Realise The Virtual With COL's Virtual Conferences
6 May 2004
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Dave Wilson, Communications Manager at COL |
A series of four free e-mail-based virtual conferences will be held in May and June 2004 with support from the Commonwealth of Learning (COL). The virtual conferences will enable participants from around the world to discuss, online, issues affecting developing countries -- focusing on latest developments, research and evaluation, best practice and emerging issues, and moderated by leaders in the respective fields.
The virtual conferences are a lead-up to the Third Pan-Commonwealth Forum on Open Learning to be held in Dunedin, New Zealand, from 4 to 8 July 2004. This will be hosted by the Distance Education Association of New Zealand, the Government of New Zealand and COL. With the theme, 'Building Learning Communities for Our Millennium: Reaching Wider Audiences Through Innovative Approaches', the forum will discuss issues relating to education, health and local government. The virtual conferences are for both forum participants and those who are unable to attend in person.
Dave Wilson, Communications Manager at COL, said, Participation in the virtual conferences is global, representing a wide range of sectors and interests. The conferences are reliable and cost-effective for Open and Distance Learning communities because of rapid advances in information and communications technology (ICT) and corresponding economies of scale.
A face-to-face conference costing $250,000 reaches maybe 200 people, while the same amount invested in internet technology can reach 200,000 people. COL has sponsored several virtual conferences, with a series of monthly topics leading up to both its first (1999) and second (2002) Pan-Commonwealth Forum on Open Learning as well as issues-based conferences on topics such as 'Copyright and the Web'. It also hosted two virtual conferences in support of the 15th triennial Conference of Commonwealth Education Ministers' parallel symposium late last year.
COL provides technical support; and the asynchronous, e-mail conferencing format means anyone in any time zone with a computer and e-mail can participate. The usual 50 per cent participation rate (those who actually post messages) is high compared with most large group face-to-face meetings, said Mr Wilson.
The 2002 conferences drew 125 to 300 participants each, with 100 to 300 postings per topic. A common element was acknowledgement of the need for broader recognition and acceptance of ICT as an integrated part of open and distance learning. In addition, participants emphasised the importance of effective collaboration and implementation of quality standards and pedagogical best practice regardless of medium, while identifying obstacles to greater ICT implementation.
Bob Schad and Wanda Noel, moderators of the 2003 virtual conference on 'Copyright and the Web', said the discussions "clarified some issues, raised others, and provided a wealth of commentary and information." And a 2002 conference participant noted that the discussions "set the stage for us to plan long-term on how to produce a learning society".
The first of the four current discussions is now under way with 200 participants and 100 comments already posted on the topic of 'Latest Developments' during the first two days. More on the conference can be found on www.col.org/virtualconferences.
CNIS - the Commonwealth News and Information Service, Issue 182 5 May 2004
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