Connections
A news publication of The Commonwealth of Learning • September 1998 Vol. 3, No. 3

PAN Commonwealth
FORUM ON OPEN LEARNING

Bandar Seri Begawan

Empowerment through Knowledge and Technology

A Celebration of Ten Years of the Commonwealth of Learning

Virtual conferences
set to begin
COL’s first “virtual” conference will run
from I 22 October and will cover the topic,
Distance Education and Challenged
Communities. It will be moderated by
Professor Gajaraj Dhanarajan, President
and Chief Executive Officer of The
Commonwealth of Learning.
In conjunction with next year’s
Pan Commonwealth Forum on Open
I earning, lour on line conferences have been
organised to help participants and conference
planners to prepare for the Forum and to
provide means of participation for those who
may not be able to attend in person. Please
visit the Forum home page
(www.col.org/forum) for information on how
to join these conferences:
•Distance Education and Challenged
Communities, 1-22 October 1998,
moderated by Dato’ Professor Gajaraj
Dhanarajan
• Library/Information Systems and Student
Support, 10 - 30 November 1998,
moderated by Dr. Neela Jagannathan of
Indira Gandhi National Open University
and Ms. Elizabeth F. Watson of the
University of the West Indies (both are
head librarians)
• Accreditation, Quality Assurance and
Credit Banking, 11-29 January 1999,
moderated by Dr. David Woodhouse,
1 director of the New Zealand Universities
Academic Audit Unit
• StaffDevelopment, February 1999 (further
details to be announced)
Each topic will be introduced by the
moderator who will also present some
thought provoking questions. Participants
will then be invited to join the discussion
virtually. At the end of the third week, the
moderator will wrap up the discussion.
A Round Table, scheduled for the first day
of the Pan-Commonwealth Forum
programme, will serve as an icebreaker and
will include discussions on regional and

sectoral developments. Suggestions and
recommendations arising from the virtual
conference will be reported at these plenary
sessions.

Keynote speakers
Confirmed keynote speakers for the
Pan-Commonwealth Forum on Open
Learning include:
His Excellency Chief Emeka Anyaoku,

Commonwealth Secretary-General
The Honourable Mia Amor Mottley,

Minister of Education, Youth Affairs and
Culture, Barbados
The Right Honourable Clare Short,

Secretary of State for International
Development, Britain {via videoconference)
The Honourable Maurice Strong,

Special Adviser to the UN Secretary-General
and Chairman, Earth Council
Mr. Noah A. Samara, Chairman/Chief
Executive Officer, WorldSpace Corporation
Dato’ Professor Gajaraj Dhanarajan,

President and CEO, The Commonwealth of
Learning
Plenary presenters include:
Ms. Fay Chung, former Chief of
Education Cluster, United Nations Children
Fund and former Minister of Education,

Zimbabwe (now with the Organisation of
African Unity)
Sir John Daniel, Vice-Chancellor, The
Open University, UK
Mr. Armoogum Parsuramen, Director,
Division for the Renovation of Secondary &
Vocational Education, UNESCO and former
Minister of Education and Science, Mauritius
Ms. Madeleine Woolley, Director,
Adelaide Institute of TAPE, Australia
Round tables will be chaired by:
Dr. Abdul W. Khan, Vice-Chancellor,
Indira Gandhi National Open University,
India
Dr. Ros Morpeth, Director, National
Extension College, UK
In celebration of ten years of The
Commonwealth of Learning, the first
Pan-Commonwealth Forum on Open
Learning will be held next year in Brunei
Darussalam. The event will be co-hosted by
COL, the Brunei Darussalam Ministry of
Education and Universiti Brunei Darussalam,
and is being organised in collaboration with
the Commonwealth’s open and distance
learning professional associations. It will be
held at the International Convention Centre
in Bandar Seri Begawan from 1-5 March
1999.
Further information is available on the
forum web site {www.col.org/forum) or by
contacting the Forum secretariat at COL’s
Vancouver headquarters {forum@col.org).

Deadline reminders
25 September 1998—deadline for
submission of abstracts for presentation at the
Forum
(www.col.org/forum/call_abstracts.htm)
30 September 1998—deadline for
submissions and nominations for COL’s
Excellence in Distance Education Programme
awards {www.col.org/edep).
1 December 1998—registration deadline
for Forum participants
(www. col. org/forum/reg_form.htm).

Information on Brunei
The web site for further information on
Brunei Darussalam (history, culture, ecology,
tourist attractions and government) is at
www.brunet.bn, rather than the site that was
printed in the Forum brochure, which is no
longer valid. Please accept our apologies for
any inconvenience.

COL in Action

Signing of the CEMCA agreement in
Vancouver: COL President, Professor Gajaraj
Dhanarajan (left) and Mr. Madan Mohan
Jha, Joint Secretary, Indian Department of
Education

CEMCA becomes international
organisation
The Government of India and COL have
signed an agreement that confers full
international status to the Commonwealth
Educational Media Centre for Asia (CEMCA).
Under the new agreement, CEMCA will
operate in India as a fully recognised
international agency and be accorded the
associated rights and privileges.
CEMCA was established by COL in 1995
and is hosted by the Indira Gandhi National
Open University. Its objective is to promote
co-operation and collaboration in the use of
electronic media resources for distance
education in the Asian region. CEMCA
undertakes research, training and co­
productions. It also maintains a database of
electronic media teaching material containing
details on over 9,000 audio and video
programmes.

CCDESP partners named
Agreements have now been reached with
the institutions that will be COL’s partners in
its pilot Canada Caribbean Distance
Education Scholarship Programme
(CCDESP).
Recognised for their expertise in the
relevant subject areas and for their success in
delivering programmes “at a distance”, three
Canadian universities will be developing and
providing undergraduate degree
programmes, for three Caribbean countries,
in collaboration with the University of the
West Indies.
Alberta’s Athabasca University will provide
information technology programmes in
Jamaica, Memorial University of
Newfoundland will develop teacher education
in Dominica and Mount Saint Vincent
University will offer tourism management in
St. Vincent & the Grenadines.
While the students will be taking courses
and earning degrees from Canadian
universities, they will be studying “at a
distance” using specifically designed materials
and taking advantage of modern commun­
ications and information technologies.
“We arc delighted with the partnerships
that we have been able to strike,” said COL’s
President, Professor Gajaraj Dhanarajan.
“Moreover, unlike other study-abroad
schemes, this one also ensures that local insti­
tutions are involved in the arrangements. The
University of the West Indies is a full partner

in the CCDESP, providing it and the
Canadian institutions with opportunities for
collaboration and growth. The UWI will
bring its long-standing experience and
immense knowledge of the region to bear
upon the direction of the delivery systems in
the venture”.
The CCDESP is funded by the Canadian
Department of Foreign Affairs and
International Trade as an innovative
expansion of the Commonwealth Scholarship
and Fellowship Plan (CSFP). Until now, the
CSFP has provided students with scholarships
that required them to study elsewhere while
they earn primarily graduate degrees.
Canadian Foreign Affairs Minister, the
Honourable Dr. Lloyd Axworthy, in his
welcoming letter to the Association of
Commonwealth Universities conference, held
in Ottawa in August, encouraged delegates
from both Canada and other Commonwealth
countries to develop ideas for similar
initiatives in support of new and lasting
approaches to education and training. “If you
accept this challenge,” he wrote, “you can
count on Canada once again to champion
innovative education initiatives with our
Commonwealth partners.”

Capturing action outdoors
Intensive research, effort to capture the
unusual and unexpected, use of modern
technology to save time and to improve
quality, and sharing of ideas with the team are
a must for a good director while filming or
videotaping outdoors. This was the advice
given by Mr. Siddharatha Kak, a well-known
Indian television personality, in delivering the
keynote address at CEMCA’s workshop on
“Capturing Action Outdoors.” The training
programme was held in Pune in June, in
collaboration with the Film and Television
Institute of India.

On-line catalogue launched
COL is pleased to announce the launch of
Internet access to its Information Resource
Centre’s on-line catalogue. With this year’s
complete up-grade of the library management
software used by the IRC, the most noticeable
improvement is a catalogue accessible to any
one with access to the web. This enhanced
access will benefit those working or studying
in the field of open and distance education
world-wide. To search the catalogue, follow
the links from COL’s home page or go to:
www.col.org/irc and select the On-Line
Catalogue option under the list of services.
Inter-library loan service is also available with­
in North America.

Those without access to the world wide
web can participate in the COL TVET
Network via fax. Please contact COL for
further information or if you would like to
participate in the development of the site.

TVET teacher training
COL has been developing a core
curriculum to provide teacher training by
distance education in countries where an
expanding technical/vocational education
and training system has resulted in acquiring
technically competent staff that lack teaching
skills.
The learning materials for most of the 11
units have been written. However, COL
would be pleased to work with institutions in
member countries that would like to modify
the material to make it more specifically
relevant for their situation. Modules could
also be developed or modified for use by
enterprises that wish to use existing staff as
trainers. There may also be opportunities for
institutions or individuals to assist in the
preparation of the learning materials for the
final modules.
Further information can be obtained
through COL’s web site (www.col.org/tvet)

DE professional associations
COL continues to provide support for the
establishment and development of Common­
wealth open and distance education
professional associations.
Recently, financial assistance enabled the
Indian Distance Education Association
(IDEA) to publish the proceedings of its fifth
annual conference. “Sustainable Development
of Distance Education: Opening the window
of technology for a better future,” was the
theme of the conference. IDEA President,
Professor Bakhshish Singh, in his opening
remarks, expressed his appreciation for COL’s
work in developing countries.
(X)I,’s financial support has also enabled
the upcoming launch of the Open and
Distance Learning Association for Eastern
Africa.
COL also provided assistance that allowed
leaders of the Papua New Guinea Association
for Distance Education to attend the annual
conference of the Open and Distance
Learning Association of Australia.

TVET-Net starts up
COL is developing a sect ion of its web site
to assist people involved in the vocational
training sector to keep abreast of developments
around the world. The site will include links to
other technical/vocational education and
training (TVET) providers that deliver on-line
or by other distance education methods.
Connections to other networks such as
UNEVOC, will also bc provided—UNEVOC
is the UNESCO programme focusing on
TVET

Ugandan Honorary Consul to Vancouver, Mr.
John Halani (left), presents cheque to COL
President, Professor Gajaraj Dhanarajan,
providing Uganda'sfirst directfinancial
contribution to COL’sfunding (June 1998).
Staff members Professor Peter Kinyanjui
(Kenya) and Ms. Kgomotso Motlotle
(Botswana) were also in attendance.

Dr. H.P. Padhy joined the
Commonwealth Educational Media Centre
for Asia in June 1998 as Programme Officer,
Broadcast Media. Dr. Padhy has worked as a
producer of programmes and courses,
researcher, trainer and teacher in the field of
audio and visual communications for several
years.

At the meeting of the COL Board of Governors in Vancouver (September 1998), the British
Columbia Ministry ofMinistry ofAdvanced Education, Training and Technology joined with
COL to host a reception for members of the local education, business, government and diplomatic
communities in honour of the Commonwealth Secretary-General. From left to right: The Hon.
Paul Ramsey (BC Minister of Education), Mr. Lewis Perinbam (COL Senior Advised, His
Excellency Chief Emeka Anyaoku (Commonwealth Secretary-General), The Hon. Gretchen Mann
Brewin (Speaker of the BC Legislature), Hon. Andrew Petter (BC Minister ofAdvanced
Education, Training and Technology and Minister of Intergovernmental Relations), Dr. H. Ian
Macdonald (COL Chairman), Dato’ Professor Gajaraj Dhanarajan (COL President).

People
Staff news

International Development. He is responsible
for developing and implementing COL’s new
capability to design and deliver turnkey
projects on a commercial basis for
international clientele. Mr. Julien is seconded
from the Canadian Department of Industry
where he occupied such positions as Chief of
International Development for
Telecommunications and Information
Technologies, Director of International
Market Development and Chief Economist
on media issues with the former Department
of Communications.

Peter Kinyanjui
Former staff members, Ms. Mavis Bird
and Professor Peter Kinyanjui, will continue
to be associated with COL on a consultative
basis from their respective homes in Australia
and Kenya. Ms. Bird was with COL from
1991 developing technical/vocational
education and training initiatives. Professor
Kinyanjui was one of COL’s first employees,
arriving during the organisation’s first year of
operation in 1989. He was responsible for
developing several African region and teacher
education programmes during the ensuing
decade. Both were recently honoured with
COL’s Distinguished Service Award for
exceptional contributions to the work of The
Commonwealth of Learning in pursuit of
excellence in distance education for the
peoples of the Commonwealth.
COL also expresses its appreciation to
former CEMCA staff members, Mr. Gopal
Saksena and Mr. Ravi Kanth.

Brian Long
Mr. Brian Long joined COL in
September 1998 as Director with
responsibilities for programme and staff
management, resource allocation and
representation to the wider community. With
the Canadian Department of Foreign Affairs
and International Trade for close to twenty
years, and Director of the Department’s
International Academic Relations Division for
the past several years, Mr. Long has been at
the centre of Canada’s response to
international education issues. 1 Ie has also
been a constant and knowledgeable
spokesperson on, and on behalf of, The
Commonwealth of Learning.

Patrick Julien
Mr. Patrick Julien joined COL in June
1998 as Chief Operating Officer for

Board appointments

John Bartram
Mr. John Bartram took up the post of
Education Specialist, Technical/Vocational
Education and Training in June 1998. Mr.
Bartram comes to COL from the Adelaide
TAPE Institute in South Australia, were he
was responsible for many international
programmes, fellowships and consultancies
conducted in and for the Asia-Pacific region.
He also managed the Australian UNEVOC
Centre located in Adelaide TAFE.

Dr. Usha Reddi became Director of the
Commonwealth Educational Media Centre
for Asia in July 1998, upon the retirement of
Mr. Gopal Saksena. Dr. Reddi comes to
CEMCA from Osmania University
(Hyderabad) where she was a Professor and
Director of the University’s Audio-Visual
Research Centre.

The Commonwealth of Learning is
pleased to welcome four new members to its
distinguished Board of Governors.
The Pacific Region will now be
represented by The Honourable Fiame
Naomi Mata’afa, Minister of Education,
Samoa. The other new appointments
represent three of the six governments
designated as COL’s “major donors”:
Ms. Shona Butterfield, Chief Executive
of The Open Polytechnic of New Zealand,
for the Government of New Zealand.
Ms. Robin Ciceri, Assistant Deputy
Minister, Post Secondary Education Division,
British Columbia Ministry of Advanced
Education, Training and Technology, for the
Government of the Province of British
Columbia (Canada).
Dr. Glenn Crombie, President Emeritus,
Cambrian College (Ontario), for the
Government of Canada.
Sincere thanks are also extended to
retiring Board members, The Honourable
Iona Campagnolo (Canada), Mr. Shell
Harvey (British Columbia) and The
Honourable Dr. S. Langi Kavaliku (Pacific
Region, Tonga), each for their several years of
dedicated service to COL and the
Commonwealth. A complete list of current
Board members is always available on COL’s
web site.

Events
Reddy Memorial Lecture
Professor N.R. Arthenayake, ViceChancellor of the Open University of Sri
Lanka, delivered the 3rd annual Professor G.
Ram Reddy Memorial Lecture on 2 July
1998. His topic was, “A Profile of a 21st
Century Distance Teacher—A developing
world paradigm.”
The lecture was televised in 40 countries
through Indian Television’s International
Channel, and made available to television and
educational broadcasters throughout the
world via satellite. Simultaneous audiences
also gathered at IGNOU regional centres,
state open universities, Allama Iqbal Open
University (Pakistan), the Bangladesh Open
University, the Open University of Sri Lanka
and at distance education institutes in Nepal
and Maldives.
The event is jointly sponsored by the
Indira Gandhi National Open University and
COL in memory of the late Professor Ram
Reddy, who was the first Vice-Chancellor of
IGNOU and the first Vice-President of COL.

Guyana proposes national DE
strategy
A National Conference on Distance
Education, held in Guyana in June, resulted
in the forming of a task force that will develop
a national policy document to outline a
co-ordinated distance education strategy for
the country for presentation to the Minister
of Education.
The conference was organised by the
University of Guyana (UG) and the Institute
of Distance and Continuing Education, in
collaboration with the Commonwealth Youth
Programme, the Cyril Potter College of
Education and the National Centre for
Education Resource Development.
COL’s Caribbean Regional Adviser to the
President (and former UG Vice-Chancellor),
Dr. Dennis Irvine, and Senior Training
Specialist, Ms. Patricia McWilliams, facilitated
the conference discussions.
The British Department for International
Development’s continuing support in the
development of foundation level distance
education for teachers in Guyana will also be
of assistance in the formulation of national
policies.

Post-ACU “Think-Tank’’
Following last month’s Quinquennial
General Conference of die Association of
Commonwealth Universities (Ottawa,
Canada), a three-day “Vice-Chancellors’
Think Tank” was convened by COL in
partnership with die ACU and York University
in Toronto.
Within the theme of Technological
Change: Impacts on distance learning and offcampus education, three presentations were
given on “Management and Leadership,”
“Learning and Teaching Systems” and
“Learning Support Services”—by Dr. Ross

Paul, President and Vice-Chancellor,
University of Windsor; Dr. Louis Moran,
Flexible Learning Consultant; and Professor
David Sewart, Director of Student Services,
UK Open University, respectively.
Dr. Geraldine Kenney-Wallace, Managing
Director and Vice-Chancellor of British
Aerospace Virtual University, gave a keynote
presentation on “Technology Change and the
Learning Imperative: The Virtual University
as a strategy for 21st century”. She shared
with participants the innovative
implementation of an industry-based virtual
institution.
The symposium was attended by 20
vice-chancellors and two registrars,
representing 14 different countries and all
Commonwealth regions. Participants
expressed the usefulness of such a small group
discussion focusing on a current theme of
common concerns. COL will plan to hold
similar workshops in the future in order to
continue to provide a forum for academic
leaders to share experiences of dealing with
issues confronting higher education as
universities move into the new millennium.

Caribbean delegates attend
CADE
COL sponsored participation by six
educators from the Caribbean at the
Canadian Association for Distance Education
annual conference, held in Banfl in May
1998.
The theme of the conference was
“Partnerships in Learning” and in support of
this theme, COL convened a panel discussion
entitled The Challenges of Effectively Using
Distance Education in Small Communities.
Three of the visitors from the Caribbean took
part in the panel, along with Ms. Erin Keough'
from the Open Learning & Information
Network in Newfoundland, and Mr. David
Walker and Mr. Greg Zador, of COL’s staff.
COL’s President, Professor Gajaraj
Dhanarajan, chaired the panel discussion.
The Caribbean participants were: Mr.
George Callender (Samuel Jackman Prescod
Polytechnic, Barbados), Ms. Cynthia
Thompson (Belize Teachers’ College), Mr.
Wesley Barrett (Ministry of Education and
Culture, Jamaica), Mr. Madison Stanislaus
(Sir Arthur Lewis Community College, St.
Lucia), Mr. Macaulay Peters (Ministry of
Education, Culture and Women’s Affairs, St.
Vincent and the Grenadines) and Ms. Marcia
Riley (Ministry of Education, Trinidad &
Tobago).

COL President addresses key
UNESCO conference
Professor Gajaraj Dhanarajan was one of thethe
keynote speakers at the UN ESC X) UNEVOC
Conference on Vocational Education in the
Asia-Pacific Region in the 21 st Century, heldd
earlier this year in Australia. Hosted by the
Adelaide TAFE UNEVOC Centre, the
conference was attended by 100 delegates
representing vocational education and
training from throughout Australia, and
international delegates from 42 different
countries.

Professor Dhanarajan’s topic was
“Delivery of Training Programmes: Changing
Design.” He spoke about the huge needs for
education and training, the resources that
were available to start to address those needs
and more crucially, the available technology.
“What is needed,” he said, “is the vision to
make them a reality.”

New Canadian policy
institute
The Canadian Association for Distance
Education (CADE) and British Columbia’s
Open Learning Agency have joined forces to
create the new Institute for Distance and
Distributed Education Advancement (IDEA).
The Institute will provide input and respond
to provincial, national, and international
policy initiatives involving distance education
and emerging distributed learning systems.
IDEA promises to bc a voice for the distance
education sector and ensure that key issues of
importance to distance educators, such as
learner access to quality education, standards
related to applications of new technology, and
reliable student services, arc represented in
Canadian and provincial government policy
research and development. Further
information is available on the Institutes
website (www.ola.bc.ca/idea iped\

Connect ns
September 1998

Volume 3, Number 3
Connections is published by the
Commonwealth of Learning COL is an
international organisation created by
Commonwealth Heads of Government to
encourage the development and sharing
of open learning/distance edmonton
resources and technologies.
Chairman:
Dr. H. Ian Macdonald, ().(.
President Emeritus
York University, Canada

President & CEO:
Dato’ Professor Gajaraj Dhanarajan
Unless otherwise stated, items appeal ing.
in Connections may be reproduced
Acknowledgement should be made to
The Commonwealth of Learning

Further details on any news item that
appears in Connections may bc obtained
by contacting COL’s Public Allans Office
or by visiting our World Wide Web site
The Commonwealth of Learning
1285 West Broadway, Suite 600

Vancouver, B.C.
Canada

Tel: 604.775.8200
Fax: 604.775.8210
Telex: 04507508 comlearn

E-mail: info@col.org
World Wide Web: www.col.org
Connections is edited by
Mr. Dave Wilson.