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I came across this interesting article published in EQ (Educause Quarterly) where Kyong-Jee Kim and Curtis J. Bonk discuss the survey that substantiates some ideas about online learning and refutes others.

For more details, click the hyperlink The Future of Online Teaching and Learning in Higher Education: The Survey Says...


online learning
Higher Education
online education

Hi,

Iam bach again after a small gap to give you the gist of information related to OER and FLOSS relationship as the discussion related to above topic goes on in the forum.

According to Claude (our expert discussant, UNESCO, France), OER and FLOSS relationship can be summarized in this way:

1) Educational resources may be opened (OER):
Some important universities having a huge stock of prestigious courses made it available to other institutions or individuals. This may be a good point. The problem is to search that mass of course material, to retrieve what you need and to be able to reuse (format of the documents). (http://ocw.mit.edu/) Until now OER communities are focused on publishing/opening/freeing contents.

2) OER may be created in collaboration
Some initiatives promoted a more sophisticated model to help teachers to author, search and reuse "modules" and courses to compose new courses with a set of specific tools online. (http://cnx.org)

3) OER may be created as Learning Objects (LO) corresponding to Learning Technology Standards
Another track was to define and promote standards specification to be able to search, retrieve, re-use, author and inter-operate in different systems OER considered as "learning objects" (IMS-LOM, ADL-SCORM, IMS-LOR...) or Units of Learning (IMS-LD) (http://www.imsproject.org/specifications.html, http://www.adlnet.gov/scorm/index.cfm)

4) OER may be created as LOs and stored in repositories (LOR) to be shared
An important number of Learning Objects Repositories were built using some of the above standards (or different methods) to store and make available OER stocks. Each one having different metadata set or different architecture, systems to search different repositories were established recently (http://cordra.net/)

5) OER may be created as LOs and Units of Learning (UoL) stored in LOR to be shared in a (socio)-constructivist perspective
The 4 above points have been generated historically with the traditional perspective where the teacher (as producer) is preparing educational resources to be learned by the learner as an individual or as a group (as consumers). But considering that in a constructivist/collaborative perspective the learner(s) can collaborate to search and/or create the necessary resources needed to build required knowledge and competences as a guided/facilitated interactive experience or as a personal self-managed experience (like in lifelong learning). Here the OER is not a course, it may be a small module, case-study, LO, UoL, any document or information.

6) OER should be developed in collaboration as FLOSS
The new frontier for OER development is to look for excellence through team structured, peer reviewed work, in collaboration, online, adopting/adapting methods and tools used for FLOSS development. This in order to optimize OER granularity, modularity, consistency, coherence, pedagogical efficiency and effectiveness, usability, learnability and pedagogical adaptability, organizing collaboration of all necessary specialists: subject matter experts, instructional designers, assessment and multimedia specialists, usability and learnability testing specialists. Such finalized OERs should be made available as LOs and Units of Learning (UoL) stored in LOR to be shared in a (socio)-constructivist (or other pedagogical) perspective, with an adapted open license."
__________________________________________________________________________----

OER
FLOSS
LO
Collaborative work
LOR

A recent evaluation work is done on the open source repositories that could be used for courseware and research outputs: The details can be accessed from the following URL,
https://eduforge.org/docman/view.php/131/1062/Repository%20Evaluation%20Document.pdf.
The project itself is at https://eduforge.org/projects/oarinz/ with further info at www.oarinz.ac.nz

"Notes of a teleconference between Blackboard Inc. and the Association for Learning , Technology (ALT) – 16.00 to 17.50 UK time, 23 August 2006"

The teleconference highlights the patent issue raised by Blackboard on Desire2Learn for patent infringement

(http://www.alt.ac.uk/docs/ALT_Blackboard_20060823.pdf)


Patent Issue

In our forum Blackboard’s acquiring a patent on LMS was discussed, and the following links provide a detailed study of claims & counter claims made by Blackboard & Desire2Learn


Blackboard got a patent on LMS
http://patft.uspto.gov/netacgi/nph-Parser?
Sect1=PTO2&Sect2=HITOFF&p=1&u=%2Fnetahtml%2FPTO%2Fsearch-
bool.html&r=1&f=G&l=50&co1=AND&d=PTXT&s1=blackboard&s2=%22course
+management%22&OS=blackboard+AND+
http://www.blackboard.com/company/patentFAQ.htm

1) Canadian proprietary LMS company Desire2Learn is attacked by
Blackboard for "patent infringement".
http://www.theinquirer.net/images/articles/blackboard.pdf

2) Desire2Learn counterclaimed:
http://www.immagic.com/eLibrary/ARCHIVES/GENERAL/USCOURTS/T060914A.pdf.
http://www.desire2learn.com/patentinfo/

3) Some are thinking that this patent claim is stupid and it will not
be respected, they are organizing a boycott campaign:
http://www.boycottblackboard.org/index.php

4) Other are considering that it is invalid because there is prior
art, they establish an history of LMSs collaboratively .
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/History_of_virtual_learning_environments,
http://docs.moodle.org/en/Online_Learning_History

5) FLOSS LMSs are calling Free Software movement organizations to help:
http://sakaiproject.org/index.php?
option=com_content&task=view&id=442&Itemid=312
http://mfeldstein.com/index.php/weblog/permalink/
eben_moglen_weighs_in_on_blackboard/

6) Several specialists are thinking that It's a technology disruption
time: LMSs mammoth will die, PLE (Personal Learning Environments) or
Elearning 2.0 applications will take the market in a while.
http://www.cetis.ac.uk/members/scott/blogview?entry=20060801095842
http://www.elearnspace.org/blog/archives/002557.html
http://www.cetis.ac.uk/members/ple/
http://elearnmag.org/subpage.cfm?section=articles&article=29-1

7) Blackboard explained that it is not really hostile to Open Source
LMSs
http://www.insidehighered.com/news/2006/08/18/patent

8) Some are thinking that this patent is not dangerous for other LMSs. "The patent claim is specific in such a manner that protection exists only for the quoted combination of features in the quoted interdependence. This is probably only in use within the Blackboard LMS", is the rating of Manfred Postel, CEO of the German-based Open Source initiative Campussource.
In his opinion, the 44 features mentioned in the Blackboard patent claim are not protected separately but only in the fixed combination. Postel, who is a former patent engineer, has analysed the text in detail. His summary: "Because of the interdependent embodiment, the protection scope is very low."
http://www.checkpoint-elearning.com/article/2946.html

FOSS
Higher Education
LMS
Patent Issue

Hi,

Lot of interesting thoughts are being exchanged in FOSS for HE Forum organized by UNESCO. According to Richard Wyles, NZ, An ePortfolio provides the learner with the opportunity to store and present digital artifacts (written documents, photos, graphics etc.) There are different stakeholders - learners (personal development planning, lifelong learning, reflective learning) tutors (for teaching and assessment purposes), managers (evidence of professional development), peers (constructivist learning, study groups etc.), friends and family, and prospective employers (digital resume).With such diverse interests it's important for the learner to be able to control the views that each community can see.

Elgg (www.elgg.org) and OSPI (www.osportfolio.org) are examples of currently available open source eportfolio systems. They are working through the options of either building on the progress of these systems or developing a new option.

EPortfolio
Higher Education
FOSS
social networking

More to come in future.

According to Wayne Mackintosh, Vancouer, the following three significant trends hold huge promise for the future of FLOSS and OERs in education:

1. Increased adoption of open source LMSs at large distance education providers.

2. Growing awareness of the importance of choosing the right license for OERs

3. Radical advances in the implementation of interoperability specifications in the majority of FLOSS LMSs.

The vast majority of open source learning management systems now support the import of IMS and/or SCORM content packages. This means that we can now develop OERs independently of the LMS that is used for delivery which at a technical level enhances the reusability of OERs. We also have FLOSS tools for authoring interoperable content that have matured over the last year. For example the eLearning XHTML editor (download eXe @ http://exelearning.org). This technology has successfully imported content into many LMS systems - (see screenshots at: http://exelearning.org/wiki/ContentPackaging/SCORM_Import_Screenshots

Richard Wyles, N.Z, provided the quick overview of projects he is involved with, which are related to FOSS.
The eNetwork project : https://eduforge.org/projects/ecampus/ is the project space

The Open Educational Resources project : https://eduforge.org/projects/oer/ is focused on developed learning materials with high levels of granularity, interoperability and separating content from presentation.

The ePortfolio project : It is at the initial stage of building up our requirements specifications at the moment. In any event all outputs will be GNU-GPL.

Philip Long, USA suggested the following points to elaborate on major trends - location awareness - both in cell phones, pdas and other mobile
computational devices.

- simulated worlds - Second Life being the prime example but also
MUPPETS (http://muppets.rit.edu/muppetsweb/about/index.php), the
Croquet Project (http://www.opencroquet.org/, a Squeak environment),
Metaverse (http://metaverse.sourceforge.net/)

- remote labs (scientific experiments made accessible in a scalable,
sustainable way on the web - http://icampus.mit.edu/ilabs)

He also wanted to make sure that OKI was mentioned as one of
the examples that represent this movement (http://www.okiproject.org/)

FOSS
Interoperability
remote lab
simulated world

Hi,

I am one of the 200 and odd participants taking part in “FOSS for Education and FOSS solutions for Open Educational Resources” forum organized by UNESCO. I am an elearning consultant but don’t have much experience with FOSS as I have mostly used proprietary software. But I am quite interested and wanted to learn more about FOSS and hence consider myself as quite lucky to have been included in this forum.

The new session of the “FOSS for Education and FOSS solutions for Open Educational Resources” forum organized by UNESCO started today. Susan D'Antoni, IIEP, France addressed the opening session by introducing Claude Martin as expert discussant and Boris Vukovic as rapporteur.

Claude has spent the last twelve years in UN system, at the International Training Centre of the International Labour Organization to implement distance learning through Internet applications and experiment/implement innovations in this area. Boris is a doctoral candidate at McGill University in Montreal and has been an active member of the IIEP Community.

Claude began the session I (11 September - 6 October 2006) by requesting us to answer the following question, “What are the most important trends and innovations related to FOSS in education since our last FOSS discussion in 2005?”

Jean claude (UNESCO) expressed that “there is a strong movement in favour of FOSS. Open source technologies have been around for years, but only the recent success of GNU/Linux and open source applications such as Moodle or ATutor has brought them into the mainstream.” He said the following survey showed that it is likely that, in the future, use of OSS will continue and expand alongside the use of proprietary software.”
http://www.oss-watch.ac.uk/studies/survey2006/survey2006report.xml

He also mentioned the following areas as emerging areas of importance.
Social Computing, Personal Broadcasting, Mobile Phones, Educational Gaming, Augmented Reality and Context-Aware Environments and Devices.
http://www.nmc.org/pdf/2006_Horizon_Report.pdf


Then expressed that the following hyperlink provides the details of top 10 technology trends affecting education in 2005
http://www.philly.com/mld/inquirer/business/technology/13573401.htm


I will continue to provide the gist of discussions that take place during the forum.

FOSS
Education

ELearning

"We have witnessed a rapid increase in the use of Web-based 'collaborationware' in recent years. These Web 2.0 applications, particularly wikis, blogs and podcasts, have been increasingly adopted by many online health-related professional and educational services. Because of their ease of use and rapidity of deployment, they offer the opportunity for powerful information sharing and ease of collaboration. Wikis are Web sites that can be edited by anyone who has access to them. The word 'blog' is a contraction of 'Web Log' - an online Web journal that can offer a resource rich multimedia environment. Podcasts are repositories of audio and video materials that can be "pushed" to subscribers, even without user intervention. These audio and video files can be downloaded to portable media players that can be taken anywhere, providing the potential for "anytime, anywhere" learning experiences (mobile learning)."

You can access the details of this article which speaks about the extension of web-2 applications to provide rich learning experience to students, health care professionals and patients by clicking the following hyperlink.

Wikis, blogs and podcasts: a new generation of Web-based tools for virtual collaborative clinical practice and education


Wiki


Blogs
Podcasting

A Monthly E-mail Newsletter for Users
and Friends of MIT OpenCourseWare
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The July 2006 MIT OpenCourseWare Update Contains:
1. EDICS Program Teaches Basics of Engineering
2. How Can My University Join the OpenCourseWare Consortium?
3. Your Gift Sustains MIT OCW Long-Term
4. Comments
5. Newsletter Available Online at http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/Global/AboutOCW/newsletter.htm




MIT OCW Update
OCW
Free

A Learning Management System (LMS) which is indispensable for E-Learning is a software application or a Web-based system that provides an instructor with tools to create and deliver online content, monitor student participation and assess student performance. LMS may also support collaboration and provide interactive features such as chat facilities and discussion forums. Learning Management Systems are sometimes referred to as Course Management Systems.

The availability of LMS in a school, College or university will help to achieve the pedagogical improvements that ICTs are expected to bring to education through E-Learning. Its availability is also essential for implementing E-Learning. However, the existing proprietary systems such as WebCT and Blackboard and other softwares are too expensive and beyond the reach of many academic institutions, especially in developing countries. Now FOSS comes to their rescue as fortunately, several FOSS Learning Management Systems are now available.

Standards
To facilitate the interoperability of different Learning Management Systems, essential for E-Learning the content created should conform to certain standard. There are a number of initiatives to establish standards for Learning Management Systems which play a vital role in E-Learning. The Open Knowledge Initiative (OKI) was begun at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in 2001. It is a collaboration between a number of premier Universities, with MIT and Stanford leading the initiative. The initiative has resulted in two Learning Management Systems—Stellar, developed at MIT, and CourseWork, developed at Stanford University. CourseWork was later released as FOSS in June 2003.

IMS (Instructional Management Systems) Global Learning Consortium is a non-profit organization that includes educational institutions, software companies and publishers across the world to develop open technical specifications to support distributed learning.

These specifications allow different course management systems and content from different authors to work together or interoperate. For example, content produced using a proprietary course manage ment system such as Blackboard can be made accessible to another LMS such as WebCT and vice versa thus introducing the concept of Reusable Learning Objects.

A specific implementation of IMS is the Sharable Content Object Reference Model (SCORM) developed by Advanced Distributed Learning (ADL). It incorporates elements from IMS and other specifications to provide E-Learning capabilities that allow interoperability, accessibility and reusability of Web-based learning content or learning objects. Both IMS and SCORM use XML as a common language to enable communication between different systems.

Most users of FOSS are not interested in looking at the source code and neither is it necessary for them to do so. However, where students are exposed to programming, the availability of the source code should be utilized to enhance teaching and learning. For example, while doing projects for IT courses, students can be encouraged to study the available source code and can be asked to improve upon it by adding features or making valuable suggestions for future improvement. They can even participate in various FOSS projects such as those hosted on Sourceforge.net by submitting their code contributions.

C and C++ are predominantly used in FOSS projects. However, the use of Java, PHP, Perl and Python is growing. Most of the above mentioned softwares are already taught in the curriculum, hence the students can definitely contribute in improving FOSS by participating in project works sponsored by Sourceforge.net or other IT companies.

The author is a ELearning /SEO /Online Marketing Consultant and can be reached at

http://www.elearningnonlineeducationconsultant.com and

http://www.seoptimizationexpert.com



ELearning

LMS

ELearning Consultant

FOSS

Introduction
Wikipedia defines FOSS -Free and Open Source Software, as a “software which is liberally licensed to grant the right of users to study, change, and improve its design through the availability of its source code”. It is often available at no cost and users can use and distribute the software. And if they so desire, they can study the source code and modify it to suit their needs. The modified version of the software can also be redistributed. In contrast, proprietary software is licensed to users for a fee and the source code is usually closely guarded and not made available to users. It is illegal to make copies and distribute proprietary software without paying additional licensing fees.”

“FOSS can be used in setting up the ICT infrastructure in educational institutions (ELearning) like the server software and desktop applications, Library Management Systems and Learning Management Systems etc. In short it can provide softwares to host a ELearning Institution.The potential cost savings resulting from the use of FOSS is immense”

Why FOSS for ELearning?
The initial acquisition cost of FOSS is negligible. Hence, the initial cost of acquiring FOSS is much lower than the cost of acquiring equivalent proprietary software for which license fees have to be paid for each user or computer. The cost factor alone is not the only reason why the use of FOSS for servers is prevalent. FOSS is considered to have better reliability, performance and security for ELearning. Bugs are rapidly
removed with the help of large number of developers, and hence the resulting software is more reliable. This is specifically true of the more mature FOSS for servers.

It is really difficult to make comparisons between the security of FOSS and that of proprietary software. The comparisons suggest that FOSS is often superior to proprietary software in terms of security because of the availability of the source code, which allows bugs to be identified and resolved by third parties.

Possibility of Localization
Educational / Elearning institutions in non-English speaking countries can localize FOSS. Such localization need not involve the original developer. With proprietary products, localization is constrained by commercial interests. When the size of the market is quite small, there is no incentive for localizing proprietary products for that market.

Learning from Source Code
One of the main characteristics of FOSS is that the source code is available for users to examine and to modify. In contrast, proprietary software is normally provided in binary form and the source code is seldom released for users to study or modify.

Web Server
The most widely used Web server is Apache (www.apache.org), which is Free/Open Source Software. It can be used to host websites for eLearning Institutions and to host intranets within institutions. It is generally used with GNU/Linux as the operating system, MySQL as the database server and PHP as the scripting language. All of these are FOSS and their combination is often referred to as LAMP-Linux, Apache, MySQL and PHP (alternatively Perl or Python).

Other Server Software
There are numerous other Free/Open Source server softwares that can be useful in an education / elearning environment, such as database management systems, content management systems and mailing list servers. The most widely used FOSS database management systems are MySQL (www.mysql.com) and
PostgreSQL (www.postgresql.org). MySQL is mostly used for building dynamic websites. Various other educational applications such as Learning Management Systems and Library Management Systems also use MySQL.

A Content Management System (CMS) which forms the backbone of ELearning, facilitates the creation, publishing and management of Web content by providing a platform that can be used by individuals without their having to master the underlying technologies. Examples of FOSS Content Management Systems are PostNuke (www.postnuke.com) and Plone (plone.org). PostNuke is based on PHP and MySQL, while Plone is based on the Zope application server, which is written using the Python programming language. In an
educational institution or elearning environment, the availability of such FOSS CMSs enable staff and students to develop highly interactive Internet and intranet websites thereby providing collaborative environment.

There are a number of Open Source browsers available such as Mozilla, Galeon and Konqueror that enable one to view these interactive collaborative environment. Mozilla (www.mozilla.org) is a popular browser that is based on source code released by Netscape It is cross-platform and a version for Windows is available that can be downloaded and installed without affecting existing Internet Explorer installation. Thus FOSS enables one to develop and view Interactive Websites that offer collaborative environment.



The author is a ELearning /SEO /Online Marketing Consultant and can be reached at http://www.elearningnonlineeducationconsulant.com/

http://www.seoptimizationexpert.com/



FOSS

ELearning Consultant

SEO

SEO Consultant

“So what is it?
Want to listen to internet audio programs but can't when they are scheduled? This program lets you create your own custom online audio anytime, anywhere. Really.”

“If you want to listen to podcasts, this program is for you. Juice is the premier podcast receiver, allowing users to capture and listen to podcasts anytime, anywhere.
View screenshots


Why should I squeeze Juice?
• Juice is free
• Juice supports more than 15 languages
• Juice supports multiple media players
• Juice is free software licensed under the GPL (open source)
• Juice's primary purpose is to manage podcasts
• Juice has a built-in directory with thousands of listed podcast feeds
• Juice has auto cleanup, authentication, centralized feed management and much more
• Juice is accessible for blind and visually impaired users (windows version only)
• Juice is fresh!”
podcasting

MERLOT Grapevine - Issue #7 - Summer 2006

CONTENTS OF THIS NEWSLETTER


NEWS
MERLOT International Conference - 2006
JOLT – Journal of Online Learning and Teaching - June 2006 Issue Now Available
New Release of Desire2Learn Includes Integrated MERLOT Search
New Federated Searches of IEEE Computer Society and NIME-glad Collections



FEATURES
MERLOT Awards Program Honors Authors and Volunteers
MERLOT Classic Awards
MERLOT Editors Choice Awards
MERLOT Volunteer of the Year Awards
UPCOMING EVENTS
MERLOT and TLT Cosponsored Workshops
WebCT !mpact 2006 Users Conference
Desire2Learn UC06 Expanding Horizons
2006 Distance Learning Conference
EDUCAUSE 2006 Annual Conference



FROM THE WEBMASTER
What about the new MERLOT?

A Monthly E-mail Newsletter for Users
and Friends of MIT OpenCourseWare
----------------------------------------------------------------


The June 2006 MIT OpenCourseWare Update Contains:

1. OpenCourseWare Consortium Portal Launched
2. ATTENTION: Boston-Area Subscribers
3. Your Gift Sustains MIT OCW Long-Term
4. Comments
5. Newsletter Available Online at http://ocw.mit.edu/OcwWeb/Global/AboutOCW/newsletter.htm





MIT-Open CourseWare

"The five 2006 UNESCO Literacy prizes go to literacy projects in Cuba, India, Morocco, Pakistan and Turkey. A project in China has also received an Honourable Mention.

The winners have made particularly effective contributions to the fight against illiteracy, one of UNESCO?s priorities. They demonstrate the efforts of thousands of men and women who devote their lives to advancing the cause of literacy for all.

The winners will receive their prizes on 8 September, International Literacy Day.

:: Read the press release

:: UNESCO’s Literacy Portal
A platform designed for information-sharing on literacy projects and activities undertaken around the world. UNESCO is coordinator of the United Nations Literacy Decade (UNLD).

:: All about UNESCO’s Literacy Initiative for Empowerment (LIFE) 2005-2015
LIFE is conceived as a global strategic framework and key operational mechanism for achieving the goals and purposes of the UN Literacy Decade.

:: All about UNESCO’s Literacy Initiative for Empowerment (LIFE) 2005-2015
LIFE is conceived as a global strategic framework and key operational mechanism for achieving the goals and purposes of the UN Literacy Decade".



UNESCO's Literacy Portal
2006 Literacy Prize

I have already elsewhere mentioned that I am participating in Research Activities related to OER sponsored by UNESCO. During our recent interaction, our Coordinator David Wiley asked us to tell him “how do you hope it (resources) will be structured?”

For that the following reply

“Maybe it would be smart to organize the materials in more than one manner (hence the "tagging" phenomenum).

Perhaps we want to create a hierarchal, botany-like classification of the materials, softwares, stories, etc., but also create certain "profiles" for viewing them.

For example, a teacher with lots of tech experience might benefit from a different "lens" than a teacher with little tech experience. A teacher without internet access wouldn't want to hear about streaming video classroom lectures, etc. Each of these teachers could answer maybe 4 or 5 questions in a form that would generate a lens that presents the appropriate materials. These "lenses" could also serve as the foundation for print manuals and CDs.

This might be an efficient means of organizing the materials - we would only have the create each description/module once and then apply it by profile (I created something similar to this for a large law firm's training program and it has been working pretty well)” was provided by Wynn Williamson.

More in future. Do look up this page for latest developments related to above topic.




OER

Dear Educators, Researchers, Scholars, and Policy-makers,

Please click the URL to know the details of

Asia-Pacific Ed Research Association Conference 28-30 Nov. 2006, Hong Kong

(Deadline for paper submission: 31 June 2006)
( http://www.ied.edu.hk/apera2006/ )



Educational Research Conference
APERA
International Conference

Desire2Learn Inc.: Desire2Learn Announces the Release of an Extensive New Product Suite Delivering Client-Driven Innovation for eLearning KITCHENER-WATERLOO, ONTARIO (MARKET WIRE)



SYNOPSIS: Desire2Learn launches three exciting new releases as part of its eLearning Suite including: Learning Environment 8.1, Learning Repository 3.5, and LiveRoom 4.0 enabling clients to elevate the potential of eLearning by measuring learning outcomes, tools that support greater student success, increasing collaboration, and significantly reducing the time required to create content and manage eLearning.




ELearning Suite
Desire2Learn
Clienr-Driven Innovation
Learning Repository
Collaboration
Learning Environment
Live Room 4.0

Today I shall be presenting News related to Education for the entire world.

Eldis Education newsfeed

Making careers in science more attractive to girls
Social and economic development of a country is closely linked to the educational level of its female population. As women in the developing world are generally under-represented in science and technology, this module aims to address the inherent gender disparities in this field, with a specific focus on Africa. Further aims of the module are to: promote a positive image of women in scientific and technological careers sensitise parents, educators, school administrative staff,
Job: ICON-Institute seeks Team Leader and a Procurement Expert for education programme in Papua New Guinea
ICON-Institute is currently looking for a Team Leader and a Procurement Expert for a multi-component educational programme supporting basic (forma and non- formal), vocational and non-formal education in Papua New Guinea. Technical assistance is required for the Programme Implementation Unit (PIU) as well as for capacity building and institutional strengthening purposes. For the Team Leader position a professional experience of at least 15 years in educational projects in developing countries is required.
The situation of child labour in Costa Rica
This report provides in-depth analysis of child labour in Costa Rica. The Multiple Purpose Household Survey (EHPM) data revealed that people between the ages of 5 and 17 who are economically active were found in 99,846 households. The number of working children in the country for that year amounts to 113, 523. Labour insertion at an early age takes place more frequently in rural areas. Regarding the effects of child labour on education and their relationship, the figures indicate that the younger the child and the fewer the
Financing education: evidence from Colombia in subsidising private schools
Many countries use tax revenues to subsidise private schools. Whether these policies meet social objectives depends, in part, on the relative quality of education provided by the two types of schools. This study uses data on elementary school students and their teachers in Bogot, Colombia to examine difference in resource mixes and differences in the relative effectiveness of public and private schools. The authors find that, on average, the schools in the two sectors are equally effective. However, they produce education using very
Non-formal education for street children in Nepal: challenges and best practices
This report presents the outcomes of a policy forum which was conducted to discuss quality basic education for out-of-school children with particular focus on street children within the framework of the EFA National Plan of Action. The specific objectives of the forum included to present the findings and recommendations of the research on non-formal education (NFE), and best practices for out-of-school children particularly for street children regarding; and to review the existing policies and strategies in
Study of public policy interventions on child labour and child schooling in Ethiopia
This paper examines the Ethiopian Government's emphasis on the intensification of agricultural activities in order to increase livelihood options and provide better safety nets for the poor (e.g. through food or cash-for-work programmes). The report explores the impact on child labour and child schooling of public policy interventions formulated within the PRSP, and looks at how changes are mediated through gender and rural/urban differences. The key findings include: children were commonly involved in
Qualitative study on online learners in Malaysia
This paper reports on a qualitative research study designed to explore the perception of a supportive distance learning environment and the needs of learners of an online distance learning Finance course offered by Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM), Malaysia. The focus of the research was the learners' own reflection of their personal, academic and social needs as they were involved in the online learning environment. The article demonstrates how online learners were able to explain their needs through the education
Why are teachers leaving their profession in South Africa?
This study explores the phenomena of education decline and the reasons why educators may be leaving the profession in South Africa. The report integrates the findings of seven reports presented to Education Labour Relations Council (ELRC) concerning education, published as part of the multi-study project focusing on the Factors Determining Educator Supply and Demand in South African Public Schools. The aim of this report is to integrate all these findings and give a more comprehensive picture of the determinants of
Knowledge societies and their role in development
This report makes the distinction between knowledge societies and the information society. While the information society is based on technological breakthroughs, knowledge societies encompass broader social, ethical and political dimensions. The report focuses on: the foundations on which knowledge societies that will optimize sustainable human development are constructed the increasingly important role played by knowledge in economic growth and advances that it can serve as a new springboard
Are your students struggling to understand economics?This paper outlines the recently developed idea of Threshold Concepts and explains how this idea may be used to describe the progress of learning in economics. A range of evidence is presented to illustrate the existence and implications of threshold concepts in economics. The paper extends current understanding of threshold concepts by indicating that these might best be seen as a web of concepts which link thinking and practice in a discipline. This paper adds the emerging literature on threshold concepts in










Education

Non Formal Education

Finance Education

Online Learning

economics

Do you want to engage with other exemplary teachers to enhance learning for your students?
Do you have expertise to contribute to your discipline colleagues about teaching in your area?
Would you like to work with them to improve resources you can all use in your teaching?

Then you will want to attend

Multimedia Educational Resource for Learning and Online Teaching

(MERLOT) International Conference

Working With and Learning >From the World's Best

August 8-11, 2006, Ottawa Congress Centre

Hosted by Co-operative Learning Object Exchange (CLOE) and the University of Ottawa


Pre-conference Seminars and Workshops, Sharing with Colleagues, Motivating and Thought-Provoking General Sessions, More Networking with Colleagues, Corporate Perspectives, Colleague Critique, Creative and Interesting Sessions (Playing out a Pandemic and When the Inmates Run the Asylum, just to name a few)


And tell others you heard it through the MERLOT Grapevine

Visit MERLOT at www.merlot.org

Questions merlotconference@merlot.org



Multimedia
Educational Resource
Online Teaching
International Conference
Co-operative Learning
Seminars & Workshops

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