3 more
sites will be
installed in Portuguese speaking countries. Other countries/universities
are
applying to participate in the pilot phase. The planned 25 sites
to be
operational by July 98 is thus a conservative estimate. As the
first of group
of participating universities gains experience with the implementation
of the
AVU at their respective campus, they will be relied upon to provide
consulting
services for the implementation of the AVU at the new campuses.
A first year undergraduate course (a calculus I from NJIT)
was broadcast in
the summer months of 1997 (July 16 to August 29) to students at
KENYATTA
University in Nairobi. The pass-rate from the final examination
graded by the
local instructor, was an outstanding 80 percent compared to a
mere 40 percent
in the traditional delivery mode. A 2 x 4 hrs seminar on Managing
the
Purchasing Function delivered in April 1997 from the Virginia
Polytechnic
Institute was attended by 265 participants at 7 receive sites
in 4 countries.
The feedback obtained from participants was a demand for more
seminars.
The first full semester of the pilot phase started October
1 and ran till
December 23, 1997. It consisted of the delivery of 6 first year
undergraduate
courses in science (Calculus 1 and 2 from NJIT, Electric Circuits
1 from UMASS
(US), and Introduction to Statistics, Internet and Physics from
Dublin
Institute of Technology (Ireland). The ongoing 2nd semester started
in January
1998 semester. The broadcast of the seminar series started in
98. A marketing
campaign has to be organized on each campus ahead of the scheduled
broadcast.
Broadcasting and receiving
AVU undergraduate program course package consists of videotaped
and live
lectures supplemented by class notes, textbook and homework. The
videotapes
and live lectures are broadcast from COMSAT RSI uplinking facilities
in
Clarksburg Maryland. Live sessions are originated in Ku band from
US
universities on GE Spacenet 3 and INTELSAT 603 for the Irish courses
to COMSAT
earth station which re-transmits the signal to Africa on INTELSAT
515 in C
band frequency. It is anticipated that courses originating from
Canada will be
transmitted directly on Intelsat 803 from a C band uplinking facilities
on the
East coast.
Since 1998 internet based courses used as free-standing as
well as
enhancements to the video-based lectures were introduced. Some
of the
additional features being explored relate to groupware with facilities
for
exam and quizzes on-line, computer simulated laboratory experiments,
etc.
The typical satellite receive terminal at an AVU partner institution
in Africa
consists of a 4.5 meter antenna, coaxial cabling to the classroom,
and a
totally redundant receive system in the classroom, i.e. VCR, PC
to control the
system, high speed data interface, an integrated receiver decoder
(IRD),
facsimile, printer and UPS for dish antenna and classroom equipment.
The AVU sites work with VSAT (Very Small Aperture Terminal)
to direct
satellite link. VSAT technology offers communication for Telephon,
Fax, E-Mail
and Internet with at least 64 Kbps. Costs for the terminal and
dish antenna
are 20-25,000 US$. The costs p.a. for satellite access for Virtual
Learning
and Videoconferencing are 60,000 US$ for the institution - as
confirmed by
Worldbank Addis Ababa. The installation per site as part of African
Virtual
University (AVU) program of Worldbank (10 sites for distance education
in
Africa, after 3 years 60 sites are planned all over Africa, estimation
for the
future are about 270 access instututions) costs with satellite
access,
antenna, technical equipment for telecom, TV and PC rooms ca.
350,000US$.
The feedback evaluation survey for the first phase was developed
by a team of
consultants from the University of New Mexico
(http://mtsnmc2.unm.edu/avu/avu.html). This team is conducting
data
collection, evaluation and preparing periodic reports.
Example 1: AVU Business Centre approach at Kenyatta University,
Nairobi, Kenya
Sustainability of the AVU after the pilot phase will be ensured
from students
tuition and revenues from seminars. The virtual seminars at Kenyatta
University in Nairobi are financially a success. As background,
the
educational situation in Kenya is alarming: Annually 160.000 students
are
leaving secondary school, 30.000 qualify for university. 1999
only 9.000
students had access to the countries universities. That means
151.000 have no
adequate perspective as alternatives to University are more or
less missing
like vocational training institutions, polytechnics, etc. Therefore
AVU is a
chance to get a course degree e.g. in Information Technology:
Operating
systems, Webdesign, Network Management, etc. 2 weeks cost 50$
covering 2
hours/day; a 2 month course with 8 hours/day costs 200US$, a 9
month
pre-university course costs 1200 US$. It is very popular and
fashionable to
demonstrate for example a MIT course certificate, independent
of the course
content. In addition executive seminars are offered for 40$/day.
The services
like Fax service, e-mail (1$/page) digital library (2,5 $/month)
are used by
students, faculty members, workers, housewifes from town. AVU
at Kenyatta
University Nairobi with this fee structure makes 80,000 US$ profit/year.
This
amount will be reinvested for infrastructure, buildings, PCs,
etc. In a next
step, the cooperation between universities in Kenya, Tanzania
and Uganda will
be strengthened for local course development which will be broadcasted.
Example 2: AVU at University of Addis Ababa, Ethiopia
AVU at University of Addis Ababa up to now is equipped with one-way
video, two
way audio for their courses. The infrastructure will be upgraded
soon. Demand
for courses in sciences like physics or chemistry is very low.
More attractive
are PC courses, which were cheaper offered than commercial courses
by computer
companies downtown.
In fact the broadcasted lectures are passively consumed by
the students and
videotaped. As students do not have e-mail access there is no
electronic
feedback to lecturers. The satellite link is more or less used
to produce a
video library. In that case, delivery by ordinary mail service
seems to be
cheaper. Talking heads are the poor didactical approaches, no
difference to
conventional classes, beside that students learn English.
Example 3: Applications at Ethiopian Civil Service College
(ECSC)
For the Ethiopian Civil Service College in Addis Ababa the Worldbank
offered
equipment, dish antenna, and training for staff. ECSC has a 64
Kb connection
to the satellite, Worldbank Headquarter for download 128 Kb. In
the beginning
10 PCs were connected to the Internet, an extention to 35 connected
PCs will
be realized till March 2000. The students have to pass tests via
e-mail.
For planning and broadcasting courses, ECSC is up to now 100%
dependent from
the TV co-ordination studio in Washington (Network Operation Centre
NOC).
Washington announces a theme, and the institution then can announce
and
collect participants. Beginning from March 2000 direct satellite
lectures are
planned from Ethiopia with Oxford, Harvard, and after upgrading
the system
also with Japan.
One example is a course in Economy, Growth and Poverty Reduction
which is
broadcasted for governmental bodies during 10 weeks at the same
time in
Ethiopia, Benin, Ghana and Senegal. The course is organized in
3h
broadcasting, and 3h additional classroom presence per week. The
total costs,
including Worldbank instructors, are 2000 US$/week. The college
only has to
pay for electricity.
The offered degree program is depending on the demands of provinces,
e.g. in
municipal engineering, law, accounting etc. Also short term courses
are
offered for local needs. A two-week course for the public costs
80
US$/participant (salary in Ethiopia 60 US$/month, but other statistics
say
that 60% of the population have a daily income of 1 US$ or even
less). As an
evening program an accounting diploma is offered. A master degree
program runs
in urban management. From all 14 regions in Ethiopia 1800 regular
students are
at ECSC. A Centre for Distance Learning will be established with
centres in
each region (starting in 2000 with 6 regions). In the beginning
the courses
are offered only on paper. Similar satellite stations like in
Addis Ababa are
planned in 2000 for regional centres within these six Ethiopian
provinces. In
the near future the ECSC has to make its own profit to expand
and spread
courses in the country.
4 Access to virtual learning environments
In the long run, access to virtual learning environments will
be provided by
traditional academic institutions, vocational training centres,
schools,
public libraries, cyber caf«s, Multipurpose Community Telecentres,
merging
medias TV, Radio and Satellite Radio Broadcasting. Multipurpose
Community
Telecentres and Satellite Radio Broadcasting are discussed below
in more details.
4.1 Multipurpose Community Telecentres in Africa
4.1.1 Africa's Information Society Initiative
Africa has made important progress in defining priorities to catch
up with the
implementation of national information society policies and the
infrastructure
for information highways, particularly through the Africa's Information
Society Initiative (AISI) framework adopted by Ministers of Planning
and of
Telecommunication in 1996 (see http://www.bellanet.org/partners/aisi
and the
document The African Connection of African Ministers of Communication
at
http://www.telecom98.co.za/africonnect.html).
Benefits of the African Information Society are seen in job
creation, for
health sector (e.g. better administration and management through
access to
medical information systems, and access to skilled diagnosis through
tele-medicine), for education and research (e.g. schools, universities
and
research institutions, reducing communication costs), culture
(e.g. regional
and global access to African museums, electronic preservation
and
documentation of manuscripts and artefacts), trade and commerce,
tourism, food
security, gender and development, in better emergency communication
systems in
man-made crises and natural disasters.
The international community has an important role in helping
Africa to build
information communities. For example, co-operation of UNESCO with
the
Organization of African Unity (OAU) is being strengthened in the
implementation of the Decade for African Education, in preparation
of a
Protocol on Education, Training and Culture under the United
Nations
System-wide Special Initiative on Africa, two inter-agency projects
supported
by UNESCO concentrate on securing better access to and participation
of
African countries in the information highways (Harnessing Information
Technologies for Development) and the use of the media to promote
tolerance
and peace (Communication for Peace Building).
UNESCO's action to assist Africa has focused on an active collaboration
within
UN system-wide Special Initiative on Africa called Harnessing
Information
Technology for Development (HITD) intended to support the long-term
AISI
framework. Lead agencies are United Nations Economic Commission
for Africa
(ECA), the International Development Research Centre Canada (IDRC),
the
International Telecommunication Union (ITU), UNESCO and the World
Bank.
Multipurpose Community Telecentres
The concept of the multipurpose community tele-centre (MCT, see
http://www.bica99.org) is seen by UNESCO (Rose 1998, Cyranek 1999,
Rose 1999)
and its partners as an approach which can empower communities
to make
appropriate use of information and communication technologies
for social,
cultural and economic development through the co-operation of
all concerned
stakeholders at the community, regional and national levels.
With support of the Danish development assistance agency DANIDA
UNESCO could
help to implement MCT pilot projects in five least developed African
countries
within the HITD/AISI framework in Benin, Mali, Mozambique, Tanzania,
Uganda.
This development programme is jointly sponsored by IDRC, the ITU
and UNESCO,
and has the support of several other international partners in
specific
projects. The five telecentre pilot projects were selected by
the national
authorities on the basis of development needs, available infrastructures
and
logistical considerations. The different locations and national
supporters of
these MCTs are:
Benin: Malanville, a town in the far north of the country. VSAT
system
foreseen. Support by telecom, concerned ministries, local authorities
and
enthusiastic user groups.
Mali: Timbuktu, a medium sized city and the principal regional
administrative
centre for the desert north. The MCT will work with a leased 64
Kb line.
Support of the ministries concerned with communication, culture,
tourism,
education and of the regional and municipal authorities.
Mozambique: Manhi·a and Namaacha, respectively about 80 km from
Maputo.
Participants in the Mozambique telecentre project include various
sectors of
Eduardo Mondlane University especially the Informatics Centre
(CIUEM) with
support from teacher training institutions and various governmental
bodies
which are members of the Mozambique Acacia Advisory Committee.
Tanzania: Sengerema, a rural town on Lake Victoria. Support of
the Tanzania
Commission for Science and Technology, ministries of health,
environment,
agriculture and rural development, a local development association,
local
Government, Open University in Tanzania, hospital and health organizations
in
the area, local business, Tanzania Telecommunications Company
Ltd.
Uganda: Nakaseke, a rural village 50 km north of Kampala. Principal
national
support of Uganda National Commission for UNESCO, the Uganda Public
Libraries
Board and Uganda Telecommunications Limited.
The UNESCO/DANIDA component in these five pilot projects concentrates
on
support for formal and non-formal education initiatives, experiments
on
distance education, but is also aimed to strengthen grass-roots
organizations,
and the information capacity of the MCTs in co-operation with
public library systems.
Lessons learned from Telecentre experiences
A main success factor of a MCT pilot project is to build a local
consortium of
stakeholders including NGOs, the community, governmental institutions,
and the
private sector. A selection process depends on which role a MCT
could play for
development. It can, for example, support literacy campaigns,
basic education,
grassroots activities, access to development information, teacher
training,
distance education.
At least three basic functional areas of the MCT concept can
be identified as
Rural Business Centre, as Information Distribution Center, and
as Public Service Provider:
* Rural Business Centre: basic office administration services
like
telephone, fax, photocopy, and word processing, combined with
E-mail and
Internet access for small companies, farmers, teachers, NGOs.
* Community Based Resources: e.g. discussion lists, Web pages
to improve
visibility of local groups, local access to radio production facilities.
* Public Services: e.g. information on government programmes,
access to
development information worldwide, support of distance education
by use of
interactive media (CD-ROM, Internet), support of health consultancy
through tele-medicine.
4.2 Broadcasting by Satellite Radio
The WorldSpace Digital Satellite System consists of three geostationary
satellites which will cover Africa, Middle East, Asia, the Mediterranean
Basin, Latin America and the Caribbean. Each content provider
routes a
specially coded digital signal through a small satellite dish
to a WorlsSpace
geostationary satellite. The WorldSpace Digital Satellite Receiver
has been
developed in cooperation with Matsushita (Panasonic), Hitachi,
Sanyo, and JVC
(www.worldspace.com). the Afristar satellite is launched, tested
and operates
now for Africa. Next satellites are AsiaStar and AmeriStar working
in 2000.
Since the last 10 years WorldSpace has secured $1 billion in private
financing.
4.2.1 Downloading Internet content without phone line
Contracted content of Internet can be downlowded from beginning
March 2000. A
special modem is needed for connecting the WorldSpace receiver
with a PC.
Planned themes on different channels are youth, women, lifestyle,
news,
health, education etc. Contracted are yet NASA, WHO, Washington
Post, New York
Times, Reuters. UNESCO is in discussions with WorldSpace, to offer
the UNESCO
Web content (www.unesco.org) with continous updates for education,
science,
culture and communication. This offers new possibilities for downloading
distance education materials.
4.2.2 Distance Education project for Schools in Ethiopia
In cooperation with the Educational Media Agency (EMA) and the
Ministry of
Education the WorldSpace Foundation is planning a first pilot
project in
Ethiopia, as Mr Samara, founder and head of the WorldSpace Board,
is born in
Ethiopia. Since 40 years EMA had no change of equipment, now with
satellite
radio system they can experience new distance education methodologies.
Courses
will be prepared and broadcasted on gender issues, about environment
protection and health care in four local languages. It is planned
that each
school gets a WorlsSpace receiver, now 50 secondary schools are
equipped.
4.2.3 Telekiosk Truck
A mobile telekiosk unit has been developed by WorlsSpace to test
the market
and train people. The truck is equipped with Multimedia (WS receivers,
PCs,
Internet access, and printing facilities), with a Radio Studio
(for local
radio shows, recordings and re-broadcasting outside area for social
and
community development activities), Public telephones (Schlumberger
Publiphones
and Inmarsat Publisat) and general equipment like power generator,
solar
panels, air conditioning, security and fire alarms, various antennas).
The
costs for a mobile unit are 200.000 US$, it may come down to 50.000US$
if
produced for all 53 African countries. The first pilot project
started in
November 1999 in Mali in cooperation with the national Telecom
Sotelma. The
truck will stay one month in each region to get more information
about
communication needs in rural areas.
5 Sample of Recommendations for Distance Education
The seminar Distance Education by Satellite (NILESAT) held
in Cairo April
1999 in cooperation with the European Union and UNESCO resulted
from the four
working groups on Educational Aspects, Courseware Development
Aspects,
Delivery Technology Aspects, and Administrative Aspects among
others with
following recommendations (Shawki, Cairo 1999):
* Assessment for Distance Education: Target audience and priority
areas
are viewed as critical success factors.
* Importance of conducting a pre-phase to raise awareness among
university
professors and students as to the availability of numerous
new means for
knowledge delivery and acquisition.
* Pilot projects to test different distance education models,
including
evaluation methods.
* Assessment study including
* Education models and teacher models for different faculties
and
curricula (including re-examination of various existing
curricula)
* Methodologies for courseware development
* Suitable incentive schemes (financial or academic) to
compensate
staff for their involvement relating to a chosen cost
model
* Admission policies and procedures for distance education
students
* Development of guidelines for admissible educational
materials
* Faculty training and training of trainers on priority aspects
of ICT
applications in education
* Accreditation of distance education courses (undergraduate,
graduate and
post-graduate programmes)
* Coordinating body serving as National Centre for ICT in Education
(e.g.
at Supreme Council of Universities or Ministry of Higher
Education).
* Attention to legal aspects of distance education: copyright,
intellectual property, ownership of digital media (see Copyright
Bulletin 1999).
* Appropriatedness of tele-centres, equipment and interactive
classrooms
for distance education
* Support by government and private sector for affordable
telecommunication costs
6 UNESCO Workshop for portuguese speaking African countries about Virtual Learning Environments
We want to discuss among others these recommendations in a
UNESCO
RINAF-workshop in Lusophon countries in Africa together with Brazil,
Portugal
and East-Timor, planned for May 2000 in Mozambique. The objective
is to
discuss during this workshop more details for co-operation in
the field of
distance education and virtual learning environments. Questions
for a demand
driven approach are e.g.: Which courses are needed in the African
context at
local universities? How to adapt existing course material? Can
Universities or
teacher training institution in Angola, Cape Verde, Guinea Bissau,
Mozambique,
S o Tome e Principe offer courses or material for distance education?
What
type of training for local professors to reach a better understanding
of
didactical methodologies, of tools for co-operation, etc? What
can be done at
each institution to integrate distance courses in local curriculum?
Which
institutions in Brazil and Portugal are willing to offer courses?
What are
actually experiences in distance education cooperation between
Brazil-Africa
and Portugal-Africa?
========================================
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========================================
Appendix 1
AVU PARTICIPATING UNIVERSITIES
English speaking Countries
Addis Ababa University, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia (AAU)
Kenyatta University, Nairobi Kenya (KU)
Makerere University, Kampala, Uganda(MUK)
Uganda Polytechnic, Kyambogo, Kampala, Uganda (UPK)
Uganda Martyrs University, Nkosi, Uganda (UMU)
University of Zimbabwe, Harare, Zimbabwe (UZ)
National University of Science & Technology Bulawayo, Zimbabwe
Open University of Tanzania, Dar- Es-Salaam, Tanzania
University of Dar- Es-Salaam, Dar- Es-Salaam, Tanzania
University of Science & Technology, Kumasi, Ghana (UST)
University of Cape Coast, Cape Coast, Ghana
University of Ghana, Accra, Ghana
Francophone Countries
Universite de Dakar, Senegal
Universite d Abidjan, Cote d Ivoire
Ecole superieure polytechnique de Yamoussokro, Cote d Ivoire
Etablissements Loko, Cote d'Ivoire (biggest private educational
institution in
the country)
Universite de Lome, Togo
Universite de Cotonou, Benin
Universite d Ouagadougou , Burkina Faso
Centre universitaire de Bobo Diou Lasso, Burkina Faso
Universite de Niamey, Niger
Universite de Nouakchott Mauritania
Lusophone Countries
Universite Eduardo Mondlane, Mozambique
Cape Verde Higher Education institute: request received from the
Ministry
========================================
Appendix 2
AVU Example for COURSES &ORIGINATION
CS-10A Introduction to the Internet
UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS, AMHERST (UMASS,US)
CS-1A Introduction to Computing
UNIVERSITY OF MASSACHUSETTS, AMHERST (UMASS, US)
MA-3B Calculus and Analytic Geometry III
NEW JERSEY INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY (NJIT, US)
MA-4B Differential Equations
NEW JERSEY INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY (NJIT, US)
EE-4B Computer Organization
COLORADO STATE UNIVERSITY (CSU, US)
ENG-2A Introduction to Engineering
GEORGIA INSTITUTE OF TECHNOLOGY (GTECH, US)
PHY-2A Physics II
CARLETON UNIVERSITY (CANADA)
Introduction to C++ Programming
MOUNT SAINT VINCENT UNIVERSITY (MSVU, CANADA)
CH-2A Organic Chemistry
LAURENTIAN UNIVERSITY (CANADA)
****************************************
Return to Global University System Early 2000 Correspondence
List of Distribution
Guenther Cyranek
Regional Informatics and Telematics Adviser for sub-Saharan Africa
Communication, Information and Informatics Division
United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization
(UNESCO)
ECA New Building/Africa Hall
P. O. Box 1177
Menelik Avenue
Addis Ababa
Ethiopia
Phone: (+251-1) 51 72 00 Ext. 35422
(+251-1) 51 39 53 Secretary
Mobile: (+251-9) 20 27 01
Fax: (+251-1) 51 14 14
g.cyranek@unesco.org
www.unesco.org/webworld
Claudio Menezes
Conselheiro do Programa de Informatica
America Latina e Caribe
organizacao das nacoes unidas para a educacao, a ciencia e a cultura
united
nations educational, scientific and cultural organization organisation
des
nations unies pour l'education, la science et la culture
SAS QUADRA 5 - BL. H - LOTE 6
ED. CNpq/IBICT/UNESCO - 9. ANDAR
70070-914 BRASILIA - DF BRASIL
TELS.: (5561) 223-8684, (5561) 217-6470 or 223 1923
FAX: (5561) 322-4261
Celular: (5561) 984 1673
E-MAIL: CLAUDIO@UNESCO.ORG.BR
http://www.unesco.org/webworld
http://www.unesco.org.br
http://www.education.unesco.org
Paulo Jorge Melo
Comissao de Coordenacao da Regiao Centro
Gabinete de Informatica e Estatistica
Coimbra University
R. Bernardim Ribeiro, 80
3000 Coimbra - Portugal
Phone: 351-39-400150/149
Fax : 351-39-702097
pmelo@ccr-c.pt
Cu-SeeMe: 193.236.210.6
Iphone: 193.236.210.6
(OneNet BBS FirstClass Systems)
( 14.400 bps - 351-39-703442 )
( ISDN - 351-39-7081340 )
http://www.ccr-c.pt/~pmelo
Dr. David A. Johnson, AICP
Board member of GLOSAS/USA
Former President of Fulbright Association
Professor Emeritus, School of Planning
College of Arts and Sciences
University of Tenneseee
108-I Hoskins Library
Knoxville, TN 37996-4015
USA
Tel: +1-423-974 5227
Fax: +1-423-974 5229
daj@utk.edu
davidj@buncombe.main.nc.us
http://web.utk.edu/~djohnutk/
Peter T. Knight
Knight, Moore - Telematics for Education and Development
Communications Development Incorporated (CDI)
Strategy, Policy, Design, Implementation, Evaluation
1825 Eye Street, NW, Suite 1075
Washington, DC 20006, USA
Tel: 1-202-775-2132 (secretary), 1-202-721-0348 (direct)
Fax: 1-202-775-2135 (office), 1-202-362-8482 (home)
ptknight@attglobal.net
webmail: ptknight@netscape.net
http://www.knight-moore.com
http://www.cdinet.com
IP for CU-SeeMe: 198.77.80.46
http://www.knight-moore.com/projects/GSTF.html -- about GSTF
Emilio Vento
UNIDO-ICS Liaison Officer
UNITED NATIONS
INDUSTRIAL DEVELOPMENT ORGANIZATION
Vienna International Centre
P.O. Box 300
A-1400 Vienna, Austria
Tel.: (+43-1)-26026-3726
Fax: (+43-1)-26026-6811
E-mail: evento@unido.org
Alexandre Rivas, Ph.D.
Adjunct Professor
Director of the Center for Environmental Sciences
University of Amazonas - Brazil
C.P. 4208, Manaus 69053-140
BRAZIL
+55-92-635 32 33
+55-92-644 23 22
Fax: +55-92-644 23 84
alex_mau@argo.com.br
http://www.argo.com.br/~alex_mau/alex.htm
Dr. Ihor Bogdan Katerniak
Director
Lviv Institute of Management-LIM
Technology Promotion Center
57 V.Chornovil Ave.
Lviv 79601
UKRAINE
Tel: +380-322-52 2681
Fax: +380 322-52 2682
Fax: +380-322-52 4463
ik@litech.net
tpc@lim.lviv.ua
http://www.lim.lviv.ua/
http://www.uar.net/conference/
http://www.lim.lviv.ua/english/de/
Dr. Paul Lefrere
Senior Lecturer
Institute of Educational Technology
Open University
Walton Hall
Milton Keynes MK7 6AA
UNITED KINGDOM
Tel: +44-1-908 65 33 88
Fax: +44-1-908 67 28 02
p.lefrere@open.ac.uk
http://www-iet.open.ac.uk/
Dr. Teresita I. Barcelo
Dean, Faculty of Health Sciences
University of Philippines/Open University
Manila, Philippines
Tel: 526-2272
523-1633
Fax: 523-1633
Pager: 1441-17-1114
tbarcelo@iconn.com.ph
sdemla@mozcom.com
fhs-upou@mozcom.com
Kimberly K. Obbink
Director
Burns Telecommunications Center and Extended Studies
128 EPS Building,
Montana State University
Bozeman, MT 59717-3860
USA
Tel: +1-406-994 6550
Fax: +1-406-994 7856
kobbink@montana.edu
http://btc.montana.edu
John C. Afele, Ph.D
Director
International Program for Africa
Department of Plant Agriculture
Ontario Agricultural College
University of Guelph
Guelph, Ontario, Canada N1G 2W1
Tel: +1-519-824-4120 ext 3934
Fax: +1-519-763-8933
Email: jafele@plant.uoguelph.ca
jafele@uoguelph.ca
http://www.uoguelph.ca/~jafele/aki-bio.htm
Mr. Lane Smith
Coordinator of the Leland Initiative
U.S. Agency for International Development (USAID), AFR/SD
Ronald Reagan Building
1300 Pennsylvania Avenue, NW
Washington D.C. 20523-4600
USA
Tel: +1-202-712 0826
Fax: +1-202-216-3373
lasmith@usaid.gov
http://www.info.usaid.gov
**********************************************************************
* Takeshi Utsumi, Ph.D., P.E., Chairman, GLOSAS/USA
*
* (GLObal Systems Analysis and Simulation Association in the U.S.A.)
*
* Laureate of Lord Perry Award for Excellence in Distance Education
*
* Founder of CAADE
*
* (Consortium for Affordable and Accessible Distance Education)
*
* President Emeritus and V.P. for Technology and Coordination
of *
* Global University System (GUS)
*
* 43-23 Colden Street, Flushing, NY 11355-3998, U.S.A.
*
* Tel: 718-939-0928; Fax: 718-939-0656 (day time only--prefer
email) *
* Email: utsumi@columbia.edu; Tax Exempt ID: 11-2999676
*
* http://www.friends-partners.org/GLOSAS/
*
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Return to: Global University System Early 2000 Correspondence
Web page by Steve McCarty,
World Association for Online Education
President