CONNECT A SCHOOL, CONNECT A COMMUNITY

Chulalongkorn University (CU) has launched an electronic bookstore on iOS and expected to release up to 1000 items in stock by the end of the year. “The eBook Store not only provides e-books to students and readers but will also be a gateway of writers and professors’ knowledge for readers in terms of digital media and multimedia,” Assoc Dr Danuja Kunpanitchakit, a vice president of CU said. The CU’s e-Bookstore application will be based on iOS to empower students in accessing knowledge and curricula via mobile devices such as tablets, according to her. The CU is the oldest university in Thailand, located in the heart of Bangkok. It plans to transform itself into a digital university within four years. Establishing the CU-eBook Store, the first of its kind, is a part of the initial transition to provide e-books and e-curricula to students and mobile users, she added. According to Kriengsak Hongsawek, a computer manager of the CU Book Centre, the e-Book Store currently offers about 500 items for download, of which 200 are free. The rest can be purchased at a saving of 20-30 per cent. The university also aimed to partner with leading publishing houses to offer up to 1,000 items by year-end. The app for Android users will be ready in a couple weeks. The Quick Response (QR) code technology is being deployed to make e-learning experience more convenient and easily accessible, he inserted. (Source: FutureGov)

Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:10.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif";} Both institutions seek to create synergies to develop solutions engineering, product design and methodology, using ICT as a tool to connect to most Peruvians, especially in rural areas. The agreement also aims to strengthen the initiatives being developed by the Rural Telecommunications Group of Catholic University (PUCP) through which it has deployed wireless networks in various parts of Cusco, Cajamarca and Loreto and currently provides access to the Internet via the WiFi network allowing for example to have the service of Telemedicine in border areas. Telefonica and the Rural Telecommunications Group of Catholic University of Peru (PUCP) signed on Friday 13 July a cooperation agreement through which the agencies are seeking to join forces with the aim of developing solutions based on Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) that allow telecommunications to be brought to rural America. Through this agreement, both institutions seek to create synergies to develop engineering solutions, products, design and methodology, using ICT as a tool to connect to most Peruvians, with special attention to the needs of rural areas that have a lack of telecommunications services and / or with limited access. Both institutions are committed to develop outreach activities and academic specialization programmes, courses, seminars, forums and conferences to enhance participants' skills and improve their experiences in ICT. (Source: Telefonica) Further details

Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:.0001pt; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-bidi-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-bidi-theme-font:minor-bidi;} Normal 0 false false false EN-US X-NONE X-NONE MicrosoftInternetExplorer4 /* Style Definitions */ table.MsoNormalTable {mso-style-name:"Table Normal"; mso-tstyle-rowband-size:0; mso-tstyle-colband-size:0; mso-style-noshow:yes; mso-style-priority:99; mso-style-qformat:yes; mso-style-parent:""; mso-padding-alt:0cm 5.4pt 0cm 5.4pt; mso-para-margin-top:0cm; mso-para-margin-right:0cm; mso-para-margin-bottom:10.0pt; mso-para-margin-left:0cm; line-height:115%; mso-pagination:widow-orphan; font-size:11.0pt; font-family:"Calibri","sans-serif"; mso-ascii-font-family:Calibri; mso-ascii-theme-font:minor-latin; mso-fareast-font-family:"Times New Roman"; mso-fareast-theme-font:minor-fareast; mso-hansi-font-family:Calibri; mso-hansi-theme-font:minor-latin;} Agricultural workers in Ethiopia such as farmers and researchers came together in Addis Ababa to discuss a farmers market information system (FMIS). This system will include a text message information service for farmers in Ethiopia’s Oromia province. Purpose of the workshops was to identify the needs of several actors in the agriculture field such as farmers, farmers unions, agricultural experts and traders and suppliers of cultivation products. The meeting also allowed the agriculture workers to classify their requirements on the features of the farmers market information system and. The system will be built by Ethiopian mobile technology company Apposit LLC with the support of Connect4Change consortium members IICD, Texttochange and ICCO and Dutch ICT company 1Zero. The Farmers Market Information System will function as a database with a mobile component, giving its users all the information they seek, in different user interfaces, adjusted to their needs. Field visits in local farmers market organizations, indicated that more than 50% of the farmers in the Oromia Region make use of mobile phones and value this use in their daily life. Through the FMIS, the farmers will be able to receive information on market prices for their products, the weather forecast, or availability of fertilisers with a simple text message. In addition to this, they will be provided with solar mobile chargers to facilitate them, as at the moment, every time they need to charge their phones, they are forced to visit the nearest village on a market day and pay an amount of money to have it charged. Farmers market organizations and unions will use the Farmers Market Information System to aggregate data from individual farmers about what and how many products they grow. With these data, they will be able to analyze and monitor the production of agricultural goods in their area. The Farmers Information System will also be used by traders and suppliers of cultivation products to retrieve information on which products are being cultivated and provide the farmers with the necessary market information or products such as fertilizers suitable to their crop. In the first phase, the Farmers Market Information System will be used by 16500 farmers in the Oromia Region, with the possibility to upscale it to other provinces. The system will be developed by the Ethiopian mobile technology company Apposit LLC with the support of IICD and fellow Connect4change members, ICCO and Texttochange,  as well as with the support of 1Zero. (Source: IICD) Further details

Experts at eLearning Africa 2011 suggested that eLearning could bridge the alarming skills gap that exists between nurses trained in different disciplines. Some pointed to successful partnerships with NGOs in East Africa. Others discussed scale and replicability in African medical training. The question of content and related issues including information access and development was a key theme of the session ‘What contribution can eLearning make towards confronting the skills challenge of Africa’s health sector?’ Mohamed Labib discussed HSO.info, a well-resourced website with expert free health sciences information. The vision is to make this relevant and available to all health workers. The importance of partnerships was noted here, both south-south and north-south. The example provided was the University Teaching Hospital in Zambia, partnering with the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland. The session included two presentations from the Tanzanian Training Centre for International Health (TTCIH). Angelo Nyamtema pointed out the severe shortage of healthcare workers in Tanzania and discussed the progress being made in developing an eLearning training programme, including their approach to pedagogical design and course structuring. Diana Mukami discussed the African Medical and Research Foundation’s successful nurse upgrading programme via eLearning. Since its inception nearly six years ago, the programme – a classic public-private partnership – has enrolled 7000 nurses across 108 eCentres in Kenya and graduated over 2000 nurses. It comprises General Nursing, Reproductive Health, Community Health and Specialised Areas. (Source: eLearning Africa) Further details