Strategies for cooperation and collaboration
One of the principal features of the Internet is the concept of sharing – every web site published is an attempt in this direction to make known what is available whether for commerce or otherwise. Educational institutions offering programmes or courses of study on the web provide a wide choice to those who desire to enhance their educational qualifications. A combination of course offerings on the Web by different institutions may be the most obvious choice to the students. To provide a suitable award to the candidates who take courses on the web a certain degree of collaboration amongst the institutions would be necessary and desirable. In this, academic autonomy, which is widely touted and fiercely defended by educational institutions would have to be reconciled with the overall demands of students, and educational institutions should consciously collaborate and cooperate to benefit their student clientele in myriad ways.
Various patterns of collaboration can be envisaged. The range from individuals voluntarily sharing resources to institutionalized collaboration in course and credit sharing.
In a paper by Nick Bowskill, Steve McCarty and others titled “Cultural Sensitivity in Voluntary Virtual Professional Development Communities” published in Sept 2000 issue of IJOL, reference is made to the World Association for Online Education ( WAOE), as under:-
The WAOE is a voluntary mutually supportive virtual organisation that seeks to promote and develop a cross-cultural view of learning within virtual environments. Respect and sensitivity to difference is at the heart of the activities of WAOE in recognition of the highly distributed and optional nature of the membership. The WAOE came into being as a non-profit public benefit corporation registered in the State of California as a result of private initiative. Membership of WAOE spans five continents without being dominated by any geographical region. The WAOE is mostly a virtual association serving the needs of academics and educators concerned with turning on line education into a professional discipline. The WAOE focuses on combining dedication to online learning with social and cultural exchange.
The objectives and purposes of the WAOE explicitly promote humanistic ethics and global collaboration ( emphasis added) in online education specifically.
i) To maintain a global perspective as a world organisation, supporting multilingualism and multiculturalism in online education, preserving human rights to diversity and mutual respect despite differences, and encouraging inter cultural sensitivity and world reconciliation through intercultural communication among global citizens.
ii) To be as inclusive as possible in scope serving the aspirations of all members and working for equitable access to on line education and membership.
The reference to WAOE has been made to highlight voluntary collaboration for offering professional development courses online, with a concern for multilingualism and multiculturalism in online education. The success of the WAOE as a voluntary organisation would suggest that similar organisations with like objectives be multiplied for deeper collaboration amongst educationists for offering online courses of study, training or professional development.
Sir John Daniel in his paper titled “ Open Learning at a point of Turning” presented at the Asian Regional Conference of the ICDE, Nov. 2000 , has observed that thanks to e-learning, all universities have their potential to operate globally. He has also predicted that open universities may find themselves at the forefront of these global development as traditional universities that seek to offer a few of their programmes around the world look to open universities for help with the necessary infrastructure ( an example of institutional collaboration). “ There may also be some exciting opportunities for open universities of the world to work together in providing a world wide infrastructure and tutorial services twenty four hours a day, seven days a week”. He concludes his paper stating that open universities and open learning will have a central role in higher education in the new century. Social, economic, political and technological forces are all pulling open and distance education to the centre of the policy stage. While stating that the first duty of any university is to its students,
Sir John goes on to state “ We have a democratic educational mission to reach and enthuse an enormously diverse student population; to insist that critical, informed,reflective engagement with the human condition is not a matter for elites or professional experts alone. By urging students always to sceptical, always to ask questions and never to take things for granted, we aspire to lead them beyond information and knowledge to understanding. This understanding then illuminates their actions as they fulfil their roles in a complex democratic is how we will change the world.”
If individual collaboration is voluntary, the possibilities for cooperation and collaboration amongst educational institutions within a country are large. In the developed world such cooperation and collaboration is becoming wide spread. Educational institutions in the developing world are beginning to see the advantages of collaborating and pooling their resources for offering newer courses of relevance, instead of each institution offering the same course. Perhaps the role of the equivalence cell of the Association of Indian Universities could be enhanced to include a certification of web based courses- this would go a long way in promoting cooperation among educational institutions.
Similar collaboration could be attempted at regional levels. For example, the SAARC provides a regional forum for collaboration amongst distance teaching institutions in the South Asian region- i.e.,an existing regional cooperation mechanism is used for furthering the cause of education. At a broader international level, one could visualise both bilateral and multilateral cooperation amongst educational institutions. In the area of bilateral co-operation we see institutions from other countries collaborating with institutions in our country to offer programmes of study, primarily in the areas of management and computer education, which are market- driven. The motivation is income and surplus to the institutions concerned while it confers some benefits in the long run as an exposure to curriculum different from what prevails in the country and better trained managers and computer specialists. While bilateral co-operation amongst educational institutions is largely as a result of private initiative, at the level of Governments concerned, a conscious attempt should be made to incorporate in bilateral agreements the need for collaboration and co-operation between educational institutions to improve access to aspirants in the countries concerned for better education.
In the area of multilateral co-operation, international institutions like UNESCO, which are concerned with education should take on a proactive role in emphasising upon member countries the need to share with others, developments or innovations in education for the greater good of all. In all these efforts, sharing of knowledge and of technological developments for improving access to education is the key word. The Commonwealth of Learning (COL), is a standing example of an institution that has done commendable work in the developing countries of the Commonwealth. Institutions like COL should be strengthened and supported widely in its task of spreading education and empowering people.
To summarise, the strategies envisaged above are for enlarging and widening access to higher education through a learner –centred approach, in which the key element is collaboration andco-operation amongst institutions and nations. Education as commerce should be replaced with education as an inalienable human right for empowerment and for taking one’s rightful place in the comity of nations and every Government’s attempt should be to realise this objective to the fullest.
References:-
Donn C. Ritchie and Bob Hoffman (1997) Incorporating Instructional Design Principles with the world wide web published in Web Based Institution edited by Badral H Khan, Educational Technology Publications Englewood Clifp, New Jersey 07632
Dick,W.,&Reiser, R . ( 1989) Planning effective instruction Englewood Cliffs, N J: Prentie Hall.
Prof. Tam, S.W. (200) “ Managing Learner Centredness: The role of effective student support in ODL” Paper presented at the Asian Regional Conference of ICDE, November 2000
, Otto (2000) ‘’The Flexible and Virtual University: Pedagogical Models” Paper presented at the Asian Regional Conference of ICDE, November 2000.
Daniel, Sir John ( 2000) “ Open Learning at a Point of Turning” Paper presented at the Asian Regional Conference of ICDE , November 2000.
Bowskill, Nick, McCarty, Steve, Luke, Robert, Kinshuk and Hand, Kate (2000) “ Cultural Sensitivity in Voluntary Virtual Professional Development Communities”. Published in Indian Journal of Open Learning September 2000 issue.
Reddi, V. (2000) “ Using ICTs for Poverty Reduction. The Evidence so far and the lessons therein “ Paper presented at the Asian Regional Conference of ICDE November 2000.
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