For many of us in educational media, 26 January 2000 will remain a red letter day. On this day, GYAN DARSHAN, India's dedicated educational television channel was launched from the studios of the Electronic Media Production Centre, Indira Gandhi National Open University. Although a channel basically designed and meant for Indian audiences, the reach will extend beyond India's borders to neighbours in South Asia. For taking the lead in this regard, Indira Gandhi National Open University deserves our gratitude as well as our congratulations.

It has been a long and hard struggle. From a dream to a reality. From a time when there was nothing to a broadcasting system that, in terms of size and reach, is one of the biggest in the world. What the channel offers us is an additional avenue to exploit the enormous potential of television to bring education to the home of the learner, unhin-dered by distance and time.

The launching of the channel is also a reminder of the shape of things to come. The increasing use of information and communication technologies to reach the unreached; and to bridge the gap between the inequalities in the educational system.

Yet some issues will remain unchanged. Despite enormous strides, education in our region is still plagued by problems of access, equity, and quality. To address these issues, each individual and institution must contribute its mite. CEMCA will strive to provide what I take the liberty of calling "a critical input" in the use of media in education

A panoramic view of the educational media issues in Commonwealth Asia, which is what CEMCA is able to get, defines to a large extent, our role in this region. Changing from a mere data base and information provider, we hope to develop our vision to serve as a catalyst, capacity builder, and an information resource for individuals and institutions. This mission is in keeping with the vision of the Commonwealth of Learning, our parent body.

EDUCOMM ASIA, is part of our overall effort, reaching out especially to those who do not have access to the information superhighway. Our mix of ideas, academic papers, news about happenings in the region, we hope, will continue to provide you a window to the world in the field.

This issue brings you the text of Prof G. Dhanarajan's teleconferenced presentation on November 26111. We also bring you a case study of an activity based learning project in Singapore- one which students at the National Institute of Education developed.

Once again, you will also find our call Tor proposals-and we are getting many -and our proforma for empaneling you and your colleagues in the database of experts. We know that the experts with field experience are available in Asia, and we call on these experts to send us their filled up proforma or alternately, their curriculum vitae.

If you have a case study or a paper, we would be interested in disseminating its findings. Please send us a copy for inclusion in future issues.

We look forward to hearing from all of you out there. Tell us your views on the way we are proceeding and your suggestions for what we might do further. We are searching for the nuggets of gold which we know are in your mind.

Dr. Usha Vyasulu Reddi

Once again there is a buzz of the convergence of distance and conventional education. Some of you who belong to my generation of distance education practitioners will, of course, remember that a discussion of this kind is not new. This subject has been discussed in a number of forums before. Dual mode institutions, their role, the advantages they bring to the practice of distance education and the challenges they confront, in being both good and economical, were all matters of great interest to our community throughout the seventies. I remember the big debate in Australia, led by a former Vice Chancellor of Deakin University, who was making a case for dual mode institutions and receiving encouragement from colleagues in India, Malaysia, New Zealand, and Canada. Even then, there was already talk that the single mode dedicated distance teaching institutions had reached their peak and the future direction of distance education may well rest with the conventional institutions. That future seems to be here andit is therefore interesting, at least for me , to look back, reflect on those pronouncement of the seventies and eighties and see if anything has changed at all.

So, has the "news wave" of learner centred and technology mediated delivery of education finally caught up with the world ofacademe and, if yes, what is causing it ? Is it competition, is it demand, is it glamour or is it simply recognition that the "sage on the stage" is not the only path to Nirvana (enlightenment)? While the sage is, and will continue to be a necessary part of the educational environment, the stage is, perhaps, ceasing to be important.

Some 30 years ago, when I was coerced into teaching in an off-campus programme at the Universiti Sains Malaysia, the distinction between "distance" and "conventional" forms of education seemed clear cut. There was a difference between my on-and off-campus students. The difference was not only in the nature of the student population but also (very clearly) in the different ways that 1 could reach them. One had, but could not quite depend on the postal services reaching remote parts of my country, access to telephone lines was narrow and, where it was available, the services provided was costly and often not dependable. All of these circumstances ingrained in me the belief that the self-learning materials I created, by themselves, should have the capacity to enable my students to leam from them effectively with an occasional meeting with me. It was, therefore, not difficult then to accept the distinction between "distance" and "convention".

Times have changed, Malaysia has embraced the new technologies and its telecommunication systems have been undergoing a revolution. Today , there is no reason for any student in Malaysia to feel isolated however remotely he or she may be located. Study centres, telephone systems, electronic libraries and databases, and internet facilities are all within reach. Learners may be located off-campus but interacting with a professor, a fellow student or a tutor, in real or delayed time, it is not impossible. This does not necessarily mean that good self-learning materials are no longer important, but simply that developments outside campus walls have made the learning environment which was once available only ,\yithin campus, replicable (to a large extent) even away from those walls.

About two years ago, UNESCO published the report of its Commission on Education for the 21st century. This report drew attention to the fact that world-wide, basic education should be extended to some 900 million illiterate adults to 130 million children out of school and to more than 100 million drop outs from school annually. The commissioners were also quick to point out that, in many countries of the world, large parts of the secondary school systems were becoming dysfunctional with inappropriate curriculum and inadequate choice. Lastly, they stated that access to post-secondary education was abysmal in almost all parts of the developing world, especially in the context of a "New World" where education throughout life was a necessity rather than an option.

Observers of educational trends and demands are aware that there is rarely a political leader in the world today who does not speak of a need to increase opportunities for post-secondary education in his/her country. Countries, where participation in this sector is below 2%, are aspiring to achieve participation in the double digit level and those who are already at the low and middle double-digit levels are aspiring for almost universal access. Is this desire to aspire for mass basic education and post-secondary education and training just based on social equity or are there any other considerations ?

It is not surprising to hear "provisions for more education" becoming part of the political noise. In an estimate done for one Australian development agency, it was said that, globally, we could expect to see about 150 million young people seeking access to tertiary education by the first quarter of the next century. This would come mainly from countries presently described as developing. Many times that number, who aspire to upgrade themselves, would also be knocking on the doors of post-secondary institutions in countries presently described as developed. This would, as one very distinguished Vice Chancellor often said, require the construction of one new university every week for the next 20 years. For individuals and nations to be constantly competitive,preparing the workforce for new kinds of employment as well as re-skilling the workforce while it is still working becomes vital. If we add to this, the aspiration of many societies to be provided with "equality of opportunities" which have been deniedthem in the past, then nations must transform themselves into learning societies. Post-secondary educational facilities must not only be widened, but must also reach those who were once considered unreachable. This would include cross generation clients, women, the physically challenged, under-privileged minorities and others. This inevitably must lead governments to desire systems that deliver mass post-secondary education and training, comprehensively and inexpensively.

Wanting more and different types of education and making adequate resources for it are two different things entirely. Providing education to the one billion children lucky enough to find a place in the classrooms and the 60 million young adults on campuses, presently costs the world economy approximately 5 to 7 billion dollars. What then would be the cost for:

1)  Providing literacy education to some 900 million adults worldwide?
2)  Making basic education available to one billion children?
3)  Re-skilling, retraining and keeping current, a world-wide workforce of over two billion people who will most likely be     working till the end of the first quarter of the next century?
4)  Enabling some 700 million youth to be economically productive ?
5)  Making tertiary education available to no less than 150 million individuals aspiring for the experience ?

To a species which has successfully defied gravity to explore new frontiers in space, possesses the intellect to conquer any disease, feed itself, clean up its environment and, more or less, has a unique capacity to self-destruct in a second, meeting the above educational challenges is not beyond (its) grasp. However, it will take a commitment to global social equality and considerable resources to achieve these goals. Rightly or wrongly, many government policy-makers have used the scarcity of resources as a major reason to advocate the use of distance education to confront the educational and training challenges that have been emerging within their communities. Again, rightly or wrongly (at least in the past), academic debates did not recognise resources as central to the issue. The concern here has been on education, instruction, teaching, learning, knowledge and information. The conventional position has been (and, perhaps, continues to be in some quarters ) that the norms of good teaching are to be found in face-to-face modes and the onus is on distance educators to demonstrate how far they are able to meet them. These norms more or less focussed on:

1)   The purpose of education (versus training )
2)   The central role of the teacher and the tutor in the learning process
3)   Individual and pastoral care
4)   Peer support in the learning process
5)   Social environment for debate and reflection
6)   The distinction between knowledge and information.

The implication here is that once out of campus, the above-stated norms seldom exist. Distance education, on the other hand, has always attempted to draw a distinction between teaching (what is to be taught )and learning (ways in which it can be learnt ). Planning, designing, creating and delivering a course with the accompanying support systems to students, have effectively replaced the norms of conventional modes, at least in terms of values of education and instruction, roles of teaching and learning. In terms of the concerns relating to knowledge and information, should we not seriously reconsider the belief that the most important part of using or transforming information to knowledge is the presence of a warm bodied guru ? Good instructional design, clever organisation of support systems and adequate provision for peer learning, can all facilitate the transformation processes that were once thought of as special to a classroom.

While the debate is by no means over, the environment in which the debate has been taking place is changing. The main agents of change in this case, apart from the political and a few academic forces, seems to be the new inventions in computing and the technologies surrounding information and communication. The communications and information technologies have become more versatile, less expensive, friendlier and supportive of learner needs. They have come to a point where they allow teachers to accomplish what they can imagine, be it instant access to an audio clip, a laboratory simulation, raw data or almost unlimited availability of literature. This, you all know well enough and I am sure you will hear more of it in the days to come. The foresight, courage and imagination of people such as yourselves and the arrival of these powerful technological tools, have forced and continue to force shifts in the way in which teachers see their roles in transactions involving learning.

Apart from the communications and information technologies, two other equally important developments also have a bearing on our discussions. The first relates to the market and the second to economic libertarianism. At no time in our recent history has the need to keep oneself current, in terms of knowledge and skills, been greater than today.Whether one is a financial advisor, a medical practitioner or an environmental engineer, the pace at which knowledge is growing requires all of us to be learners if we aspire to be professionally active and economically productive most of our lives. An entire industry, providing knowledge-related services, is being spawned and the users of these services expect knowledge products to come to them rather than they travel to the sources of the knowledge. The second and which is related to the previous point, is the expectation of most governments and their institutions of higher learning ought to generate a substantial portion of their revenue by being entrepreneurs in the knowledge market. From vending on -campus under-graduate education in the Far East^narkets to providing management training to busy executives, universities and colleges are fast moving from being just cost centres to 'for profit' organisations. In this context, strategic alliances with industry and commercial houses as well as usingelectronic networks to deliver education, are becoming common occurrences. Efficiency considerations, competitive edges and market innovations all require new ways of dealing with educational delivery.

Not only in the developed world, but also on almost every continent, a resurgence of interest in taking education to the user is becoming increasingly noticeable. Recent surveys of the 53 Commonwealth countries, show that the most widely discussed item was the application of the newer technologies and experiences of distance education to many of the challenges confronting them in widening access to learning to the 1.8 billion people of the Commonwealth. It is important to note here that the impetus towards greater use of distance education has come from governments and their policy-makers. The larger academic community has mostly been reacting rather than leading.

It may be a little unfortunate that, in some instances, the policy directions somehow see distance and face-to-face modes of teaching and learning as separate although parallel educational enterprises. This has a tendency to reinforce and perpetuate the belief that somehow the demands of, or expectation from, one service are not relevant to the other. Those of us who have worked in both modes, know how far from reality this perception is.The perceived gap separating one from the other has even less of a justification with the emergence of the new communications and information technologies (as is seen in the case of UCLA ). I am sure you will not dispute with me if 1 were to claim that the "distance" we confront in our profession has less to do with delivery and more to do with the way we have designed and developed learning materials and subsequently supported learning. If we accept this statement, then it would seem that policy considerations must focus on knowledge and expertise, organisational matters, infrastructure and financing to instil good pedagogical practices in post-secondary institutions; the mode of delivery then becomes secondary to these considerations.

Good practices in delivering education to clients outside of one's immediate environment requires serious consideration at many levels. These are issues most distance educators will take for granted, but it does not seem to be so in the case of many institutions or faculties which add remote delivery to their list of teaching activities. Research into the basic requirements for good distance education indicates that the key areas requiring attention are:

1 Curriculum design
2 Curriculum transformation
3 Communication
4 Phased learning and
5 User-friendly administration.

All of these good practices apply equally to both distance and conventional forms of education. During the last two decades, campuses in many parts of the world have been dedicating themselves to improving the quality of their teaching. The use of audio and visual aids, computer aided and assisted instruction, outcome-based curriculum, problem-based learning etc., have all contributed, in one way or another, to shift the centre of the educational transaction away from the faculty to the learner. The arrival of the newer technologies such as multimedia seems to have accelerated the process even further. Like with any other transformation, new opportunities as well as threats will emerge.

As an advocate for more distance education, I can only be optimistic about all that is happening in the world of tertiary education. Whether education is delivered by dedicated distance teaching or by conventional institutions, what matters most is that the teaching we do is excellent and it enables learning to be effective. Equally important also, is the concern that those of us who are engaged in this profession recognise the urgent need to derive maximum benefit from the enterprise. The new technologies are not meant to replace teachers, but to see that they contribute significantly to the enterprise and, in terms of both quality and accessibility, we must take these technologies a necessary part of our consideration. The challenge is for us to find the most judicious ways to match the versatility of the technologies to the educational goals.

In my mind what IGNOU does in the first quarter of the next decade will have tremendous influence on the way the practice of tertiary education will develop not in just this country but all over the world. Your space on the world stage is beginning to be created.

Bangladesh open University is the only institution in the country that imparts education in distance mode. The Open University has 12 Regional Centres, 80 Local centres and 800 tutorial centres spread all over the country.

With an enrolment of 150,000 students in its different formal programmes, the University has already offered 19 formal and an equal number ofnon- formal programmes.

Formal Programmes

The formal programmes of BOU are designed to meet the specific needs of students. SSC and HSC programmes are offered by the Open School. The Bachelor and Master of Education Programmes , offered by the School of Education , are aimed at raising the standard of professional teaching. The School of Business has offered Certifi cate and Graduate Diploma in Management and MBA programmes .

The School of Social Science, Humanities and Language, through its Certificate in English Language Proficiency and Certificate in Arabic Language Proficiency programmes , offers an opportunity to those who are keen to learn these languages. It also offers the Bachelor in English Language Teaching (BELT) programmes for teachers to raise their professional ability and BA/ BBS for college drop-outs and learners in general. The School of Agriculture has launched Bachelor of Agriculture Education programme for secondary level teachers. The other programmes of the School are Certificate in Poultry and Livestock, Certificate in Pisciculture and Fish processing and Diploma in Youth Development. The Diploma in Youth Development is a Commonwealth of Learning (COL ) sponsored programme. The COL is expected to sponsor an Executive MBA programme as well.

To meet the need of the time , the School of Science and Technology has offered the Diploma in Computer Ap plication programme. Another programme of the school is B.Sc. -in-Nursing.

Non-Formal Programmes

The objective of BOU's non-formal programmes is to create awareness and provide knowledge about health, environment, basic science, agriculture, food, nutrition and any other branch of knowledge for human development.

The target groups of these programmes are people from all walks of life, particularly those who intend to add further to their professional knowledge and skill without attending any institution or training centre.

These programmes are telecast and broadcast at fixed times and no written materials for these programme are given to the learners.

BOU imparts education to all its learners through both print and electronic media. Apart from print media, support is given to learners through radio and television. Audio-Video materials are produced in collaboration between the schools and the media. BOU is now using the latest information technology like internet and teleconferencing. The media centre is equipped with most modern technological devices like high-end graphic workstations, digital editing suites, electronic preview theaters, micro-wave communication link and full-fledged audio-video studios.

Other than media services, BOU also has various student support programmes.

For further Information contact:
Bangladesh Open University Gazipur-1704
Phone: 9800800 ( Campus). 823189
E-mail: bou_vc(o)bangla.net

Activity Theory as an Instructional Model :
A Case Study of a Computer Support System in
Interdescipinary Project work

David W. L. Hung, National Institute of Education
Manu Kapur, National Junior College
Angela F. L. Wong, National Institute of Education
Andrew S. H. Poh, National Institute of Education

Interdisciplinary project works or interdisciplinary project-based learning places demands on learners and teachers that challenge the traditional practices and structure of modern day schooling. Learning from doing complex, challenging, and interdisciplinary authentic projects requires resourcefulness and planning by the students, tools that support knowledge construction and representation, mechanisms for collaboration and communication, and support for reflection and authentic assessment. This paper argues that activity theory provides an appropriate framework for interdisciplinary work, in particular, the emphasis on (a) intended goals to be achieved: ((b) subjects involved; (c) the mediating artifacts;(d) the rules of accomplishing the activity;(e)the community(teachers, experts, and students); (f) and division of work involved in the project.

Computer-mediated supporting environments should attempt to model the activity structures, tools and sign systems, socio-culture rules, and community expectations (which are commonly interdisciplinary) that subject or learners must accommodate when acting on some objects or goal of learning. After explicating assumptions of activity theory, we describe components of a computer-mediated environment for supporting interdisciplinary and authentic work. These components generally support planning, knowledge construction, and assessment. The paper proposes a possible prototype design based on the activity theory framework and discusses the managerial and implementation functions of interdisciplinary work within the proposed system.

Introduction

The recent thrust of Ministry of Education(Singapore) in developing students who can take on the Challenges of the 21 'st century has resulted in several opportunities and possibilities for research. Students are being encouraged to possess an enterprising spirit with the ability to think critically. And creatively so that they can become "knowledge-based engineers" in the coining millennium. More recently, the Ministry of Education has also introduced interdisciplinary project work in the hope of promoting thinking and encouraging students to engage in authentic or real-life problem solving with concepts which span different subject disciplines. o Learning from doing complex, challenging, and interdisciplinary projects that reflect real-life situations requires resourcefulness and planning by the student. The tools that support knowledge construction and representation, mechanism for collaboration and communication, and support for reflection and authentic assessment are some of the areas needing emphasis to meet the challenges of interdisciplinary project work ofIPW.

In this paper, we propose activity theory(which has its origins in classic German philosophy of Kant and Hegel and later emphasized in the more contemporary philosophy of Max and Engels and the Soviet cultural-historical psychology of Vygotsky, Leont'ev, and Luria) as an instructional model for interdisciplinary project work. As a case study, we propose a computer- supported interdisciplinary project work(CS-IPW) system (internet-based) which depicts a possible prototype of how students can be engaged in communities of learning similar to authentic practices. The paper also describes the research questions, methodology, and plan to pilot the above computer-mediated system to schools in Singapore.

Activity theory posits that conscious learning emerges from activity or performance, not a precursor of it . It focuses on the interaction of human activity and consciousness (the human mind as a whole) within its relevant environmental contexts. Activity cannot be understood or analyzed outside the context in which it occurs.. Activities are thus not static or rigid entities; they are under continuous change and development. An activity always contains various artifacts (e. g., instruments, signs, procedures, machines, methods, laws, forms of work organization) and these artifacts have a mediating role. For example, an instrument mediates between an actor and the object of doing; the object is seen and manipulated within the limitations set by the instrument or tool. In addition, artifacts are created and transformed during the development of activities themselves carrying within them a historical culture-a historical residue of that development.

Hence the general philosophy of activity theory can be characterized as an attempt to integrate the objectives, ecological, and sociocultural perspectives. Like approaches, and unlike traditional cognitive psychology, activity analyzes human beings in their natural environment. Moreover, activity theory takes into account cultural factors and developmental aspects of human mental life.

Computer-Supported Interdisciplinary Project Work (CS-IPW)

Interdisciplinary project work can be seen as a form of contextual activity-based learning and instructional process that places great emphasis on student problem solving as a collaborative effort carried out over historical period of time. Project based learning is centered on relatively long-term, problem-fo-cussed, meaningful units of instruction that integrate concepts from a number of disciplines or field of study.

Students pursue solutions to authentic problems by asking and refining questions, debating ideas, making predictions, designing plans and/or experiments, gathering information, collecting and analyzing data, drawing conclusions, and communicating their ideas and findings to others .

Hence in interdisciplinary project work, authentic work spanning concept to be constructed from different disciplines is a key consideration. The projects should be engaged as a team effort where students work together with teachers who serve as coaches or fa-cilitators to their work. In addition, experts in particular domains relevant to the projects can also be part of the team efforts whose main contribution would be in modeling behaviours and thought processes mediated by tools.



Fundamentally, the proposed CS-IPW system is an internet based software application that integrates a number of tools designed to assist students involved in authentic investigations that closely parallel the work of real practitioners. As experts, teacher-facilitators, and administrations may be separated by distance, as in real-life situations, the CS-IPW system is designed to facilitate such interactions. Students work on the projects with the object of constructing meanings and associations of interdisciplinary concepts with a distinctive outcome of a report ( which could be a web-site) stipulating the results of their findings. Students work toward the objects and outcome of constructing meaning through the use of mediating artifacts such as thinking tools, templates, schedulers, assess ments rubrics, etc. Students also works collaboratively with experts, teacher-facilitators, and others in the course of their investigations through chat facilities, forum, etc.



Design of the CS-IPW Environment

In this section, we describe our current proposal of the design of the CS-IPW system which incorporates the fundamental principles of the activity theory from Vygotskian perspective. Such a system would be piloted in two schools as initial implementation.

From the pilot study, we hope to understand the viability and applicability of implementing CS-IPW. After the pilot study, we expect to embark on a larger scale research with Singapore schools using the CS-IPW systems.

Under the registration for interdisciplinary projects schools consisting of different teams (no more than 4 students per team) can register for proposed projects identified by the system. These proposed projects are recommended by the SCTT CS-IPW working committee Each of these projects are supervised by a SCTT-coordinator. Within each of these teams, one or two teacher-facilitators are assigned by the school and xperts recommended by SCTT or the school will be made available for consultation with the teams. For the pilot study, a list of experts from NIL (National institute of Education),SCTT( Singapore Centre For Teaching Thinking), KRDL(Kent Ridge Digital Lab) , and schools will be identified. Operationally, different teams from different schools will be competing with one an other in solving the authentic interdisciplinary task. Under the project information function of CS-IPW, we have timelines stipulating the general time frame as required by the SCTT CS-IPW working committee. These include detailed breakdowns in term of planning, literature research, data collection and field-work, consolidation and analysis, and report and presentation. Students can work within these general time frames and detail further milestones which they can follow.

Within the project information function, a scaffolding procedure is also provided where students are required to submit progress reports of their work in the form of charts and thinking logs-templates available for students to record their work. Logs on meetings with teacher-facilitators and experts are also available.

In term of assessment(also within the project info. Function), the CS-IPW SCTT working committee formalizes the overall scheme or percentage with the available matrix evaluation rubric. Peer evaluation templates, teacher-fa-cilitator and expert evaluation templates are also available.

Under the resources for project function, thinking tools which enable students to represent their knowledge construction are made available. Social construction tools such as forum and IPW chat facilitates enable students to discuss and debate on data and interpretations. These facilitates also con-. nect students with experts in the field . The resources function also includes links to resources within the SCTT website and other important sites related to interdisciplinary project work.

The Proposed Pilot Study

Based on the recommendation from the Singapore Centre for Teaching and Thinking, the pilot study of the CS-IPW system will be implemented in two secondary schools in Singapore. The broad objective of the research is to conduct a process-oriented case study of how students engage in interdisciplinary project work through the CS-IPW system. More specifically, the study hopes to understand how students engage in thinking skills (through the SCTT recommended thinking templates) and meaning-construction of interdisciplinary concepts through a technology enriched environment. In addition, the study also intends to field its multiple assessment rubrics in order to determine the criteria and norms required for interdisciplinary project works. From the pilot study, we hope to derive hypotheses necessary to conduct a more empirically based research.

The methodology used for the pilot study is conceptualized from the principles of activity theory are as follows:

1 .A research time frame of six months, which we believe, is substantially long enough to understand student' s activities needed to be developed that is, where changes overtime can be observed. Comparisons can be made between students' objectives, goals, and actions in relation to others in the setting(or activity).



2.Besides the detailed processes which need to be observed over time, attention will be accorded to broad patterns of activity, that is, the macro- picture of an activity. Such a macro-picture would give meaning to the narrow episodic fragment of an activity. These broad patterns provide the context for interpreting the microgenetic processes.

3.The use of a varied set of data collection techniques including interviews, observations, video, and historical materials provide triangulation to interpretations made to any one of the techniques identified. For example, personal interviews of the students are needed to confirm one' s conjectures of the motives underlining an activity or course of action. In this regard, interpretation of data must be from the students's point of view and not the observer-therecian's perpective.

Generally , the pilot study is to be implemented and a competition system between teams across the two schools is to be organized. Students in each of the teams will develop web-sites on the findings. Presentations will be made to the SCTT and the best projects will be certified and prizes awarded.

Conclusion

The above description of the CS-IPW is a tentative conceptualization with programming of the environment as depicted thus far. We have already con ducted preliminary work on interdisciplinary project work (non computer-mediated) and find that this project is feasible and would be able to make an important contribution to education in Singapore.

Abstract of keynote speech given on 10 September 1999 at the second regional symposium on New Media and Learning Technologies in Asia. held in Orchard Hotel, Singapore.

The test launch of Indians dedicated free to air educational channel, GYAN DARSHAN, was inaugurated by the Minister for Human Resource Development, India on 26 January 2000.

The channel, which is the realization of a dream for Indian educators, is targetted to serve the educational needs of students and other audiences throughout the country, and throughout the region where the INSAT's footprint reaches. DOORDARSHAN has made one transponder available , several institutions such as the University Grants Commission, the Central Institute for Educational Technology, India's Open Universities, and other ministries have come together and have collaborated in providing software and programming. The Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) will serve as the nodal agency for the channel, providing coordination and uplinking from its Electronic Media Production Centre.

Starting with four hours of programming every day, plans are afoot to make this channel operational for eight hours every day with four hours of original and four hours of repeat programming. Sectors and levels of education which will be covered include school, college curriculum and general purpose enrichment programming.

The coming together of Doordarshan India and Indian educational institutions signals the maturing of Indian television with its ongoing commitment to educational and developmental programming.

Dual Aspect Ratio Switchers For Doordarshan

The Doordarshan Television Network of India has ordered 10 synergy digital vision mixers from Ross to be used at television centeres throughout India. The mixers are designed for live DTV production , and the aspectizer in particular enables simultaneous dual aspect ratio production .

For more information contact us at telephone:
+1-613-652-4886, fax:+1-613-652-4425

Media And Education Workshop held in Calcutta

Media representatives from Bangladesh, India, Malaysia, Nepal, Pakistan, Sri Lanka and Thailand participated in a Media and Education Workshop held in Calcutta on 5-9 July 1999. Organised jointly by the International Consultative Forum on Education for All and the Asian Media Information and Communication Centre (AMIC ), Singapore, the workshop sought to examine how best the region's media could be actively involved in and promote EFA. It proposed a set of recommendations conveying their commitment to education issues. Some major recommendations were :

Investment in education should be raised progressively to reach the benchmark of 6% of the GDP.
While financial resources are important, there had been insufficient or improper utilisation of existing facilities resulting in a net wastage of resources- More attention was needed to raise the quality and content of the education.
Efforts should be made to involve the local community in educational programmes, especially in rural areas.
Community audit and accountability of education at the elementary level needs greater attention.
There was need for the media must redefine and enlarge their coverage of education as a prime mover of the development process.

Adding AIDS Messages In Educational Materials.

UNESCO,New Delhi and the National Literacy Mission are working together for the incorporation of AIDS preventive education in the material given by NLM to neo literates. This one year project from 1 Jan. 1999-31 Dec. 1999 entitled "Refining of teaching learning material" used in the National Literacy Mission to incorporate HIV/ AIDS preventive messages, is targeted at urban and rural neo-literates. Under the project, this teaching learning material will be translated from Hindi into Tamil, Kannada, and three other languages.

Multigrade Teaching

UNESCO and four other agencies(UNDP, UNICEF, UNFPA. ILO)are participating in the joint GOI-UN System Programme of Education . in a programme aimed at encouraging community participation and ownership of the elementary education system. As part of the programme, UNESCO is coordinating a project on multigrade teaching. Under the MGT project UNESCO has developed a multigrade teaching manual in Hindi for teaching for primary school teachers in ten blocks in Agra and Mathura Districts of Uttar Pradesh, developed aided by primary school teachers and faculty of District Institute of Education and Training in Agra and Mathura.

The Regional Server Programme (RSP) from Asia Pacific Information Development Programme (apdip.net)

National and regional programmes and development organisations often require internet services to foster information sharing and distribution among their development partners. A typical example would be an organisation with regional activities and partners in multiple countries, needing to share experiences, documents, schedules, etc.Often however, regional organisations find it difficult to establish professionally managed internet systems with large enough speed and capacity to satisfy their requirements. These systems are often expensive to implement, and require technical expertise to be appropriately configured and maintained. A further difficulty is given by the fact that, in many countries, internet service provided do not offer reliable and dedicated highspeed connections. To respond to these needs, APDIP has established a service called the Regional Server Programme (RSP ). the RSP makes available to selected organisations web site hosting, mailboxes, list servers, FTP services in a simple to operate and remotely controlled service.

The Second Global Knowledge Conference (GK II)

Themed "Building knowledge series: Access-Empowerment- Governance" The Second Global knowledge conference was held on 7-10 March 2000 in Kuala Lumpur. The GK II Conference focussed on how communities around the world can address the challenges and opportunities of the development in the information age .In preparation for GKII, a series of lead-up events were held around the world. Issues discussed at these lead-up events served as input into GKII.

Specialized Workshop on Institutional Research in Open and Distance Learning.

The specialized Workshop on institutional Research in Open and Distance' Learning (ODL), hosted by the Centre for Research in Distance and Adult Learning (CRIDL ) was held on 13 October 1999 at the OLJHK and attended by 25 senior managers or researchers from academic institutions in mainland China, India, Japan, the Philippines, the UK, Africa and Australia. Topics of discussion included strategies for promoting open and distance learning research, developing an articulate research policy in the overall management of an ODL institution, and research collaboration among institutions. Participants agreed that research about distance and open learning was essential for the future development of ODL institutions.

INFLIBNET Databases on Internet

INFLIBNET Centre,India has mounted a variety of bibliographic databases on the internet. Persons having leased internet connectivity can access these databases on -line by logging on to INFLIBNET's web site at URL http: // www.inflibnet.emet.in.Queries sent by E-mail are now processed through an INFLIBINET developed software tool called SEWAK which automatically processes such queries and sends back replies. This mode of search scores over the on-line search in view of,

1)  Reduced internet access time. A user simply shoots a query and relaxes. SEWAK does the searching on behalf of the user,      saving his/her time and money.
2)  An user can send multiple queries at a time through e-mail. SEWAK conducts the searches and sends back results to the     user. This is not possible in on-line searches.
3)  A number of users in a particular location having only one e-mail address can send their respective queries and receive     individual results.

COL-IGNOU Ties Strengthened

On November 26, 1999, the Commonwealth of Learning (COL) and the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) signed an agreement, heralding a new chapter in the special relationship between the two institutions.

As a result of the agreement, IGNOU continues to host CEMCA at its campus for the next five years; and to provide the vital support that this young organization needs to grow.

Heads of the two institutions, Dato 'Prof. G. Dhanarajan and Prof. A. W. Khan, put their signatures to the document in a spirit of cordiality and cooperation, signifying the special place that each institution has in the other s heart.

Technologies Tomorrow

A new discovery can soon make your TV as thin and as flexible as your handkerchief; and you can roll up and put it in your pocket. Ten years ago , scientists at Cambridge University in Britain led by Dr. Jeremy Burroughes, discovered that if voltage was passed across an ultra thin plastic known as PPV, it glowed a pale yellow-green . The PPV was turning the energy of the electric current directly into light, which is Just what you would need to make a paper -thin TV screen.

Scientists developing this screen are seeing its potential in portable entertainment as well as fashion. TV's on handbags, wallets, backpacks and diaries are among the possibilities, as well as "televisual clothing" Dr. Burroughes says the image can be generated ".by wearing a simple battery pack" The communications industry is also looking towards providing flexible TVs on mobile phones and other devices. And the possibilities are endless.

While there have been great advances in lightness and portability of TV screens and monitors, no one has managed to make a flexible screen until now. PPV belongs to a class of material scientists call "conjugated polymers" substances able to convert electricity directly into light. When an electric current is passed through the poly mer, the electrons holding the molecules are jiggled around, releasing energy as light. Researchers report that scientists have managed to make the complex electronic controls for flexible screens out of plastics as well

Electronic "Books"

The newgeneration ofelectronicbooks addresses these issues by offering a range of specially designed reader friendly hardware, intowhich selected texts are downloaded electronically from the net, or inserted on code de cards. E-Books offer instant access to the full text of the book you want now .purchase a text from a web site and download it.Bits via the internet are delivered immediately instead of atoms via e-mail.

Electronic "Readers" When the web and the internet were in their infancy, desktop computers and PC/laptops became the first electronic "readers". Students and other users could download text materials from the net, usually for storage and later printing for reading. Desktop and laptop screens are suitable for reading e- mail and searching the internet, but the screen glare, bad layout, the intervention of the keyboard and the readers' posture make on screen "reading" unsuitable for most serious readers, learners and researchers-

Advantages Of E-Books

Unlimited numbers of digital texts online will soon be available at much lower costs than hard books. Publishers cannot risk offering books in paper print that will not sell to a wide audience.With e-publishing, the economics of making available a wider variety of works change substantially. No book need go out of print. Any book can remain available. Authors can self-publish and upload their works onto a distribution web site. Scholars can retrieve and rediscover masterpieces overlooked in museums and libraries . Teachers who now compile class readers by photocopying chapters from original text books can customize e-editions for their students, and publishers can charge lesser appropriate fees. University and college students can receive the text materials for their entire course of studies on an e-book, and update it through the year.

With minimal overhead costs for printing, storing and shipping.the price of books should fall dramatically. Even in libraries, availability of learning materials will no longer be limited to the number of books on the shelf.

For professionals in education, research , medicine and law , the e-book will allow access to references and updates at a fraction of current costs. E-books will enable immediate distribution and access to the latest information for institutions and businesses requiring employees to access manuals and instruction books. Information will be available on demand with a resulting benefit to the environment . Versions of e- books coming to the market will allow readers to make marginal notes, underline sections, search for specific words or ideas, or find the definition of unfamiliar words. Educational and learning institutions will be the first to benefit from these new developments in electronic books. Additional developments to watch for include books that read themselves aloud, and also offer sounds and music to accompany the texts.

Software

MEDLIB: An Electronic Media Library Management Software which automates cataloguing, classifying and storage and retrieval of Audio and Video Programmes including stockshots. Centres producing audio and video programmes, are faced with a daily problem of inventory of tapes and other non-print materials, storage and retrieval of programmes and stock shots for capsuling and production. It is essential for any production centre which cries out for computerization and yet, there seems to be no standard software for ready use.

CEMCA in collaboration with EMPC, IGNOU had taken the initiative to create a specially designed software for non-print audio and video resources and commissioned INFOTEL, India to do the task. Called MEDLIB, this software is a specially designed software on a Windows platform, fully Y2K. compliant, easy to use, enables search on a large number of parameters, from title, content, subject, producer, scriptwriter, etc.

It also enables classification and cataloguing of stock shots, helps your media librarian in classification of programmes, inventory, issue and retrieval, preparation of progress reports and helps your producer to search for stock shots and determine quality of stored material. The software is priced at Rs 20, 000 for educational institutions. For your evaluation,M/S INFOTEL SOFTWARE, can provide you with a demonstration CD on request.

For Detailed Information contact:

Director, Commonwealth Educational Media Centre for ASIA ( CEMCA)
52, Tughlakabad Inst. Area, New Delhi
Fax: 91 11 6085208 Tel: 91 11 6096730
E-mail : cemca@nda.vsnl.net.in
or
M/S INFOTEL, SOFTWARE,
F-18B,Saket, New Delhi 110017.
Tel : 011 6567308 Fax : 011-6858412
E-mail: infosoft@nda.vsnl. Net.in

Videos

Series : Why Use Statics ?
Module 1 : Handling Variablity
Duration : 25 Minutes

Module 2 : Describing Data
Duration : 25 Minutes

Module 3 : Using Samples
Duration : 20 Minutes

Module 4 : Bivariate Data
Duration : 21 Minutes

For More Information Contact :

Shotlist,EBS Trust 36-38
Mortimer Street ,London W I N & RB
Tel : 0171 765 4635 / 5087 / 5714
Fax : 0171 580 6246
E-mail :maillist@shotlist.co.uk
Web : http://www.shotlist.co.uk

9th AMIC Annual Conference The Digital Millennium:
Opportunities for Asian Media
Grand Copthome, Waterfront Hotel SINGAPORE
29th June - 1 St July, 2000
Contact:
Mr. Joe Ma Carlos Conference Coordinator
Tel:(65) 7927570 Fax : (65)7927129
E-mail : amicline@singnet.com.sg

Reaching the Unreached through Open and Distance Learning
VII Annual Conference of IDEA
at IGNOU, New Delhi, India
27-29 April 2000
contact :
Dr Neela Jagganthan
Library and Documentation Division
New Delhi 110068
E-mail- ignou@delnet.ren.nic.in

Global Internet Summit
Organised by National Centre for Technology and Law.
George Mason University,
Fairfax,VA, USA. March 12--14, 2000

Innovative Approaches to Lifelong Learning & Higher Education Through
Internet (By Lancaster University/University of Sheffield)
Lancaster University,UK
April 19,2000

INET 2000, The 10th Annual Internet Society Conference: "Global Distributed
Intelligence for Everyone"
Pacifico Yokohama Conference Centre, Yokohama,
Japan.
July 18-21,2000

ITU Telecom Asia 2000
Hong Kong, China
December 4-9, 2000

ALTA 2000:
New Jobs in the Information Society Luxembourg
March 20-21,2000
Information Outlook- 2000 (102000) conference,
Manni ng dark Center,
Australian National University, Australia,
10 November 2000.

Contact for more information :
http://www.unesco.org/ webworld/observatory/events/ index.html
for the above conferences.