During a recent meeting of the Commannwealth ministers responsible for Women's Affairs, held in New Delhi in April, ministers from each Commonwealth country presented a scenario of the status of women in their part of the world and their governments' initiatives to tackle the very complex issues involved in improving the quality of life for the female half of the population. In a way it is reassuring to know that all countries were deeply concerned about the slow rate of progress and that they were deeply committed to what Dr. M.S. Swaminathan has called "engendering development". Whether it was issues of gender mainstreaming or male alienation, what became clear is that any improvement in the status of women was a shared enterprise between human beings of both sexes.

Following soon after the Ministers' conference was the VII Annual Conference of the Indian Distance Education Association (IDEA 2000). This instances, open and distance learning methodologies and the use of communication and information technologies for the purpose were emphasized. Speaker after speaker extolled the virtues of open and distance methodologies for reaching the unreached.

This concern for the underprivileged has also been reflected in the latest edition of TechKnowlogia, an online journal whose current issue has fo-cussed on Basic Education for All. I found it to be fascinating reading and recommend it to you to peruse.

The launching of many new initiatives by institutions of distance and open learning is also encouraging as is the increasing use of information and communication technologies to reach the unreached; and to bridge the gap between the inequalities in the educational system.

It has been the concern of the Commonwealth of Learning and of its regional agency, CEMCA to do our share. In order to be more effective in carrying out the mandate given to us, we are to cussing on four broad thrust areas, as a catalyst for collaborative action; as a capacity builder; as a training facility and as an information and knowledge provider. We seek your partnership in our endeavours.

EDUCOMM ASIA, is bringing to you a collection of ideas, academic papers and news about happenings in the region.

This issue brings you an abridged text of the keynote address of Prof. Hugh Africa, Vice Chancellor, Vista University, South Africa to participants at the VII IDEA conference. We also bring you a case study of projects in this region and an article on evaluating software.

Once again you will also find our call for proposals-and we are getting many-and our proforma for empanelling you and your colleagues in the data- base of experts.

We invite you to send us case studies or papers as we would be interested in disseminating their findings.
We look forward .to hearing from all of you out there.

Dr. Usha Vyasulu Reddi

Educational Ideologies And
Continental Development Needs



Can Open and Distance Learning
Improve the Balance?

Prof Hugh Africa
Vice- Chancellor, Vista University , South Africa

Introduction: In most of the world, as is the case on the African continent, higher education is faced with a multiplicity of challenges relating to access, cost flexibility and total quality management. The question that this paper will address is whether we,will get stuck at the barricades of denying people their basic human right of access to education, or whether open and distance learning can provide the breakthrough to reach those who have hitherto been marginalised with a special focus on Africa.

Educational Trends In Africa Today

Educational institutions in sub-Saharan Africa have relatively low enrolments at primary, secondary and tertiary levels. Net enrolment at primary school level was approximately 60% during the period 1993-1995. At secondary school level the situation is even more desperate, with only nine African countries having provided secondary education for over 50% of the population. At tertiary level, Africa's enrolments are the lowest in the world, with only 3.5% of the relevant age group attaining this level. Such alarming statistics leave us in no doubt about the degree of adverse impact such low education levels must be having on development on the continent, whether politically, socially or economically (UNESCO 1998:105,108)

The increasing democratization of Africa necessitates a higher level of human resource development and greater understanding of different political and social structures. After all, democracy entails that people be able to control their own destinies, as nations, as communities, and as individuals. In order to exercise their basic democratic rights, a higher level of knowledge, analysis and skills is required to manage a nation's increasingly complex public and private affairs, and to foster its international economic competitiveness. The ever increasing globalization of the world economy makes it even more essential for Africa to raise its educational and technological levels in order to remain both relevant and competitive. The alternative would result in being marginalised and even forgotten in the long term.

From a political perspective, local demands to expand tertiary enrolments in Africa will constitute an irresistible political time-bomb.

Economic development, in turn, depends greatly on the level of human resource with technology being the key to economic transformation from traditional subsistence economies to industrialized economies. The state of conflict in many African countries and the link this forms with poverty and slow economic development increases the need for access to modem science and technology on the African continent and yet simultaneously makes filling the need a greater challenge than anywhere else in the world.

Since many African nations are already spending a significant percentage of the GNP on education, the additional resources being necessary to merely maintain current level of tertiary enrolments, the use of the traditional residential campus model will not deliver the anticipated results.

What, then, is the alternative? Open and distance learning techniques, augmented by a judicious use of new information and communication technologies, offer great opportunities for Africa to overcome its inherited disadvantages and to expand tertiary education enrolment in the coming decade. In isolation, open and distance learning programmes are not the solution to the problem. Nonetheless, if used effectively and supported by the available range of technology, they can make a significant contribution and predictably result in a radical change in the educational profile of Africa over the next two decades, provided that the political vision is also present.

The African Experience With Open And Distance Learning

Open and distance learning, together with associated technology applications, are not new initiatives in tertiary institutions in Africa. In Anglophone Africa, the University of South Africa (UNISA) already formed a correspondence university in 1946, and has evolved into one the world's largest open distance learning institutions.

Since the 1960s Botswana, Kenya, Malawi and Zambia have used distance education for teacher training. By 1985 the Anglophone countries of Africa already contained 25 state-funded distance education institutions (Saint 1999:8). The first Francophone experience in distance learning involved correspondence courses offered in 1970 by a university in Brazzaville. Thereafter, during the 1980s and 1990s, teacher upgrading through distance education was undertaken by no less than eight other countries (Saint 1999:8)

Currently, more than 140 public and private institutions are providing tertiary distance education within Sub-Saharan Africa. Most of these programmes rely mainly on print media, supplemented by written assignments and face-to-face tutoring. Some programs also involved other more creative instructional tools, such as national broadcast radio, audio cassette and, more recently, e-mail to support the role of the printed text as an instructional tool.

Within the sphere of distance education, internet- connectivity is also expanding rapidly but unevenly in African countries. According to Saint (1999: 8) some 49 of 54 African countries already have access to the internet. However, active internet markets must still be formed in South Africa, Ghana, Senegal. Mozambique, Kenya, Uganda, Zimbabwe and Cote d'Ivoir&. South Africa can probably be considered the most progressive in their use of information and communication technology of this type. Some developments in South Africa relate to internet-based courseware, a Web-based student-teacher interaction systems, and a series of local internet access points for students.

As these developments have to date been unevenly distributed across the continent, the question arises as to what the potential benefits and possible constraints of tertiary and open distance education for Africa's educational development may be. The unequivocal answer is that it holds the promise of increasing access to education, the improvement of educational quality and increasingly efficient use of limited resources. Although time and space do not permit a full discussion of these benefits, I would like to reflect briefly on each benefit.

Open and distance education may be structured to provide access to four commonly excluded groups, namely:

secondary school graduates who fail to gain admission to the university (the largest and most rapidly growing group).
married women with household responsibilities;
geographically isolated or uprooted students (e.g.refugees); and
economically disadvantaged communities (Saint ] 999:/2).

From our own experience and in support of ideas expressed by Saint (1999:35), it would perhaps be worthwhile to offer a few general guidelines that can assist countries to build successful capacities which will support their own effective open tertiary distance education initiatives.

Firstly, assess current good practice in other countries and then decide on an explicit national strategy that is solidly based on significant local needs and capacities.

Support this strategy with an aggressive start-up phase of institutional and human resource capacity-building activities, in partnerships with international programmes and input by local industry and other training institutions.

Re-engineer organizational structures to accommodate the unique requirements of the new system, for example with regard to course design and development, student support, learning assessment, and service delivery management.

Attempt to fully integrate distance education courses and certifications into the existing tertiary education system, by adopting a fully-fledged dual-mode approach.

Use printed material as the main medium of instruction but support it with good quality course design and study material, together with strong and effective student support services.

Use new information and communication technologies to improve management efficiency and to enhance educational quality.

Limit course offerings to areas of high student demand, develop only at the pace permitted by resource availability and management capacity, and into well-judged partnerships with other institutions to sustain capacity, pool limited resources and create economies of scale.

The crucial point to grasp from the guidelines above is that the development of national open and distance education capabilities, if done constructively, can be a very enriching experience for many a country to undertake, and will probably be the stepping-stone by which all nations will proceed in future.

As in other countries around the world. in South Africa there is a definite shift away from conceptualizing distance education as a separate form of provision. Increasingly, policy statements (Green Paper on Higher Education Transformation 1996: White Paper on Higher Education 1997) and research documents in South Africa refer rather to a continuum of educational provision in which 'distance education' and 'face-to-face' education constitute imaginary poles on which all educational provisions he. This frees South African educational planners and decision makers to plan educational programmes which. by drawing from all methods of educational provision at their disposal, are increasingly enabled to plan programmes which combine these methods in the most appropriate way to satisfy the needs of their learners. However, despite the aforementioned commitments, it is clear that the real challenge in South African distance education lies in meeting expectations that have been created, often very ide-alistically, in the policy arena. Although the task is immense, and there is no certainty as to its outcome, there are many positive developments in South African distance education which, if built upon effectively, can serve to ensure that distance education plays a major role in transforming South Africa's education and training system, to provide access to high quality educational opportunities. The positive results of this are already to be seen in many innovative projects emerging in the distance education arena. Although these projects do not as yet amount to systematic transformation, there are very encouraging signs of improvement in many areas such as course materials design and development, student support systems, technology-enhanced learning mechanisms, and so forth.

Challenges Faced When Attempting To Reach The Dis-advantaged With Open And Distance Tertiary Education What then can be regarded as some of the biggest challenges facing open and distance tertiary education in reaching out successfully to the people who would otherwise be deprived of learning opportunities? In discussing the challenges faced in tackling a project of this magnitude, I would like to concentrate on five of the main challenges may already have been encountered and/or will be encountered in future.

The first challenge to accord greater importance to the sharing of responsibilities between all partners, both inside and outside the tertiary education sector. Within the sector, responsibilities belong to all users, namely students, lecturers, researchers, administrative and support staff and, more widely, to all who have management, policy and advisory functions, including education government officials. Outside the sector, the multiplicity of partners are to be recognised as industry, business enterprises, research establishments independent of the educational sector, and the larger economic world. Sharing of responsibilities would entail effective co-operation in networking expertise and the offering of assistance to build institutional capacity without sacrificing autonomy and academic freedom.

The second challenge relates to finance, as it remains one of the biggest problems in the successful transition from elite to mass tertiary education. In view of the required future development of open and distance tertiary education to take place, the state cannot be expected to remain the main source of finance for the sector, as is the case in many countries. A way must be found to create effective mechanism that will be conducive to greater diversification of funding sources without having to sacrifice on quality of the end product or autonomy of the institution.

The third challenge is to fully understand the great transformation to the information age and the role of communication technology in this regard. Although technologies cannot solve every problem, they can assist in opening up new horizons to the information age that we live in. Traditionally, open and distance education has trended to depend primarily on the print medium, often supplemented by radio and television. But with the advent of new communication technology, the number of media options have greatly increased, also in remote areas, and, in future, will tend to drive the educational world.

The fourth challenge relates to the fact that open and distance education, in order to be effective, cannot be perceived in isolation as an add-on to the existing educational system in a country. It has to be conceived as part of the re-engineering of the larger educational system, and it must be equipped with a sound organizational infrastructure. Without attaching visionary leadership to the managing of the planning, implementation and monitoring of the process, it will never become a sustainable approach with long term impact.

The last but possibly biggest single challenge to the effective establishment of open and distance learning education practices is to break down attitu- dinal barriers and institutional resistance. Professional opposition usually arises from beliefs that educational quality cannot be maintained, that students cannot adapt, and that time-tested methods are best. Personal worries also play a strong role: tear of change, fear of job security, fear of technology and professional reputation. Institutional resistance usually emerges when established procedures must be changed. accepted standards become obsolete. organizational roles or units need to be transformed, or new entities may compete for limited budgetary resources. There are. in fact. exactly the types of changes necessary to establish open and distance practices that are viable and sustainable in addressing the massive current and expected future needs in tertiary education.

Conclusion

We are past the stage when a case has to be made for the open distance learning mode. Most. if not all. international agencies and governments especially in the so called developing world understand fully well that in order to cope with the demands of the 21" century, education has to be made accessible to all. Further, it is recognised that the existing traditional models cannot cope with the current and future demands for skilled and educated human resource needs. New and innovative measures to address the challenge of providing education for all have to be taken.

National Open School (NOS) was established in November, 1989 as an autonomous organization in pursuance of the National Policy on Education, 1986 by the Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India.

Objectives

1) To provide opportunities for continuing and developmental education to interested learners through courses and programs of general education, life enrichment modules and vocational courses at the school stage.

2) To provide consultancy services and to engage in model building in close collaboration with the States and a variety of other agencies or institutions.

3) To serve as an agency for effective dissemination of information related to Distance Education and Open Learning

4) To identify and promote standards of learning in distance education systems and open schools which may be set up in different parts of the country through research and evaluation and to maintain standards of equivalence with the Formal System, while keeping its own distinct character.

Features of open learning in the NOS

An opportunity to continue education using modem communication technology. Freedom to choose subjects according to one's needs, interests and abilities but must include one language.

1) No upper age limit.
2) Continuous assessment through Tutor Marked Assignments (TMA).
3) Learning support through Personal Contact Programmes^PCP's) at Study Centers.
4) Vocational Courses which can be taken singly or as a vocational package or in combination with academic courses, according to one's needs. 6)Transfer of credits for CBSE and State Open School students.

Indian Open Schooling Network (IOSN) -Web Linking of Schools

Looking into the induction of Information Technology in terms of Internet. the NOS is proposing to develop a forum as a network of schools through Internet basically for the benefit of all students who have an access to internet in their schools or at home. It will provide information to the schools and students in the following areas:

1) access to electronic information, archives and databases
2)career counselling and direct support to teachers and learners to enhance educational access and quality
3)job requirements and opportunities available
4)courses available through Distance Education and Open Learning mode offering courses through internet.

CENSE Linkage

The development of IOSN is a remarkable step towards the development of Internet national grid of schools all over Iridia which will be a part of the Commonwealth Electronic Network for School and Education (CENSE).

Programmes and Courses

The Courses offered by the NOS are under two heads:

Academic Courses and Vocational Courses

Academic Courses

The academic course is offered at two different levels one equivalent to eighth standard and another to Secondary Education Course: This is offered to those who are desirous of completing 10th standard education leading to Secondary School Certificate.

Vocational Courses

Vocational courses are offered for various vocations /trades.

For further Details , please contact:
The Director,
National Open School B-32B, Kailash Colony
New Delhi- 110048
Phone No +91 11 6211457, 6211458,6211459
E-mail - nossap@nda.vsnl.net.in

Using ICTs for Empowering Rural Woman In Bangladesh :
A Case Study of The Grameen Telecom's Village Phone Project

Editor's note: This case study is culled from several write ups about Bangladesh '.s' Grameen Bank family of organisations and their pioneering work in life empowerment of rural women.

Women bear the brunt of poverty and ignorance much more than their male counterparts in the traditional culture of Bangladesh. The problems affecting the economic and social status of women in Bangladesh are vast and complex. Poverty and the lack of education, training and job opportunities have forced them into a state of complete dependency. Education systems are based on outdated concepts inherited from a colonial past, with no relevance to the needs of the majority of citizens. The disadvantaged, the poorest of the poor, are often left out of the educational process either due to the system's limited capacity or the inability to meet the urgent needs of the dis-advantaged.

Generally, there are no shortcuts in the development process, but at this time of dramatic changes in history with the revolution in communication technology and methods, it becomes an urgent challenge to explore radically new ways of providing relevant information and education to people, at an affordable price. And it also becomes necessary for institutions to examine ways and means of empowering the rural poor. so that the lack of facilities becomes a challenge a system must meet rather than an additional obstacle that the rural poor must overcome.

And this is what makes Grameen Telecom's Village Phone programme a fascinating case of using the most sophisticated modern ICTs to address the needs of the most in need.

The Background of the Programme

The Village Phone (VP) programme established by Grameen Telecom provides an opportunity for universal access: according to Grameen Telecom, a person may not own a telephone, but he/she should have access to it within a ten minute walk.

The Village Phone initiative was developed by combining the Grameen's Bank's expertise in village based micro-enterprise and micro credit with the latest digital wireless technology. Grameen Telecom (GTC) is a non profit organization that forms part of the Grameen Bank family of organizations and it focuses exclusively on the deployment of the Village Phone Programme in rural parts of Bangladesh. GTC buys airtime in bulk from GrameenPhone Ltd (GP), a for profit corporation holding a nation wide license to operate and maintain a mobile cellular network through out the country. Bulk airtime purchasing from GrameenPhone Ltd. enables GTC to pass on savings to the Village Phone (VP) operator.

The Village Phone is a unique undertaking that provides modem digital wireless telecommunications services to some of the poorest people in the world. A Grameen Bank member (most often female) purchases a phone under the lease financing programme of the bank and provides telephone service to people in her village. Each VP operator is responsible for extending the services to customers for both incoming and outgoing calls, collecting call charges, remitting payments to Grameen Telecom, and ensuring proper maintenance of the telephone set. The operator's income consists of the difference between charges paid by customers and the air-time charges billed to the operator by Grameen Telecom. Repayment of the loan for the phone set is processed through the existing loan granting and collection procedures of the Grameen Bank.

As of November 1999. Grameen Telecom reports that there were 950 village phones in service providing telephone access to more than 65.000 people. Grameen Telecom expects that when GrameenPhone has completed its network in December 2002, 40.000 VP operators will be employed for a combined net income of $24 million USD per annum

The Objectives of GTC and How the Village Phone Works

The objectives of GTC are a) to provide easy access to telephones when needed all over rural Bangladesh: b) to introduce a new income generating source for villagers: c) to bring the potential of the IT revolution to the doorsteps of the villagers: and d) to introduce telecommunications as a new weapon against poverty.

In selecting the VP operator. Grameen Bank has developed special criteria which include that the woman chosen should a) have a very good record of repayment of Grameen Bank loans: she should have a good business, preferably a village grocery store, and have the spare time to function as the VP operator: she should be literate or at least she must have children who can read and write: and finally, her residence should be near the centre of the village.

The basic village phone package costs 15000 Taka. or approximately $310 US Dollars. The VP operator pays for the phone line through weekly loan repayment instalments of 220 Taka or approximately US$ 4. VP operators pay a minimum monthly bill of 154 Taka or approximately $3.20 USD, a value added tax. service charges, etc.

A Map of Grameen Coverage (October 1999)

Why the Village Phone is Unique

The Village Phone contains many rural development "firsts" :

First rural development micro credit facility in a developing country to target the creation of micro enterprises based on information and communication technology (ICT) services;
First rural development micro credit facility in a developing country to assist in the creation of , village telephone service businesses using digital, wireless telephony.
First private sector rural telecom initiative that specifically targets poor village women for establishing micro enterprise (targeted, inicrolevel program)
First private sector telecom initiative with an explicit purpose of rural poverty reduction.

What an Analysis of the Village Phone Programme Says:

A recently released analysis of the Village Phone Programme as a case study, undertaken by the Canadian International Development Agency, examined the impact of the GrameenPhone and Grameen Telecom Provision of micro credit cellular phone service on poverty reduction and the socio economic situation of women village phone operators and users at large in Bangladesh.

Some of the key findings were:

The Village Phone programme appears to be the best available technical solution for rural universal access under current regulatory conditions

The concept of "universal access" is not gender neutral. In the case of the Village Phone operator and the physical placement of the phone within a gendered village context can either inhibit or improve women^s access to phones. A woman's home provides a space that is acceptable for other village women to access. From all aspects, both social and economic. it is important to ensure that the village phone is accessible to the entire village population.

The village phone acts as a powerful instrument in providing economic and social information. whether relating to overseas remittances; to obtaining accurate information about currency exchanges^ about information relating to market prices, market trends. etc.

Rural telephone service in Bangladesh is very profitable, generating as much as three times the revenue of urban cellular phones

The village phone technology is a high cost solution for universal access in rural areas. However, in the absence of physical landlincs , and cumbersome regulatory practices. perhaps the only viable option.

There are many ways in which the village phone has impacted on the social lives of rural women. For instance, the income earned is substantially higher than from other occupations in the village. During floods, the phone acts as an information centre. Villages can also use the phone for medical and other emergencies. Women gain experience by operating a private telephone service. The technology serves as a powerful means for income generating activities.

In conclusion

Introduction of information and communication technologies such as the Village Phone have the potential, as thi^ case has shown, of changing the live--of rural societies in general, and women in parlicular. The possibilities of using the nc\\ IC'l s in development are unlimited. However, the creative search for new opportunities should be part of the vision of both organi/ations and societies, so that the technologies may enable individuals to live with the promise of hope and dignity.

Education for Human Rights and Democracy

The United Nations and UNESCO have drawn up a number of standard-setting instruments, declarations and action plans that provide a framework within which to promote education for a culture of peace across the world. These include, inter alia, the Declaration on Education for peace, Human Right and Democracy (1995) and the Plan of Action for the United Nations Decade for Human Rights Education (1995-2004). The conception and implementation of national plans and programmes for education for a culture of peace, the improvement of curricula, the revision of history text books, and the training of teachers and other educational personnel, are essential activities in promoting a comprehensive system of education for a culture of peace. To this end UNESCO has produced and disseminated a series of practical teaching materials that focus on different aspects of education for a culture of peace. They include Tolerance-the Threshold of Peace, All Human Beings, ' A Manual for Human Right Education and The practice of Citizenship, a kit of documents and publications. The area covered will be expanded to include education for non-violence and and peaceful conflict-resolution methods as core elements of civics education. Programmes are developed in close collaboration with international organizations such as CIVITAS International, Education International (El), other non-governmental organizations .ind n.ilional institutions.

Indian Writer Wins Commonwealth Short Story Competition.

Born in small town Mavelikkara, nest-ling in the scenic backwaters of Alapuzha district in India's southern state ofKerala , Sujata Sankranti grew up in Delhi. Her story " The Warp and the Weft" is a deeply moving tale about a terminally ill person. The protagonist, an affectionate mother, and a loving wife, emerges as a powerful character who has managed to rise above the pressure of daily life and death. With great economy, through sensuous images and powerful metaphors, the story brings together the warp and weft of life: the threads which go on to weave the fabrics of human existence. The judges of the competition were Alistair Niven, Director of Literature at the British Council, Kate Pullinger, Canadian short story writer and Fiona Ledger, former Arts producer for Africa for the BBC World Service. The competition is run by the Commonwealth Broadcasting Association, and funded by the Commonwealth Foundation. Sujata Sankranti holds a post graduate degree in English Literature and is currently teaching at Sri Venkateshwara College Delhi University. The Warp and the Weft was among twenty-six short listed from 2,500 entries received from all over the world, fetching the author a prize of 2000 sterling pounds.

IGNOU Consultancy Service Cell

The Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU) has established a fullfledged "IGNOU Consultancy Services Cell" to offer specialised services on wide ranging subjects to suit the particular needs of clients.

IGNOU Vice- Chancellor, Prof. A.W. Khan said the ICS Cell shall provide consultancy services for educational institutions, government organisations, public sector undertakings, business holises and voluntary organizations, both national and international, so that the varsity's knowledge of the use of distance education and training could be shared.

The ICS Cell shall also develop and deliver short-term specialised courses and customised training programmes etc, to meet specific needs and market its products and services like study materials, audio-video programmes, multimedia packages and training modules.

CBCl and IGNOU join hands in fighting HIV/AIDS

The Catholic Bishop's Conference of India (CBCI) and Indira Gandhi National Open University(IGNOU) have recently signed a memorandum of understanding for instituting a chair of studies in health and social welfare with a special emphasis on HIV/AIDS and sex education.

Inaugurating the programme, Delhi Archbishop and CBCI President, the late Rev. Alan De Lastic said the collaboration is unique as it will be instrumental in bringing about awareness about the most dreaded disease of the century HIV-AIDS.

The Archbishop said according to UNAIDS, 34 million people worldwide live with HIV and over 1,65,000 were getting infected with each passing day. India has the largest number of people infected with the HIV. Over four million people are HIV positive while about a million new cases come up every year. IGNOU is the first educational University to initiate a programme on sex education and providing education on HIV/AIDS.

Speaking on the occasion, IGNOU Vice Chancellor Prof. A. W. Khan said the university has already initiated the process for developing a certificate programme of study on HIV and family education which will be launched through the distant learning mode.

SATU Network Multimedia & Programming Venture Launched

Malaysian Technology Multimedia (MTM), a subsidiary of technology conglomerate Malaysia Technology Development Corporation, and Indonesia based regional corporate communications service company Avigra Communications have launched a joint venture called SATU Network International. SATU, will be involved in TV and multimedia content production. SATU will offer products and services including TV, Web television and interactive multimedia program production and distribution. "SATU is formed to anticipate the advent of convergence technology and the merging of broadcast TV and Web television," said Elkana, president of Avigra Communication. SATU has developed several programs to promote ASEAN culture and urban lifestyle. SATU hopes to developed a large pool of skilled artists and designers from all over the region and connect them virtually through the web. The organizers are also interested in promoting multimedia education, and plan to operate closely with several educational institutions operating under the umbrella of the Vayasan Bina Multimedia foundation

i-DNS.net Launches Multilingual Domain Names

The November, 1999 launch of i-DNS.net means that e-mail addresses and website domain names can now be entered in a number of different languages.

National University of Singapore announced the launch of the home- grown high-tech internet company, i-DNS.NET, in November 1999. Today, the National University of Singapore (NUS) has now launched the newly incorporated spin-off company, i-DNS.net International. Funded by the US-based private equity direct investment firm. General Atlantic Partners LLC, i-DNS.net set out to work closely with Internet standardization bodies and Internet companies to establish a new global Internet standard known as Internationalized Domain Name System or iDNS.

NIIT launches NETVARSITY.COM a Distant E- Learning Portal

The first ever Distant Learning educational portal has been launched in India by a private organisation.

NIIT has launched thier distant learning Web Site http: // www.NETVARSITY.com.

A learner who logs into the site can take a free course on

1) Web Designing
2) HTML Programming
3) Microsoft OutLook
and many more.The portal also offers collaborative learner chatting amongst themselves, counsellors and mentors.

The site also offers virtual confrences and many interactive learning mechanisms.

How to Evaluate Educational Software and Websites

Gregg B.Jackson
Associate Professor and Coordinator, Education Policy Program, George Washington University

There are approximately 20,000 educational software packages and many thousand educational websites throughout the world. How can you decide what is good and what is a waste of time?

There are two basic approaches. One approach is to use guides to software and "portals" to websites that list resources judged to be of merit. The second is to undertake your own assessment of the software and websites. When doing this you might use criteria previously prepared by other scholars and organizations, you might adapt those criteria to your organization's own priorities, or you might develop new criteria.

Early assessments of educational software focused on the content covered and the ease of using them. When critics noted that the instructional strategies in early software were often simplistic and dysfunctional, more attention was given to the pedagogical strategies used. More recently, there have been efforts to judge how well the software and websites comply with national or state curriculum standards.

Still another focus for assessment is whether students using the software or wehsite learn more than students who aren't using it. That requires an impact evaluation, usually with pre and post measurement of knowledge and skills for a substantial number of users and comparable non-users. Such evaluations have been undertaken occasionally since the early years of instructional software in the 1960s, but they are expensive and rare.

The following discussion is limited to assessments that don't involve formal impact evaluations. Any organization that is considering substantial investments in educational software or websites is advised to select the resources with the aid of existing or easily conducted assessments, and then to test the resource out on a modest scale with impact evaluation. Research tends to show that if good software and websites are integrated into teaching, student attendance and engagement increase, and learning often does also, but those effects depend on the quality of the resources and their suitability for the circumstances.

Guides to Software and Portals to Websites

Existing guides and portals can save considerable effort in identifying potentially useful software and websites. Most index resources by subject area, grade level, and other characteristics. They usually briefly describe the resource and also critique or rate it.

Although most existing guides are available only in English, they can be of use in planning basic education in developing countries. Where English is a language of instruction, they may be directly applicable. In addition, some of the referenced software and websites are available in two or more languages. Finally, these guides and portals might serve as models for countries that want to prepare their own guides. The following are several guides and portals that might be of interest.

American Library Association's Notable Children's Websites http://www.ala.org/alsc/ncwc.html This is a portal to high quality educational websites for children.

Best Web Sites for Teachers Available only in print. It can be purchased through www.iste.org

Bologna New Media Prize Winners The prizewinners are currently listed toward the bottom of the homepage of http://www.childrenssoftware.com. In- ternational prizes are given for CD-ROMs, Internet sites, video games, and "smart toys." The prizes are awarded for innovation, educational value, and ease-of-use.

Children's Software Revue http://www.childrenssoftware.com Assesses more than 4.000 software titles.

ConnSENSE
http://www.ucc.uconn.edu/-wwwpcse/ CSBull.html
Assesses software for use by students with disabilities.

Educational Software Institute www.edsoft.com Has a searchable database of 8.000 titles to help you locate software by several characteristics including bilingual or multilingual presentations. About 250 titles are available in two or more languages. It doesn't rate the software. but does describe it.

Only the Best

Available only in print. It can be purchased through www.ascd.org This is a guide to educational software that has been rated highly by one or more of 25 organizations that rate such software. An index is included.

The Educational Software Selector (TESS)

Available only on CD-ROM. Ordering information is at http://www.epie.org, but orders must be mailed in. This is the oldest and largest guide to educational software, covering 19.000 software packages.

Conducting Your Own Assessments Many scholars and organizations have developed criteria for judging educational software and websites. They usually specify criteria about platform requirements, goals and objectives, the content, the pedagogy, ease of use. and costs. An example of these criteria is given below. The criteria can be modified according to your needs.

Platform Requirements:

What hardware and operating system is needed to run the software?
What browser capabilities are needed to use the website?

Goals and Objectives

What subject areas are covered?
What age or grade level(s) are targeted?
What are the instructional goals and objectives?

Content:

Does the content meet the curriculum standards of the country or district?
Is the content appropriately comprehensive?
Is the content correct and up-to-date?
Are controversial issues treated in a balanced manner?
Are women and minorities depicted with respect?

Pedagogy:

Does the software or website have multiple means of motivating students?
Is content sequenced to facilitate learning?

How much does the software or wehsite make use of the following instructional strategies:

"Lecturing"
"Drill and practice"
"Tutoring"
Games and simulations with feedback
Collaborative projects - Others?
Are there alternative paths so that students who need more or different guidance can get it?
Is the student given some guidance but also required to think?
Does the resource challenge students' imagination?
Is the resource modifiable by the teacher to integrate it with other learning activities in a class?

Ease of Use:

Is the software easy to install?
Is there printed or online guidance on how to use the software or website?
Are the controls intuitive and easy to locate and use? Are they consistent through modules?
Can the student go back several steps and redo them?
Do the Web pages download fully in no more than 15 seconds?
Can the student get help at any point that is tailored to where he or she is?
Are software or website malfunctions infrequent?
Does the website have a stable URL?
Is the website server in operation almost always when needed?
Is there technical support available by e-mail or phone from a live person if the teacher and other local staff cannot figure out how to use the software or website?
Does each Web page have a' link back to the home page?

Cost

What are the initial costs for a single copy and for multiple copies?
Are there annual renewal costs?
What are the costs for upgrading to the next version of the software?

Conducting the Assessment

There are several ways to conduct the assessment of software and websites. Most commonly administrators and teachers will record their responses to assessment criteria like those cited above while they practice using the resource. They deliberately try to make mistakes to see how the resource responds. At least two people should assess a given resource, and if they cannot easily reconcile any substantial disagreements, a third person should also assess the resource. Then disagreements that cannot be reconciled are usually averaged.

Another approach is to have several students use the software and websites while the administrators or teachers watch. After the students finish they may also be asked for their impressions. Bv the time students are ahoni 12 years old. they may only be nominally supervised while testing the resource and asked to record their responses directly on an assessment form.

For encouraging wider readership
This Article is reproduced from TechKnowLogia.
May/June 2000 Copyright 0 2000 Knowledge Hnter-prise,Inc. http://www.techknowlogia.com

Wake Up and Smell the Coffee ....Remotely? The Internet Home

In Watford, England, a house that looks like any typical house you would find in any upper middle class neighbourhood in England. The only difference is that this home is fully Internet enabled - meaning that all appliances, PCs, home entertainment devices, heating, ventilation, lighting. security systems, and gardening functions are controlled via the Internet and accessible from any website whether at home, in your car, your office, or from a hotel room halfway across the globe.Built by Cisco, a world-wide leader in networking for the Internet, in partnership with Liang Homes of UK, the concept behind the Internet Home was to demonstrate how new technologies are truly changing the world in which we live. Cisco does not believe that"... the current technological revolution will affect most parts of our lives - we think it will affect all of them." In addition, the Internet Home goes towards demonstrating that the Internet is not just a web site.

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 6226779,6480806 Fax : 011-6858412
E-mail: infosoft@nda.vsnl. Net.in

16th Annual Conference on Distance
Learning & Teaching

University of Wiconsin - Madison,Wisconsin,USA

The conference features keynotes and more than 125 workshops, roundtables, and information sessions that examine critical success factors in using tech- ' nology, including: Best practices for effective applications; Practical planning guidelines; Successful teaching methods and course designs; Techniques for faculty development and learner support; Innovative approaches, solutions, and research findings; The new distance learning marketplace; and The future of online learning. August 2 - 4, 2000
Contact : www.uwex.edu/disted/con-ference/

The 28th Research Conference on Communication, Information and Internet Policy Alexandria, Virginia, USA

The purpose of the conference is to ac quaint policy makers with the best of recent research and to familiarize researchers with the knowledge needs of policy makers. The conference is hosted by Telecommunications Policy Research Conference (TPRC). September 23-25, 2000 Contact: http://www.tprc.org/

New Approaches in Higher Education: The University College Conference Bermuda College, Bermuda

A group of thinkers, practitioners, adminstrators and politicians from around the world have been invited to meet in Bermuda, to share information on what is happening lary education model around the world.
October 18-21, 2000
contact: www.bercol.bm/w/events/ ucmainpage.html

International Research Seminar on Indicators of Quality Education at Elementary Stage

The NCERT announces the Sixth International research seminar on indicators of Quality Education at the Elementary Stage to be held at New Delhi.The focus of the seminar will be on researches dealing with the Indicators of Quality Education at the Elementary Stage.
December 13-15, 2000 Contact : dirc@giasdl01.vsnl.net.in

Asian Regional Conference of the International Council for Distance Education (ICDE)
Indira Gandhi National Ope University , New Delhi.
The central focus will be on learners, and all sub-themes are:

a)Information and Communication Technologies
b) Individualizing Mass Learning
c) Managing Learner Centredness
d) Cultural and Ideological Issues November 3 -5, 2000
Contact: iguddvco@ndf.vsnl.net.in