Deadline: 30-Nov-22
The Commonwealth of Learning (COL) is calling for proposals for Strengthening Institutional Capacities in ODeL.
COL will support educational institutions in the small states and least developed countries (LDCs) of the Commonwealth to adopt open distance and eLearning (ODeL) systematically through augmenting available technologies and capacities. This support, in project mode, will be available for a limited period only. In instances of successful completion of expected outcomes, it could extend up to three years. Positive evaluation could result in the partner institution being designated a ‘COL Centre of ODeL.’
Duration: 2-3 years. While the project will be implemented in three phases, the overall implementation period will depend on the speed of activities.
Technologies to be supported
The technologies to be supported shall be based on needs identified and agreed upon in the context of planned activities, outputs, and outcomes to be achieved. However, the support may include the following, but not limited to:
- Strengthening the local area network
- Augmenting the Internet bandwidth
- Digital tools such as PCs, laptops, heavy duty scanners, professional video cameras, digital mixers, audio recorder, etc.
- Software for digital content creation
- Setting up an off-grid solar power station to support ODeL.
Key Outputs and Outcomes
- The activities under this project will result in
- improved capacity of teaching and technical staff
- development of institutional policies, systems, and strategies to offer quality open and distance learning (ODL) and OER.
- ‘greening’ the infrastructure and curriculum for sustainable development
- create an enabling environment for improving the lives and livelihoods especially of marginalised people, women, girls, and persons with disabilities
- It is expected that the COL support would lead to some of the following specific outputs:
- Availability of an Open Educational Resources (OER) Repository
- Effective utilization of a Learning Management System
- More availability of Online/blended courses and resources
- Digitisation of institutional records
- Increased number of students who can access online/blended courses
- Adoption of a green technology support model
Intended Target Institutions
During 2023, the COL intends to support educational institutions in the least developed countries (LDCs) and small states of the Commonwealth through this special project. The project is currently being implemented in Antigua and Barbuda, Bangladesh, Eswatini, Lesotho, Maldives, Mozambique, and Seychelles. In this call for proposals, preference will be given to existing COL partner institutions from small states and LDCs of the Commonwealth.
Eligibility Criteria
This call is only for recognised educational institutions in the target countries as indicated above. The proposal must be aligned with COL’s theory of change as in the Strategic Plan (2021-2027). Institutions already implementing ODeL with COL support or in advanced stages of ODeL implementation need not respond to this call for proposal.
For more information, visit https://www.col.org/call-for-proposals-strengthening-institutional-capacities-in-odel/