HUMAN ENVIRONMENT
GENDER AND DEVELOPMENT:
COL is encouraging the use of ODL and other technologies to foster the full
participation of girls and women and, where appropriate, men and boys, to
address unequal gender relations that prevent equitable development. COL has
recently published a report on Boys' Underachievement (with the Commonwealth
Secretariat) and another on Women's Literacy and Information and Communication
Technologies (with the Commonwealth Educational Media Centre for Asia).
HEALTH, WELFARE AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT:
In collaboration with international organisations such as the World Health
Organization, COL is equipping and training government agencies, NGOs and
community groups to use video and audio technology for local production of
educational materials related to health, welfare and community development. COL
implemented an activity focussed on reduction of HIV/AIDS with Anglicare
STOPAIDS, an NGO based in Port Moresby Papua New Guinea. Videos are being
produced that address both stigma and prevention of HIV. A series of village
cinema events has been undertaken in the remote areas of the country for target
groups to view the materials and the productions have been aired on local
television. In the Solomon Islands, the Solomon Islands Development Trust has
developed various video productions to address health, governance and, recently,
tsunami relief.
ENVIRONMENTAL EDUCATION:
COL is working on expanding environmental education at all levels, creating
awareness of the benefits and feasibility of using ODL for environmental
education and developing learning materials for sharing across the Commonwealth.
The Green Teacher Diploma now in place in India is a good example of using ODL
to scale up capacity for environmental education.
GOOD GOVERNANCE:
Underpinning the MDGs and other development targets is the strengthening of
democracy through good governance. A relatively new area for COL, the objective
is to use open and distance learning methods to add value to international
efforts to achieve good governance.
EDUCATIONAL USE OF MASS MEDIA AND ICTS:
COL's Media Empowerment programme (COLME) is centred on the use of radio,
television, video and audio production. The programme's impact has been to
empower local communities, organisations and institutions with appropriate
skills and technology that allows stakeholders to address education, environment
and agricultural issues with locally created training and information. Over the
past decade, the programme has implemented and sustained field-based activities
in over 25 countries in Africa, Asia, the Caribbean and the Pacific. In the
Pacific, COL implemented a Media Unit in the Ministry of Education in Tuvalu.
Staff were trained on preparing multimedia materials for delivery to all sectors
of education in the country. COL also continues to work with the Vanuatu
Institute of Technology and Fiji Institute of Technology on production of
multimedia based learning materials for the technical vocational sector.