By . A British Academy report urges universities to help stem a decline in provision of languages with “strategic importance for defence and diplomacy”.
Lost for Words: The Need for Languages in UK Diplomacy and Security, launched at the House of Lords on 28 November, claims to offer the first systematic review of how “language capacity within the UK affects the government’s ability to maintain diplomatic relations and deliver national security and defence”. More...
28 novembre 2013
AfDB, African Virtual University discuss benefits of e-learning
By Marc Mcilhone. “We consider the African Virtual University (AVU) Project very critical to the effort to improve access to higher education in Africa and are pleased to learn that the deliberations on the integration of e-learning and open education into mainstream education programs was fruitful,” concluded Stefan Muller, Lead Economist of the African Development Bank’s (AfDB) East Africa Regional Resource Center (EARC) during the first international conference African Virtual University organized from November 20-22, 2013 in Nairobi. Under the topic “Integrating eLearning and Open Education to Increase Access to Quality Education and Training”, the conference brought together more than 100 participants including Ministries of Education and 22 universities from the Multinational AVU support project** as well as the private sector. The main objective of this first gathering was to discuss the future of e-learning in Africa and the role of Open Education Resources (OERs) including the Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) in the ICT learning revolution.
Holland offers European experience
By Bahk Eun-ji. A Dutch education expert said that Korean students can get not only quality education but also European experience in the Netherlands.
“Consider the rich heritage of a European country such as the Netherlands to optimize your skills and knowledge in a vibrant and culturally diverse environment,” Willemijn van Os, the director of Nuffic Netherlands Education Support Office (NESO) Korea, said in a recent interview with The Korea Times. More...
Finland’s Educational Odyssey
By Florence Armein. In his book, “Finnish Lessons,” Pasi Sahlberg, one of Finland’s most celebrated educators and scholars, stated that educational systems are facing a twin challenge: how to change schools so that students may acquire new types of knowledge and skills required in an unpredictably changing world, and how to make sure that new learning is accessible to all young people irrespective of their socioeconomic condition.
Finland is no stranger to these twin challenges. Since the early 1990s, Finland worked steadily at reform, taking off from a system that barely met international averages to one counting among the leading educational systems today. More...
Languages needed for 'national security'
Open access funds ‘adequate’, government maintains
By . Adequate funding has been allotted for universities to meet the cost of open access, the government has maintained.
The comments come in a response to an inquiry by the Commons Business, Innovation and Skills committee, whose final report in September questioned aspects of the way open-access policy has been formulated.
In its response – published by the BIS committee today - the government said that universities have now received “adequate funding” from Research Councils UK to meet the cost of open access. More...
