VUSSC/Mauritius BC/News/22 August 2006

Some issues that were raised Tuesday Morning:

Prof Senteni talked about formalising the process though having a certified course (most probably in joint collaboration with COL). The certified course will be about the process that we're going through while preparing and delivering the contents. This course that we have called ODL empowerment programme aims at providing the tools and techniques for going online. The ODL empowerment programme consists of:

• ODL principles- online learning practices,
• ODL tools- WIKIs, Discussion forums, Feedbacks and reflective journals, emails, agendas.
• ODL techniques- Platform Content development, assessment, Providing feedback, providing support (e-tutoring), offline authoring(eXe).

Some issues raised with Prof Senteni were:

1. 10% of the time off (authorised from employers) would not be enough- Each participant would be working out precisely how much time they would be needing to complete the work. Firm backings from COL imperative.
2. Online content would need to be readapted according to the education systems in each of the countries.
3. Us being champions to market the contents (for the moment Entrepreneurship and Tourism) in our own countries is a very important commitment we have to make.
4. An idea would be to get students on board and empower them to create contents- constructivist approach