BASSETERRE, St. Kitts – THE marriage of technology and education in the growing global community has come one step closer to reality with the Commonwealth Learning-for-Content Project being recently introduced to some of the Federation’s top educators.
Through a collaborative effort of the Clarence Fitzroy Bryant College (CFBC) and the Commonwealth of Learning, lecturers and IT specialists from the college and across the island have been introduced to one of the most modern forums for open education, Wiki-educator.
The week-long, capacity building workshop began on Monday (Mar. 23) and offered two back-to-back sessions informing local educators of the advantages of “open education”, stressing the importance of accessible learning material.
Since holding these kinds of workshops, 2,500 teachers and educators in 53 Commonwealth countries have created thousands of free lessons accessible to regional educators interested in the move to access free learning material without restrictions.
The consultant representing the Commonwealth of Learning, Rosario Passos, told SKNVibes that the workshops provided an opportunity for educators around the world to have unlimited access to the means of production, which would help them better develop educational materials.
“Although open education is not a new concept for the nation, there is still a great need for it as the world becomes more of a global village through the use of information technology. At first persons may have been a bit reluctant to participate in the free learning concept but, having been fully informed of the advantages, the participants performed very well this week and have applied what they have learned very quickly.
Passos said that the benefits of allowing local educators to “discuss with colleagues all over the world” could not be overstated.
Minister of Education Hon. Sam Condor said in his address to the participants that it is his hope they would be able to complete the necessary instructional design and integrate the newly acquired material into high-quality learning programmes adapted to the needs of locals.
“While we are yet to fully witness the potentially powerful impact and exciting prospect of making educational material, educational curriculum and content free and accessible to all, we anxiously await this moment. It is equally significant that we hone the skills which would allow us to adapt and modify such content to meet our specific needs.
“We must be mindful, however, that free-content material by itself will not systematically transform and improve our quality of education, and that many other critical success factors must also form part of our transformation equation,” Condor said.
