Features

Courses Vs. Content: Online Offerings from Major Institutions are not Created Equal. This article was written by Stephen Downes, Researcher, National Research Council, Canada and published by the Elearnmag. From the introduction: "What is an online course? What is an online education? These questions are at the heart of recent offerings of free online content from institutions like the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Britain's Open University. When it was launched in 2002, MIT's OpenCourseWare (OCW) was emphatically declared to be a limited online offering. "OCW is not about online degree programs. It isn't even about online courses for which students can audit or enroll," wrote Phillip D. Long. It was intended to be nothing more than “the content that supports an MIT education”.

ICTs – Transforming agricultural extension? Report on the 6th consultative expert meeting of CTA’ observatory on ICTs. Participants drew attention to the fact that extension is being compelled to change from a process of technology transfer (research to farmer) to a process of facilitating and brokering a wide range of communication, information and advocacy services. Participants also noted the trend for extension to shift from agriculture-specific services to broader services to improve rural livelihoods. 

Getting girls out of work and into school. The UNESCO regional office in Bangkok highlights the causes and consequences of girls’ child labor on their educational opportunities and describes some of the instruments and strategies in place to reduce the trend. The document also provides insights into current good practice, which can assist policy-makers and practitioners to better understand and address the issues for getting girls out of work and into school. 

Country health profiles 2006 revision. This two part series comprises the country profiles and health databanks for the countries and areas of the WHO Western Pacific Region. The data are either supplied by the health ministries/departments or compiled from national databases and reference libraries.