VUSSC/Mauritius BC/News/Opening

High level ministerial delegation welcomes VUSSC development team in Mauritius 7 August 2006

Opening addresses at the Mauritius bootcamp

The honourable Madan Murlidhar Dulloo (Minister of Foreign Affairs, International Trade and Cooperation), Rajeshwar Jeetah (Minister of Industry, Small and Medium Enterprices, Commerce and Cooperatives) and Dharambeer Gokhool (Minster of Education and Human Resources) welcomed the VUSSC developers from small states around the world to Mauritius. The development team is making history and it is fitting that the "bootcamp" is being hosted by Mauritius -- one of the small states and a pioneering member of the Virtual University initiative. The ministerial delegation stressed the importance of widening access to quality education.

The Vice Chancellor also commended the initiative and saw this as a recognition of the University's sustained efforts as well as an important milestone in the process of making Mauritius a knowledge hub.. University of Mauritius Vice Chancellor's Address

The Mauritius Bootcamp event is a world first. Fourteen countries are working collaboratively on the development of open education resources to be shared among small states. The project is a prime example of how the latest software can be leveraged to address local educational challenges and respond to the difficulties associated with the digital divide. Already course aims and content outlines are being negotiated and refined by the development team using wikieducator, and people from around the world are able to observe progress and help by participating in the shared authoring of these materials.

The content outlines for two courses are already taking shape:

• Managing your business and
• Tour guiding.

Paul West from COL says that "we may have a new approach for content development brewing".

You can follow developments by visiting the Bootcamp homepage on WikiEducator

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