Message-ID: <199704050412.NAA04826@inetnif.niftyserve.or.jp> Date: Sat, 5 Apr 1997 13:06:00 +0900 From: Martin Sieg <mailto:QWA01214@NIFTYSERVE.OR.JP> Subject: Finally something good from technology! To: mailto:DEVEL-L@AMERICAN.EDU
The following tells us about an initiative to use internet technology for some thing truly important. This is the kind of project I have been dreaming about for a long time, and I am glad to see that it is finally happening!I intend to enter a Master's program called Communication, Culture, and Techno logy at Georgetown University this fall. I am most interested in the use of th e internet and other communications technologies to reduce the education gaps between countries, and various groups of people.
IF anyone knows of other projects, theories, essays, etcetera, please drop me a detailed note.
Thank you,
Martin Sieg
<<<<<<<<< FORWARDED >>>>>>>>>>>>>> Date: Fri, 4 Apr 1997 12:31:15 -0800 (PST) From: Babatunde Harrison <mailto:baba@igc.apc.org>
/* Written 3:55 AM Apr 3, 1997 by mailto:oo@WAM.UMD.EDU in igc:soc.culture.ni */ On Wed, 2 Apr 1997, Dorothy Titilayo Owolabi wrote:
> .c The Associated Press
>
> By ABEBE ANDUALEM
>
> ADDIS ABABA, <A HREF="aol://4344:30.GR_Ethio.388498.541960856">Ethiopia</A>
> (AP) - Plagued by slim budgets, broken down equipment and out-of-date and
> looted libraries, African universities may soon receive a lifeline from
> cyberspace.
>
> Under a pilot project to be launched in April by the World Bank, 10
> universities in six nations will be connected through the African Virtual
> University - a computer link via satellite to universities in Europe and the
> United States.
>
> The first phase of the project was worked out at a recent workshop in Addis
> Ababa attended by academics from eight African countries and representatives
> from universities and donor agencies in the United States and Ireland.
>
> The World Bank says the project's main objective is to tap new information
> technologies to overcome the many financial and physical barriers that
> prevent students at African colleges from gaining access to quality higher
> education.
>
> The bank, which is contributing $1.2 million, says most African universities
> have become increasingly irrelevant in a rapidly changing world, graduating
a > disproportionate number of students in the humanities rather than the
> sciences and engineering.
>
> Edward Jaycox, a senior adviser to World Bank President James Wolfensohn,
> said African universities are facing enormous difficulties, including
> declining budgets, lack of qualified instructors and outdated academic
> programs that fail to meet local needs.
>
> Making use of computer networks linking Africa to the West, participating
> universities in the United States and Ireland will provide packaged academic
> programs, particularly in science, engineering and business.
>
> During the pilot phase, a limited number of first-year undergraduate courses
> - calculus, differential equations, physics, electronic circuits, statistics
, > introduction to the Internet and introduction to computer sciences - will be
> offered via video transmissions, Internet links and other means such as
> e-mail.
>
> Etienne Baranshamaje, the World Bank's project manager, said the African
> Virtual University will be a network of Internet facilities and its own Web
> site.
>
> ``In those countries where an Internet service provider exists, a formula fo
r > working with them will be sought. Where there is none, AVU will initiate one
> for the students,'' he said.
>
> More and more African countries are setting up Internet services. Ethiopia
> will go online soon through the government telecommunications office, while
> private concerns provide Internet links in Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania.
>
> Baranshamaje said that during the first two semesters of the project, there
> will not be any specific Virtual University students. Rather, selected
> students enrolled in existing university courses will receive instruction an
d > take exams via the new technology.
>
> During this phase of the project, tests and paper-grading will be the
> responsibility of the participating universities in Ethiopia, Kenya, Uganda,
> Tanzania, Zimbabwe and Ghana. The lectures will be delivered from
> universities in the United States and Ireland.
>
> A second phase to begin next January will offer a complete curriculum for
> full-fledged undergraduate degree programs through the Virtual University. I
f > all goes well, African universities also will be originating their own
> programs in the final phase, Baranshamaje said.
>
> Other universities across Africa are expected to be included at a later
> stage, Baranshamaje said.
>
> The Virtual University is expected to be particularly relevant in African
> countries like Ethiopia that are emerging from prolonged wars and whose work
> forces lack vital technical skills.
>
> Governments and private sector organizations in need of continuous
> professional training for their employees are also expected to benefit.
>
> The University of Massachusetts and the New Jersey Institute of Technology i
n > the United States and University College Galway in Ireland are among the
> American and Irish institutions participating.
>
> AP-NY-04-01-97 2158EST
>
> Copyright 1997 The Associated Press. The information contained in the AP
> news report may not be published, broadcast, rewritten or otherwise
> distributed without prior written authority of The Associated Press.