Who we are
6. Methodology
6.1 Project Design
The project is based on a constructivist educational philosophy for knowledge creation. The overall structure provides the conceptual framework and space tools and resources, both human and technological, to test the approach to collaborative learning and knowledge creation.
6.2 Collaborative E-Learning
CIC and CEBEM will put together a set of three courses on e-learning addressing the fundamental concepts and skills that the community of online course designers, facilitators, and learners require in order to function comfortably and effectively in this learning environment. Additionally, in order to test both mechanisms and opportunities for collaboration, as well as the demand for online courses, they will also experiment with a limited number of substantive short-term courses for professional development.
6.2.1 Levels of Inter-institutional Collaboration
The project will test a model of four levels -or types- of inter-institutional collaboration:
- Level One: participant institutions advertise each other's courses and websites at no cost to either.
- Level Two: participant institutions facilitate access to each other's courses.
- Level Three: participant institutions allow one another a number of courses that each can use (translate and / or adapt as appropriate) without charge. Intellectual credit is given to original course author and to partner institution.
- Level Four: participant institutions collaborate on joint courses (can be offered exclusively to bilingual individuals or run concurrently on both sites: one English, one Spanish); this could be existing courses, or new courses designed in collaboration, by the institutions, or by people they identify. Technical issues such as fees, etc. would have to be worked out.
6.2.2 Design and Delivery of Online Courses
A first activity will be to put together the package of foundation courses to promote e-learning and to increase the quality of course design and delivery. The set will include: "Introduction to e-learning", "Designing online courses", and "Facilitating online courses".
A second activity will be to increase participant institutions' offerings in the three areas of substantive focus - through the levels of collaboration outlined above (7.2.1). - the substantive areas of focus will include territorial development, international development, and inter-cultural relations. In order to avoid duplication wherever possible, a survey of courses existing elsewhere that could be adapted for online delivery will be conducted.
These courses will be developed in consultation with experts in Latin America and Canada. Calls for proposals may be a complementary procedure, in addition to direct invitation to subject specialists and/or other institutions, in order to provide equal opportunities for university professors, graduate students and specialists in different programs and institutions in Latin America and Canada to participate. The working languages of this project are Spanish and English.
6.3 The Learning Framework: the Latin America-Canada Portal
The Portal will constitute the public component in the technical framework of the project. Its purpose is to provide a virtual meeting place for those interested in collaborative learning and knowledge creation and sharing; it will also serve as an entry point to gain access to current and future components of the educational and communicational structure that will be built, improved and expanded by the participant institutions' initiatives and interaction.
6.3.1. General Characteristics
The Portal will provide access to Canadian and Latin American academic, professional, and private sector sources of knowledge. It will enable to share information, access and feed into the same virtual library, set up online discussion groups, participate in the online courses, prepare joint dissemination products, and collaborate in their e-learning activities. The target audiences in Canada and Latin America will be academics, researchers, professionals, entrepreneurs, operators of cooperation programs, and government officials.
6.3.2 E-Learning Platforms
CEBEM's and CIC's e-learning platforms will be used for the production, promotion, and delivery of online courses. These platforms - that already exist and are updated and maintained as required by each organization - are systems developed to deliver organized information, manage user data and activities, promote communication among course participants, and structure conclusions when a learning process is concluded. Both e-learning platforms have been operating for several years, for the benefit of hundreds of students, most of them in Canada and Latin America.
6.3.3 Virtual Library
The virtual library will include electronic documents and links that provide information on opportunities for learning and professional exchanges, programs, courses, projects, research centres, donor institutions, Canadian and Latin American experts and networks, organizations, events, and other activities of interest to the project.(17)
Given the extent of knowledge sources in Canada and Latin America,(18) the database will focus, at the beginning, on Canadian and Latin American knowledge products of interest to the four focus areas - e-learning, territorial development, international development and intercultural relations.
6.3.4 Dissemination Tools
The primary dissemination tool will be a newsletter containing news about project activities and identifying Latin American and Canadian events, publications and resources relating to e-learning and to the other areas of interest to the project. The newsletter will be produced and distributed by e-mail in order to announce timely information that is available through the Portal.
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