ICTlogy

Laurent (you’re always there – heartly thanks!) points me to this:
UNESCO’s Virtual Forum on Free and Open Source Software for E-Learning.

Its aim could not be more encouraging:

The objective of this second forum is to support information exchange and reflection upon the potential of free and open source software for e-learning and to consider the pros and cons and its applicability for developing countries.

The forum will take place during first four weeks of june and will deal with:

• What’s Free/Open Source Software (F/OSS)
• Pros and cons of F/OSS for e-learning
• F/OSS solutions for e-learning

Info:

• News: UNESCO’s IIEP Organizes Virtual Forum on Free and Open Source Software for E-Learning
• International Institute for Educational Planning
• UNESCO Free Software Portal

Contact:

• Jean-Claude Dauphin, UNESCO, Information Society Division

For my next migration to WordPress v1.2

Check the following files:

• index.php: functions, template
• wp-admin/admin-header.php: header customization
• wp-admin/menu.php: include own menus
• wp-admin/menu.txt (actually, merged with menu.php in v1.2): own menus config
• wp-admin/wp-admin.css: admin header customization, categories column resizing: left position, width, height
• wp-include/template-functions-category.php: function wp_list_cats arguments to sort by name and show/hide empty ones

[via nascent nonprofit technology]

MyWorkstation, Innovation Network’s original flagship suite of online program planning and evaluation tools for nonprofits, made its debut in 1998. The Workstation was conceived as a way for Innovation Network to share our evaluation knowledge and experience with more nonprofits than we could reach directly with evaluation consulting and training.

Workstation 2.0 consists of three modules, available to nonprofits at no charge thanks to the generosity of our funding partners.

The Organizational Assessment Tool (or OAT) is for organizations who are interested in taking a look at their own capacity and effectiveness. (It makes sense to review your organization’s own structure and readiness before you begin using our program planning and evaluation tools.)

For detailed program and evaluation planning, we offer the Logic Model Builder™ and the Evaluation Plan Builder™. Both are designed to walk you through the processes of crafting a particular kind of planning framework (either a Logic Model or an Evaluation Plan), and to provide helpful information, examples, and resources along the way.

This is an article that deals about a project carried on within the framework of the Campus for Peace by IWith.org

Its authors are Remei Camps, director of IWith.org Spain, and F. Isabel Sales and Arantxa Uribe-Echevarria, online volunteers at the Campus for Peace (UOC)

I’m really pleased to see this article on-line as it’s been the result of two years of hard work.

Abstract:

The objective of the Absoo Programme is to adapt the technological tools offered by e-learning to local projects working on a day-to-day basis to provide quality education for children in developing countries. As part of this programme, a pilot course was developed and given in the UOC’s Campus for Peace VLE as a prototype for validating a methodological model for e-learning on a solidarity project.

This document brings together analysis of the experiment, from its instructional design to the development and evaluation of this pilot course. The section on design looks at the major decisions and activities making the model and the project itself suitable to the context and profiles of those it is intended for. The analysis of how the course unfolded shows flexibility during its development in order to adapt it to the gaps found in certain aspects of local infrastructure, communication (social and cultural aspects), learning strategies, evaluation and the time scale of the course. To be highlighted among the final conclusions, we have on the one hand the results obtained as regards the students following and finishing the course and, on the other, the confirmation of the methodology used (blended learning) as the basis of an educational project of this sort.

Full text in Spanish (PDF, 153 Kb)

The Centre d’Educació i Noves Tecnologies of the de la Universitat Jaume I (UJI, Castelló, Spain) has released a report on how to choose a F/OSS e-learning environment.

It’s based on pedagogic flexibility, usability and technological flexibility.

They’ve found three main tendencies:

• Environments focusing on content management: i.e. ATutor
• Environments centered in communication: i.e. Moodle
• Environments to foster networking: i.e. .LRN

Finally, they chose Moodle for it best fitted UJI’s needs. By the way, this means that UJI will collaborate in Moodle’s development, which is good news and quite a commitment :)

The report is in Spanish and Catalan.

[also via The Development Gateway]

Very interesting paper [PDF, 86Kb] by Robert J. Hawkins.

He’s working at World Links, a World Bank pilot project to foster the use of ICTs in learning environments in developing countries.

The ten lessons of the paper are:

1. Computer labs in developing countries take
   time and money, but they work
2. Technical support cannot be overlooked
3. Noncompetitive telecommunications infrastructure, policies, and regulations impede connectivity and sustainability
4. Lose the wires [i.e. go satellite, go wi-fi]
5. Get the community involved
6. Private-public sector partnerships are essential
7. Link ICT and education efforts to broader education reforms
8. Training, training, training
9. Technology empowers girls [i.e. gender issues of ICT policies
10. Technology motivates students and energizes classrooms