Planning events/Teacher educators New Delhi

eLearning Workshop for Teacher Educators - South Asia

 * Dates: Scheduled to start on 6th Feb 2007 morning and conclude by lunch on 8th February (two and a half days having 10 sessions)
 * Participants: About 25 teacher educators from all over South Asia is expected to participate in the workshop.
 * Hosts: Indian Association of Teacher Education and the University of Delhi (DU)
 * Occasion: The workshop will be followed by an International Conference of Indian Association of Teacher Educators from 8 Feb in the afternoon to 10 Feb 2007.
 * Venue: We anticipate the DU will provide computer facilities for the workshop.

Aims and objectives
The primary aim of this workshop is to expand the network of teachers working collaboratively online to enhance the quality of education for all. In this way we can explore the potential of e-Learning in ways that are appropriate and sustainable for teacher educators in South Asia. This workshop is generously supported with funding from the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation in promoting the development of open education resources.

The workshop will introduce teacher educators in South Asia to the power of social software in developing teacher educator resources that can be shared and customised for local needs. Participants are not required to have any prior knowledge of these e-technologies, however skilled Web 2.0 teacher educators are more than welcome to join us. This will be a hands-on workshop where participants nominate to work on a shared resource which they can use when they return to their working enviroments.

This workshop will make a tangible contribution to the growing suite of available free content to support teacher educators around the world.

Specific objectives of the workshop include:


 * Hands on training in the basic skills of wiki editing;
 * Hands on training in the eXe (eLearning XHTML editor) free software authoring tool
 * Exploring the meaning of free content and why its important to choose the right license;
 * Looking at relevant examples of free content developments in education;
 * Developing a representative sample of an open education resource, so that participants can continue working together after the workshop is over.

Technology support from the Commonwealth of Learning
The Commonwealth of Learning  will provide free hosting services on WikiEducator for the ongoing development and sharing of free content to enhance the quality of education for all. This includes a discussion forum where teacher educator networks can continue to share ideas on best practice. The workshop will include training on the use of Wikieducator.

Prospective participants - Expressions of interest
The organisers are currently in the process of identifying invitees for the workshop. Interested teacher educators who will be attending the International Conference of Indian Association of Teacher Educators from 8 Feb 2007 - 10 Feb 2007 can submit an expression of interest by adding their name and contact particulars below.

COL participants

 * Mohan Menon
 * Wayne Mackintosh

India

 * Savithri Singh, Principal, Acharya Narendra Dev college, (University of Delhi), Delhi 110019 : ODL Coordinator of Bamboo and Rattan Course Development Project, Coordinator Elearning Project in Biology at DU; ssingh.odl@gmail.com
 * Narinder Bhatia, Project Manager, Shiksha India Trust, C/O Confederation of Indian Industry, 249-F, Sector-18, Udyog Vihar, Phase-4, Gurgaon, Haryana (www.shikshaindia.org); narbhatia@gmail.com; conducts free workshops for teachers on open source tools and softwares

Brunei

 * Mogana Dhamotharan, University of Brunei

Projects

 * Brainstorm by workshop participants on possible projects

Questions on the organisation and preparation for the workshop
If you have any questions, you are free to list them here.


 * 1) Do the participants need to have any qualification or prior experience in e-learning? No prior experience in eLearning or pre-requisite ICT qualifications are required. Basic web-browsing skills would be an advantage, but not a prerequisite for participation. Experienced e-learning and ICT practitioners are also welcome to join - you can help us in helping colleagues who may not have as much experience.
 * 2) What is the most important criterion for participation in this workshop? We encourage participation from dedicated teachers who believe that education is a common good. That is, teachers who don't mind sharing their knowledge with friends and members of our community. We hope that participants will work together in developing free content that will be of use to other educators in South Asia and further afield.
 * 3) Is there any reading or preparation required of participants prior to the workshop? Extensive preparation and reading before the workshop is not required. However, we would like participants to think about areas in their teaching where additional content resources are required. It would be beneficial for participants to explore the WikiEducator website.
 * 4) Is there a commitment required of participants when they return to the workplaces? Yes, in return for the free gift of software which you can share with your friends, a free website resource for the collaborative development of content, and free skills development - we would greatly appreciate a donation of time from professional educators to develop a piece of free content on WikiEducator that would be useful to South Asia. This could, for example be:
 * 5) * A lesson on a difficult concept which learners historically find difficult;
 * 6) * A case study on how you have resolved a challenging educational problem;
 * 7) * A commitment to extend wiki skills development to 10 additional educators who could not be present at the workshop. Free content resources will be provided to support your training efforts.
 * 8) Should participants be provided with a schedule before the workshop? Participants should be provided with the start times of the workshop. Regarding details of the workshop outline, participants should be invited to visit this web page frequently as the programme schedule is a dynamic document which will change as we get closer to the workshop.
 * 9) When do we get a confirmation on our participation in the eXe workshop happening in Delhi and also details on the venue and timings of the workshop ?

Resources

 * Help on using this wiki