a first year communication skills textbook[1]. The project was conceived in a context of insufficient numbers of relevant textbooks at the college, and involved the creation of a paper-based textbook from freely available OER. The team members have written new materials but have also used and adapted material from all around the English speaking world to suit the specific needs of this course. The following is an example of a chapter on listening skills from the textbook, Communication Skills, developed by the Language Communication for Development Department at the Bunda College of Agriculture, University of Malawi.
Figure 22: Sample Page from Bunda's 'Communication' Skills Textbook – an OER
A non-free image has been removed from this page.
Screenshot of Bunda's 'Communication' Skills Textbook p. 36 (Under CC-BY-NC-SA 2.5) (check licensing)
Open Schooling Initiatives
Open Schooling is increasingly recognised as a feasible solution to the lack of qualified teachers and conventional schools in the developing world. With primary school enrolments growing successfully to meet the United Nations Millennium Development Goal of Universal Primary Education, many nations simply cannot accommodate the corresponding increase in potential secondary school students. The Commonwealth of Learning (COL) defines Open Schooling by two elements[2]:
- The physical separation of the school-level student from the teacher; and
- The use of unconventional teaching methodologies and information and communications technologies (ICT) to bridge the separation and provide the education and training.
- ↑ The textbook can be retrieved at: www.oerafrica.org/foundation/FoundationOERHome/BundaCollegeofAgriculture/tabid/878/Default.aspx
- ↑ www.col.org/openSchooling
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