Designing Open and Distance Learning for Teacher Education in Sub-Saharan Africa: A toolkit for educators and planners

Everyone remembers a good teacher. Good teachers are the key to educational expansion and improvement. In many countries in Sub-Saharan Africa, there is an urgent need to expand the number of primary and secondary teachers. In all African countries, there is an equally important need to improve the quality of teaching. To achieve this, it is clear that new approaches to teacher education are essential. Existing institutions of teacher education will continue to play an important role, but, alone, they will not meet the goals of Education for All (EFA) by 2015. It is fortunate that, just as the twin needs to improve the quantity and quality of teachers become imperative, so new forms of education and training are becoming available. The world is witnessing a revolution in information and communication technologies (ICTs), which can offer training and support of a type and at a cost hitherto impossible to consider, and thus, must be fully explored given the scale and urgency of demand. In doing so, however, it will be necessary to build on existing and well-tested strategies, including the best models of open and distance learning. This toolkit is the third in a series of recent publications by the Africa Region Human Development Department of the World Bank to share knowledge and experience on how distance education and ICTs can support education in Sub-Saharan Africa. It emphasizes the rigorous process by which new forms of distance-education programs for teacher education can be planned and implemented. The best models of established programs are considered along with the potential for incorporating, as the means become available, new modes of communication. Most forms of teacher education, particularly those concerned with qualification upgrading and ongoing professional development, will have to be based in schools. The authors demonstrate how school-based programs, appropriately resourced and supported, have the potential not only to raise significantly the number and quality of teachers, but also to improve classroom practice and school organization, generally. The guidance and advice, which is drawn from many years of experience in design and implementation, and embraces a range of case studies from across the region, will be of considerable value to those preparing new policies and programs of teacher education and to those seeking to improve existing programs

Building a Central Repository for Nanomanufacturing

4th International Conference on Open RepositoriesThis presentation was part of the session : EPrints User Groups PresentationsDate: 2009-05-20 01:30 PM – 03:00 PMThe InterNano Nanomanufacturing Repository (INR) is a central repository of nanomanufacturing research and trade information for the nanomanufacturing community. It is administered by the National Nanomanufacturing Network (NNN) and funded by the National Science Foundation through the Center for Hierarchical Manufacturing at the University of Massachusetts Amherst. The INR is unique even as a central repository because it crosses not only institutional boundaries but also sector boundaries by including reports, research, teaching aids, and grey literature relevant to nanomanufacturing from academic, government, and industrial entities. In addition, because nanomanufacturing is itself inherently interdisciplinary, the repository crosses domain boundaries by including work that ranges from chemistry and physics to sociology and ethics. The INR is still early in development. Reflecting the two essential approaches for nanomanufacturing itself, the NNN is employing both top-down and bottom-up activities to build this national repository. Now in the "bottom-up" stage, the INR uses EPrints as its most fundamental building block and has incorporated a novel taxonomy and collections structure to support nanomanufacturing information. The NNN has customized the EPrints interface to reflect the InterNano Nanomanufacturing Clearinghouse, which the INR is designed to support. In addition, the NNN is manually migrating and soliciting content from its affiliates to build collections. Looking ahead to the "top down" activities, the NNN will be implementing an OAI harvester and initiating a SWORD pilot project to facilitate the deposition of relevant content from the vast body of nanotechnology literature. This presentation will describe the INR project with attention to its unique content, taxonomy, and customizations to the EPrints standard interface

Determining The Cost Effectiveness Of Solutions To Diffuse Pollution: Developing A Model To Assess In-Field Mitigation Options for Phosphorous and Sediment Loss

The European Union Water Framework Directive requires governments to set water quality objectives based on good ecological status. This includes specific requirements to control diffuse pollution. Diffuse phosphorous (P) pollution plays a pivotal role in influencing water quality with losses of P associated with soil particles often linked to soil erosion. The Mitigation Options for Phosphorus and Sediment (MOPS) project, using three case study sites, is investigating the cost effectiveness of specific control measures in terms of mitigating sediment and P loss from combinable crops. The analysis is conducted at the farm level using a simple spreadsheet model. Further development of the model will allow the results to be extrapolated to generic regional farm typologies. Results from the initial farm level analysis suggest that some mitigation options may not be cost effective in reducing diffuse pollution, however, that other options may be very cost effective.Resource /Energy Economics and Policy,

Limited variability in biological durability of thermally modified timber using vacuum based technology

The SmartHeat® thermal timber treatment is a new technology based on the process parameters being steered very precisely mainly due to the vacuum applied and heating system involved. Timber treated with this technology shows a potential for less variability of biological durability in one batch. Several batch treatments were sampled and assessed on statistical variability of decay resistance against Basidiomycetes and soft rotting micro-fungi according to lab testing as described in the standards CEN/TS 15083 part 1 and 2 respectively (only Basidiomycetes test results are reported in this paper). By means of Weibull distribution assessment it was possible to show that variability in biological durability of each treated beam is well controlled and that this variability is limited compared to natural durability of wood species. Lower treatment variability due to precise parameter control for each beam and limited deviations of process parameters within the treating vessel are considered the main contributing factors. The paper also states that lower control of process parameters of some heat treatment processes might induce higher variability of the obtained biological durability than a customer might expect

Outlook and appraisal [August 1984]

Growth in the British economy came almost to a halt during the first half of this year. As a result , even a speedy resolution of the coal dispute would be unlikely to push the GDP growth rate this year above 2.5 Though much of July's interest rate increase has already been reversed, it is likely to prove more difficult to reverse the effects on the retail price index and thus attain the goal of H.5% inflation at the end of the year. The uncompetitive nature of the housing finance market makes a speedy and full unwinding of the recent rise in mortgage rates unlikely

The Scottish economy [August 1984]

Throughout much of the last two years the official view has been that the Scottish recession was less severe than that experienced in the United Kingdom as a whole. Indeed, the Secretary of State has proclaimed to a variety of audiences, including the House of Commons, that Scotland was, and still is , leading the country out of recession. This diagnosis has not met with universal approval, as it appears to be founded primarily on the growth of the Scottish electronics sector and on the smaller proportionate rise in unemployment which has occurred in Scotland than in Britain as a whole. This latter fact is not particularly surprising as the pre-recession level of unemployment in Scotland was markedly above that of the rest of Britain

Literacity: A multimedia adult literacy package combining NASA technology, recursive ID theory, and authentic instruction theory

An important part of NASA's mission involves the secondary application of its technologies in the public and private sectors. One current application under development is LiteraCity, a simulation-based instructional package for adults who do not have functional reading skills. Using fuzzy logic routines and other technologies developed by NASA's Information Systems Directorate and hypermedia sound, graphics, and animation technologies the project attempts to overcome the limited impact of adult literacy assessment and instruction by involving the adult in an interactive simulation of real-life literacy activities. The project uses a recursive instructional development model and authentic instruction theory. This paper describes one component of a project to design, develop, and produce a series of computer-based, multimedia instructional packages. The packages are being developed for use in adult literacy programs, particularly in correctional education centers. They use the concepts of authentic instruction and authentic assessment to guide development. All the packages to be developed are instructional simulations. The first is a simulation of 'finding a friend a job.

Lessons From SEED: A National Demonstration of Child Development Accounts

Lessons From SEED: A National Demonstration of Child Development Account

Nanofiber fabrication in a temperature and humidity controlled environment for improved fibre consistency

To fabricate nanofibers with reproducible characteristics, an important demand for many applications, the effect of controlled atmospheric conditions on resulting electrospun cellulose acetate (CA) nanofibers was evaluated for temperature ranging 17.5 - 35°C and relative humidity ranging 20% - 70%. With the potential application of nanofibers in many industries, especially membrane and filter fabrication, their reproducible production must be established to ensure commercially viability.
Cellulose acetate (CA) solution (0.2 g/ml) in a solvent mixture of acetone/DMF/ethanol (2:2:1) was electrospun into nonwoven fibre mesh with the fibre diameter ranging from 150nm to 1µm.
The resulting nanofibers were observed and analyzed by scanning electron microscopy (SEM), showing a correlation of reducing average fibre diameter with increasing atmospheric temperature. A less pronounced correlation was seen with changes in relative humidity regarding fibre diameter, though it was shown that increased humidity reduced the effect of fibre beading yielding a more consistent, and therefore better quality of fibre fabrication.
Differential scanning calorimetry (DSC) studies observed lower melt enthalpies for finer CA nanofibers in the first heating cycle confirming the results gained from SEM analysis. From the conditions that were explored in this study the temperature and humidity that gave the most suitable fibre mats for a membrane purpose were 25.0°C and 50%RH due to the highest level of fibre diameter uniformity, the lowest level of beading while maintaining a low fibre diameter for increased surface area and increased pore size homogeneity. This study has highlighted the requirement to control the atmospheric conditions during the electrospinning process in order to fabricate reproducible fibre mats