Sri Lanka/L3 Farmers/Content Development Workshop Colombo-2008

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Introduction

Commonwealth of Learning (COL), in association with Sri Lanka Association of Distance Educators has conducted a workshop on collaborative development of OAER Content on WikiEducator from 31/03/2008 to 03/04/2008 at Staff Development Centre, Open University of Sri Lanka, for select representatives from the five Universities in Sri Lanka who are partnering with COL in L3 Farmers Project

Objectives

Introduce WikiEducator to the participants. Familiarise participants with the basic publishing/editing tools of Wiki. Facilitate collaborative development of one interactive OAER (Open Agricultural Education Resource) content by each of the five participating team as part of hands-on-training on WikiEducator. Create awareness on M&E tools and QA concepts and how it can be used for development of interactive online content on WikiEducator with special emphasis on L3 Farmers Project.

List of Participants

Sl No.	Name	Organisation
1	Ms. N P Vidanapathirana	University of Colombo, Weligate, Centre for Agrotechnology
2	Mr. H H G Nishantha	University of Colombo,Weligate, Centre for Agrotechnology
3	Ms. Mala Tennakoon	University of Colombo,Weligate, Centre for Agrotechnology
4	Ms. Madhavi Thilini	University of Colombo,Weligate, Centre for Agrotechnology
5	Prof. V Arulnandhy	Eastern University, Sri Lanka
6	Ms. T Geretharan	Eastern University, Sri Lanka
7	Mr. R Kathiragamanathan	Batticaloa
8	Dr. (Mrs) S Sivachandiran	University of Jaffna
9	Dr. G Mikunthan	University of Jaffna
10	Mr. K Venugoban	University of Jaffna
11	Prof. Mahindra Wijeratne	University of Ruhuna
12	Mr. A L Sandika	University of Ruhuna
13	Mr. K K L B Adikaram	University of Ruhuna
14	Dr. B G Jayatilleke	Open University of Sri Lanka
15	Mrs. D G U Kulasekera	Open University of Sri Lanka
16	Ms. A D L G Anula Kanthie	University of Colombo, Weligatta Centre for Agrotechnology
17	Mr. H. Rohanadheera	University of Colombo, Weligatta Centre for Agrotechnology
18	Mrs. N D de Silva	The Open University of Sri Lanka
19	Mr. P N K Weerasuriya	Department of Agriculture

Guidance, Facilitation & Support

Sl No.	Name	Organisation
1	Dr. Krishna Alluri	Commonwealth of Learning
2	Prof. Uma Coomaraswamy	Sri Lanka Association of Distance Educators & Consultant, Commonwealth of Learning
3	Prof.Kshanika Hirimburegama	Vice Chancellor, University of Colombo
4	Dr (Mrs) K. Rema	NAAC, Bangalore, India
5	Dr. Prasanna Ratnaweera	Director SDC, Open University of Sri Lanka
6	Mr. Raji NR	Kerala State IT Mission, IT Department, Govt. of Kerala, India (Facilitator)
7	Mr. P Anil Prasad	Finance Department, Govt. of Kerala, India (Resource Person)
8	Ms. Birendra Jayaweera	Open University of Sri Lanka
9	Ms. Lekha Edirisinghe	Open University of Sri Lanka

Proceedings of the Workshop in brief

Day	Activity
31/03/2008	The workshop commenced with a formal Inaugural Session at the Conference Hall of Open University of Sri Lanka attended by Prof. Gamini Samaranayake, Chairman University Grants Commission (Chief Guest), Dr. Krishna Alluri (Education Specialist COL), Prof. Rohan Rajapakse (Executive Director, Centre for Agricultural Policy & Research), Prof. M.T.M Jiffry (Consultant, Vidartha), Prof. Uma Coomaraswamy. After Inaugural Session the venue was shifted to the Computer Lab of SDC, Open University. There after an ice breaking exercise was conducted wherein each participant has selected another participant whom he/she knows little, interviewed and introduced the partner participant in the open forum. After the ice breaking exercise, Dr. Krishna Alluri and Prof. Uma Coomaraswamy has introduced the Objectives if the workshop with Reference to L3 Farmers project and QA aspects. After the Introduction the participants were split into groups in accordance with the Universities they were representing for conducting group discussions on the lessons prepared prior to the workshop. In the first half of the afternoon session also the participants continued the discussions. In the second part of the afternoon session, the WikiEducator has been introduced to the participants by Mr. P Anil Prasad (Resource Person).
01/04/2008	First half of the day more features like creating Sandbox, linking, inter linking, and the use of formatting menu etc were introduced and the participants continued to practice wiki skills. In the afternoon session Mr. Anil Prasad (Resource Person) has facilitated the creation of Country Page for Sri Lanka on the WE and the participants have created new pages for the Universities they represented linked to the Sri Lanka Page. On the University pages the teams have copied the text of their lessons. After this activity the Wiki skill development exercise and the discussions for further strengthening the draft interactive lesson of the each team went hand in hand.
02/04/2008	In the morning till 12 Noon Mr. Raji (Facilitator) has introduced use of Media in WE like Pictures, sound other files etc and the participants practiced the same on the draft content page. Through discussions and wiki skill practicing, participants prepared the content for a preliminary presentation in the open forum. The Jaffna team has presented their interactive lesson towards the end of the morning session. All others actively participated in the discussions. In the afternoon session till 3 PM use of media such as flash movies, use of templates etc were been introduced and the participants practiced the same by incorporating the items in suitable places on their draft content pages. The Participants were also encouraged to share their knowledge in the use of media like flash. After tea break, all other teams have presented their draft interactive lessons on the WE in the open forum for discussions and to take suggestions/ feed back The open form moderated by Dr. Krishna Alluri (Education Specialist, COL), along with interventions by Prof. Uma Coomaraswamy and Dr. (Mrs.) K. Rama has provided rich experience.
03/04/2008	The day started with discussing the comments received from various stakeholders via email about the draft content pages and consolidated by Dr. Krishna Alluri (Education Specialist COL). This was followed with a one-hour presentation/demonstration on other FLOSS options by Mr. Raji (the facilitator). Thereafter till 12 noon participants sat in groups to further modify the content based on the comments received via email, the feedback they got during the open forum and in accordance with the check lists provided in the reference material. From 12 noon to 1 pm was the time for general comments, feedback on the workshop and certificated distribution. Prof. Uma Coomaraswamy has explained the draft plan for post-workshop follow up. The participants were requested to consult the farmers in their locality and get feedback on the draft lessons they added on WikiEducator in April 2008 itself. Thereafter a second round of content revision exercise will be done by the IT personnel attached to each group. The certificates to the Participants were distributed by Prof. Uma Coomaraswamy and Prof. Kshanika Hirimburegama, Vice Chancellor, University of Colombo. The workshop concluded at 1PM with a working lunch.

Outputs of the Workshop

1. An Introductory Reference Material for the participants
2. Participants became familiar with Wiki Educator
3. Participants acquired basic skills in using, creating and editing Wiki Educator Pages.
4. Participants acquired basic skills in using/editing media along with content on Wiki Educator.
5. Participants got introduction and opportunity for group discussion on utilizing M&E tools and QA concepts in collaborative content development for L3 Farmers Project in Sri Lanka.
6. Participants acquired basic experience in collaborative development of online eLearning material on a web platform viz Wiki Educator.
7. Five draft interactive lessons on Wiki Educator by the five University teams.
8. A Node for Sri Lanka on WikiEducator with the URL http://www.wikieducator.org/Sri_Lanka and a Node for L3 Farmers project, Sri Lanka with the URL http://www.wikieducator.org/Sri_Lanka/L3_Farmers
9. A consensus and draft plan for post-workshop stakeholder consultations and activities for further improving the draft content.

Content Developed during the Workshop

1. Chilli Leaf Curl complex and its Management
2. Banana Cultivation
3. Chilli Diseases
4. Cost of Production in Rice Cultivation
5. Housing and Feeding of Poultry[1]

Post-Workshop follow up & Support

1. Community Consultation: Prof. Uma Coomaraswamy has explained a tentative plan for post-workshop follow up. According to the plan, the participants will discuss the draft content they developed on WikiEducator with the farmers of their locality to collect their feedback in April/2008 itself and discuss it among the group. Thereafter the IT personnel in each Group will be called to the Open University of Sri Lanka again to rework the content based on post-workshop feedback/ discussions.
2. The participants were provided with the email IDs of the facilitator and the Resource person so that they can contact at any time when they require support.

General Suggestions/Recommendations

1. The participants’ demand for a moderated discussion form for L3 Farmers Project was very strong during the open forum as well as informal discussions. The participants are of the view that since the content on wiki is subject to changes at any time, there is an authenticity-crisis of the content, especially when farmers or other non-technical users use the content on the online wiki to find remedy for their immediate problems in the field. To overcome this authenticity-crisis, the participants of the workshop has suggested implementing a moderated discussion forum on Wiki Educator for the L3 Farmers project so that farmers and extension workers can raise queries on problems that require immediate remedy. These queries required to be answered by an empanelled voluntary expert group and moderated by responsible persons from the implementers of L3 Farmers Project, Sri Lanka.
2. Necessary arrangements are required to be made to ensure easily accessible web connected computers in the areas were L3 Farmers project is being implemented. Setting up of Web Access Centers with connected audio/visual equipment will be a viable solution.
3. In areas where web access is very difficult, alternate solutions like community radio may me explored to.
4. Participants may be encouraged to conduct pre-workshop stakeholder consultations on the interactive content that they are planning to develop during the workshop.