PERSPECTIVES ON DISTANCE EDUCATION
Educational Media in Asia Usha V. Reddi and Sanjaya Mishra, Editors
This is the first book to survey the region’s use of educational media and summarise the experiences of different Commonwealth Asian  countries in one collection. The book is designed to serve as both a  resource and a guide. It provides valuable background and the insights of leading academics, practitioners, researchers and students of educational media – while also offering a unique   platform from which, it is hoped, new ideas  and further  developments will be stimulated.   The book is available online at http://  www.col.org/PSedmediaasia/ EdMedia_Asia.pdf

Educational media have the potential to transform the process of teaching and learning. Media have been effective in enhancing  the scale and scope of  earning, which in turn has made it possible  to achieve other social and economic development goals.  The requirement of media is so immediate and pressing that the nature of acquisition of  knowledge has already exhibited a transformation from what it was only  a decade ago in the Asian societies. Schools vie with each other to  introduce computer awareness courses and even computer-based  learning in established conventional courses. Software development in this area is an important priority  of computer firms. Secondary
schools adopt a computer-based curriculum, traditional humanities and social science programmes rush to computer applications  programmes. The Commonwealth of Learning (COL) has tried to share this Asian experience by  ocumenting such developments. Asia, the home to  most of the world’s big universities, open universities with over 100,000 students, generates the hope that much can be learned, from the way  that these institutions deploy a variety of educational media that include radio, television,  teleconferencing, interactive radio, multimedia and the  Web. Educational media researchers, practitioners and policy-makers carried the similar hope through their  contributions to the volume on  educational media in Asia as part of the series: Perspectives on Distance Education.  Commonwealth Asia has been a region of extremes. At one end are the leaders like Malaysia, Singapore  and India that have successfully  exploited the technology for the purposes of education. At the other  end are countries such as Bangladesh and Sri Lanka which are still at the nascent stage of deploying  technologies for education and development. The book has three sections: Country Profiles, Research  Reviews and Case Studies. The five  country studies, three research reviews and six cases  resented  in the book highlight the richness of the Asian experience. The five country profiles describe the use of educational media in  Bangladesh, India, Malaysia, Singapore and Sri Lanka.  The research reviews section has documented three main areas of  media application: audio, video and computer-related technologies.  The final section of case studies present six Asian case studies, which again includes two non-  Commonwealth countries. The Commonwealth of Learning enriched the book with contributions from 23 authors in 14 chapters. The profound  knowledge and experience of the two editors, Dr. Usha Reddi and  Dr. Sanjaya Mishra, in educational media in  the  sian region has properly been reflected in the  rich content of the book. All the authors, in some way have tried to draw attention to the  importance of the need for a coherent and cohesive approach.  The successful use of  ommunication   technologies for education requires the optimal deployment of sufficient resources in support  of policy, structures, funding, human resources, production, research/evaluation and future  planning- one can not deny to these facts while making out a gist of the  book.

HP unveils pen keyboard for Indian languages
HP Labs India has introduced itspen-based keyboard for Indian languages, including Devanagari (Hindi), Kannada and Tamil. Priced at Rs 2,000, the gesture-based keyboard helps solve the phonetic language entry problem by allowing users to input text and data with a pen. The innovative technology also
allows any Indian script to be recorded and stored directly on the
spread over a year and every student is handed a scholarship of Euro 17,000 for the whole year. Since education at a European university is free, this easily supplements a student for his or her living expenses during the  year. 130 Indian students have been handed scholarships in the  first year.  ‘Talking library’ records success  in southern India  Unlike in the West, audio libraries are rare in India, and “talking books” are  rarely available in shops. And in such  a situation, 46-year-old Madhu Singhal, herself visually impaired,  runs an audio library of 16,000  works in the southern Indian city  of Bangalore.   Madhu’s library has audio books in  English and two Indian languages, Hindi and Kannada. It started when  her brother-in-law bought her a tape  recorder and encouraged her to do
something for the blind. She  depends entirely on volunteers to  help with the recordings, who is  also a founder of the Mitra Jyothi  (Friendly Light), a city-based nongovernmental  organisation. Two recording rooms at Mitra Jyothi’s  office are the hub of the library.  Volunteers – from young students to housewives and the retired – lend  their time and voices to record for the blind. For a nominal sum of 10  rupees, the visually impaired can enrol as members. With word  about the library spreading, students from neighbouring southern states have begun INDIA  News  computer. The hi-tech keyboard  makes it easier for even non-English  speaking people and those who can’t  type to communicate with others effortlessly. Designed and developed  at HP Labs India, the keyboard  is currently available in Hindi  and Kannada scripts along with English fonts.    demanding audio books in their native languages. The library’s success has motivated Madhu to start a computer centre and an employment centre for the disabled. Her efforts to get government

Red Hat and Lotus Learning in India to promote open source education in schools
The Nasdaq-listed Red Hat, an open source software provider, has announced its partnership with the southrn Indian city Hyderabadbased  Lotus Learning Systems Society to promote open source  education in schools.

Village school children go online in India
Arul Mozhi, D. Deepa and K. Maunika are first generation learners
from Big names partner on IT-assisted education across   rivate  sector schools in India Computer education just got a big boost. NIIT, Intel India, Microsoft and State Bank of India (SBI), four formidable names,  ave formed a strategic joint partnership to initiate IT and IT-assisted education  cross private sector schools in the country. Among the four partners, NIIT proposes to front-lead the education  package through its NIIT K-12  Kindergarten to 12th standard) programme by developing content in major  subjects like English, Math, Science and Social Sciences. NIIT claims to have  already developed 4,000 hours of  content as per school curriculum and plans to take it further alongwith training teachers and thereafter students in   T-assisted education practices. Intel India will be providing its technology,  software, content and integration  facilities by facilitating power efficient  personal computers. It also plans to   extend its reach to private schools with its Genuine Intel Dealer network for the IT-assisted education programme.  icrosoft India, under its  Partners in Learning Program, will be working in areas of training, certification, etc.
than Rs 30 lakh are being invested in this initiative to facilitate  hands-on training in all the affiliated colleges. Accordingly, the commerce  faculties of all the 120 colleges affiliated to Osmania University  have already undergone a two-day  training programme on Tally  accounting software. The training offers both the faculty and the students a hands-on experience with  real-time situations. This is aimed at grooming students so that they  are employable.  Camera schools in India help inreasing teacher attendance  Teacher absence ranges from 20% to over 50% in different states of India,  and makes a mockery of free and universal education. In such circumstances, the government’s  plan to double spending on education will simply double  the waste.  One possible solution comes from Sewa Mandir, an NGO, whose experiment has been analysed in a  research paper by two American scholars (Monitoring Works: Getting  Teachers to Come to School, by
Esther Duflo of MIT and Rema  Hagner of New York University). Sewa Mandir runs non-formal  schools in hilly, scattered villages of Udaipur district.  hamlets with about 1,000 families in  interior Tamil Nadu in southern India but they are among the thousands of  primary and elementary school children who use computers as a  learning tool. Under a computer aided learning programme launched in September, 82,400 rural children in 412 centres  in 30 districts are using software packages produced jointly by the State and the Bangalore-based
Azim Premji Foundation. Children answer questions in subjects  such as Tamil, English, Mathematics, Science, and Social Science on  computer. Tally in tie-up with Osmania  varsity in India Tally India, a technology company,   has tied up with Osmania University in the Indian city  Hyderabad for education programmes on Tally accounting  software across colleges under the university umbrella.  This is to enable Osmania University to teach Tally. A curriculum for
commerce students has also been  designed. Under the academic collaboration programme,

ASIA
Opening of 15 School telecentre network in
Chittagong in Bangladesh On 16 March, a ceremony at the Kala Kakoli school launched a fifteen center project bringing computers and Internet to schools
and their communities in the Chittagong area. The project is part of a nationwide project by an international NGO, Relief International – Schools Online (RI-SOL) which has partnered in Chittagong with the  Mahmudunnabi Chowdhury Foundation, a philanthropic  organization promoting technology,
education and youth development in the Chittagong area. 

The RI-SOL project is funded y the US Department of State’s  Educational and Cultural AffairsBureau,
the Hewlett Foundation, the Global Catalyst Foundation  and other private donations. The project promotes use and  integration of information and communication technologies  into secondary education. The opening took place as part o f America week in Chittagong and  was attended by USAID Deputy Director, Beth Paige. Digital Learning Asia 2006: a  curtain raiser
Centre for Science, Development and Media Studies (CSDMS), India in  association with Ministry of Information and Communication Technology and Ministry of Education, Royal Thai Government,  recently organised the ‘Curtain Raiser Ceremony and First Meeting of the  Program Advisory Board’ of the
forthcoming digital LEARNING Asia 2006 along with the two other parallel  conferences – egov Asia 2006 and the Asian Telecentre Forum 2006 to  be held between 26-28 April, 2006  at Rama Gardens Hotel, Bangkok, Thailand.

China to produce low-cost computers of its own
A Chinese company has developed the first computer costing around 1,000 yuan (125 U.S. dollars) using a Chinese-made Godson II CPU, and  plans to put the computers into industrial production in June.  The performance of Longmeng, or Dragon Dream, is equivalent to a 1G  Pentium III desktop, according to Zhang. It is a computer, a DVD player  and also a video game player.

Development Gateway brings out special report on online education
The new Special Report of  Development Gateway- ‘Online Education: What Can It Deliver?’ (http://topics.developmentgateway.  org/special/onlineeducation) looks at lessons learned, innovations that  work, and the future of ICT in
education for developing countries. It coincides with related major  international events, notably  igital Learning Asia 2006, Bangkok,  Thailand, on April 25-28, and the 1st International Conference on  ICT for Development, Education & Training, Addis Ababa, Ethiopia,  on May 24-26.

No mountain high enough to reach ICT-challenged students in Mindanao,
Philippines Cisco Systems, a worldwide leader in Internet networking solutions and USAID’s Computer Literacy and Internet Connection (CLIC) Program  have joined hands to provide students in the Autonomous Region of Muslim Mindanao (ARMM) and other conflict-affected areas in Mindanao (CAAM) with the essential information technology skills that will prepare them for  the highly competitive global information society

Tech Target to launch Tech Target Asia
IT media company Tech Target announced that it has partnered with Netremedia to launch Tech Target  sia, a network of English language websites and magazines targeted to specific communities of IT  professionals in Southeast Asia. Tech Target Asia media will provide news,  advice and other information for IT professionals to help them make  purchase decisions, develop technical knowledge and address IT challenges.  Tech Target Asia will serve Englishspeaking IT professionals throughout  the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN). ASEAN includes  Indonesia, Brunei, Cambodia, Laos, Myanmar, Thailand, the Philippines, Singapore, Vietnam and Malaysia. Tech Target Asia will launch Asian  versions of Bitpipe.com,  SearchCIO.com, SearchStorage.com,  SearchSecurity.com and several Windows-related sites, as well as regional editions of ‘Information  Security and Storage’ magazines. Tech Target also announced a reciprocal  sales agreement with Netremedia,  enabling each company to sell advertising on the other’s media.
World Bank survey highlights teachers’ absenteeism
A World Bank survey has found that 25 percent schoolteachers in India are missing from work, thus leaving a gap  n the government’s attempt to deliver  primary education to all.  The survey is part of a broader World Bank research project on absenteeism, which set out to measure how  widespread the problem is in six countries, namely Bangladesh,  Ecuador, India, Indonesia, Peru and Uganda. On average 19 percent of teachers and 35 percent of health  workers weren’t at work on the surveyed day in the six countries. The researchers found that the teachers and health workers are extremely unlikely to be fired for absence as Discovery Channel launches homework help site A new Discovery Channel homework Web site aims to remind parents whose math and history knowledge has gotten rusty how to help their children with the very things they have forgotten. Cosmeo, a new online subscription site from Discovery Communications, offers a range of tools from a WebMath equation solver to  ducational videos and subject-specific Brain Games. Launched recently, the site  targets Web-savvy  children from kindergarten through 12th grade. It also gives parents and other caretakers a way to be more involved in the learning  rocess while refreshing  their own knowledge. only one in 3,000 head teachers had ever fired a teacher for repeated  absence. The study found better pay also doesn’t lower absenteeism. Satellite technology to enable  rural populace to learn English Innovative applications of the newest forms of technology can help alleviate education divides. The Information  and Communication Technology  Agency (ICTA) is  funding a pilot project through the  Partnership Assistance Program (PAP) of its e-Society Development Initiative  (e-SDI) to do just that. Gateway Educational Centre which is already a  premier provider of English training in Colombo, will set up centres in  two villages in Hambantota and Batticaloa and carry out a one-year  English course for adults using a curriculum that is already being   taught in Colombo. Project will directly benefit a total of 300 persons  from these two areas. The course will be broadcast from Colombo via satellite to the  centres. Questions can be asked by the students over a speakerphone and answered by  the master teacher based in
Colombo. Additional assistance will be provided by a tutor at the  centre and the same course materials (workbooks, etc.) that  are used in Colombo will be used for this course. All participants  will finally take the EdExcel English examination which will provide them  with an internationally accepted certificate of English literacy.  By giving rural Sri Lanka access to  English teaching of the same quality available to those in Colombo, the  ICTA is following through on the promise of its e-Sri Lanka program of  delivering the opportunities and advantages of urban areas to rural  populace through innovative communication technologies

WORLD
NGO donates 200 computers to boost ICT education in the Northern Ghana
The Northern Ghana Aid (NOGAID) a non-governmental organisation (NGO), has presented 200 computers, valued at 700 million cedis to four senior secondary schools and two partners organisations in the Northern  and Upper West regions at a ceremony in Accra.  The beneficiaries of NOGAID
Computer Literacy Project are: Ghana Secondary School, Pong-Tamale  Senior Secondary School and Tamale Business Secondary School in the  Northern Region and Jirapa Senior Secondary School in the Upper West
Region.
UNESCO official calls for ICTintegrated education in Africa
Lala Aïcha Ben Barka, Director of the Dakar-based UNESCO‘s Regional Bureau for Education in Africa (BREDA), has called for the  integration of Information and Communication technologies (ICTs)  into the educational system in Africa,
especially in teacher training. Speaking at the end of a meeting of  National Coordinators of UNESCO Teacher Training Initiative in Sub-  Saharan Africa (TTISSA), she said the use of modern technologies in the  educational system offered great opportunities for the elaboration of  teaching programmes, distance  learning, planning and management of education. The use of various
communication channels in teaching  could also help replicate training programmes and reduce the  prohibitive costs from national policies on education development in Africa, the BREDA chief added. Egypt, Oracle ink MoU for education solutions

The Government of Egypt recently signed a memorandum of
understanding (MoU) with 12 companies in the Oracle Consortium to provide ICT hardware, software, digital content and teacher  development to secondary schools. Egypt is the fifth country in Africa to  commit to the new partnership for African development’s (Nepad) e-  Schools demonstration project, and joins Ghana in committing to the  project under the auspices of the Oracle Consortium. The agreement forms part of the Nepad e-Schools  demonstration project, a Nepad e- Africa Commission initiative. The project aims to establish six Nepad e- Websites to go user-friendly for disabled people  New guidelines on how to make websites more user-friendly for disabled people have been developed by the British Standards Institution (BSI). The work was sponsored by the Disability Rights Commission (DRC) after an investigation in April 2004.
The DRC’s report into web accessibility found that more than 80% of sites posed
barriers to disabled people. Called PAS 78, the guidance is intended for any organisation that has a public-facing website. PAS – or Publicly Available Specification – 78 describes itself as a guide to good practice in commissioning accessible websites. It is particularly aimed at the people responsible for commissioning and maintaining public-facing sites. UK organisations with websites have been legally obliged to make them disabled-friendly since 1999. By following the new guidelines, site owners are likely to be on the right side of the law. The DRC also points out that businesses with accessible websites are in a much better position to tap into the estimated £80bn spent by people with disabilities every year. Schools in each participating country and monitor and evaluate their effectiveness in order to inform the broader rollout of the Nepad e- Schools Initiative across Africa.

Africa’s vets to gain from webbasedtraining
Veterinary schools in sub-Saharan Africa have joined forces to create an Internet-based training programme that will allow vets to study for postgraduate degrees while  ontinuing to work. The African Universities Veterinary ELearning Consortium, which launched  on 8 March, will create online courses for vets unable to attend full-time  degrees. Postgraduate training for vets in Africa is currently limited to  traditional full-time, residential courses.  The consortium will develop online  programmes in collaboration with the African Virtual University and the  University of Edinburgh, United Kingdom. These will include masters and PhD degrees, and ‘continuing professional development’ courses.  Initially, courses will be available in Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, South  Africa, Tanzania, Uganda, Zambia and Zimbabwe.

In recent years, several countries in Asia have responded to the global need to constantly upgrade the skills and adaptability of human  resource with more imaginative educational expansion that can  support an accelerated spread of new technologies in the education system.  This has happened through nationaleducation strategies with a focus on integration of ICT in education at all  levels. However, counties are still in  different stages of this integration, coping with challenges of  infrastructure and implementation and bringing all those to  imelight in  order to initiate the action phase is what the Digital learning Asia 2006  is getting ready to do. And as part of initiating the process, the increasing awareness of governments and communities about the enormous  potential of ICTs for fast-forwarding their developmental process  and realisation of the undeniable  need for mutual learning and knowledge flow, was emphasized in the curtain raiser of Digital  learning Asia 2006. The ‘Curtain Raiser Ceremony and  First Meeting of the Program Advisory Board’ of the  orthcoming  Digital Learning Asia 2006 to be held  between 26-28 April, 2006 at Rama Gardens Hotel, Bangkok, Thailand  was organised on 17 March 2006 at Bangkok by Centre for Science,  Development and Media Studies (CSDMS), India in association with  Ministry of Information and Communication Technology and  Ministry of Education, Royal Thai Government.  Held as an evening programme, at the luxurious Lilavadee Room of Rama  Gardens Hotel, Bangkok, the ceremony and the meeting drew  participation by more than 40  delegates, comprising honourable members of the Program Advisory  Board,   epresentatives from supporting partners and institutional  partners, senior executives and leaders from the IT industry and  members of press and media.
The programme started with the  welcome note by the Chairman of the Program Advisory Board, Kraisorn Pornsutee, Permanent Secretary,  Ministry of Information and  Communication Technology, Royal Conference Report Thai Government, who laid emphasis on the overriding importance for  creating enabling opportunity to encourage new learning paradigms  and intellectual networks through  platforms like that to be provided by Digital LEARNING Asia.
Speaking on the background of this  conference, Ravi Gupta, Director, CSDMS and Convener, Digital  Learning Asia 2006 explained the relevance of the event and its  commitment towards promoting and advocating ICT-led development of societies across the Asia-Pacific  region. Highlighting the remarkable momentum and popularity that this  event has already generated for itself across various countries and  stakeholders of the region, Mr. Gupta gave a vivid portrayal of the 24  national and international organiations associated with these  events in diverse roles and capacities. Following this, he presented the
details of conference programmes, covering each plenary and parallel  session, the invited speakers, paper  presenters and special workshops of the  onference.
An open floor discussion followed thereafter, wherein the members and  representatives of the Programme Advisory Board were engaged by the session moderator, the Chairman himself, to invite remarks and  suggestions. A good number of valuable inputs did come in, laced  with words of inspiration and intent of  the industry to provide support for the conference. Though concluded with suggestions, views and ideas, it was  not the end of the show. Just left the
Asian gathering to hold their breath  for the real show to begin- Digital Learning Asia 2006.

The developmental process of designing meaningful multimedia  e-learning materials whether they are to be delivered  in the form of a CD-ROM or the Internet often need to be guided by educational theories (Norman and Spohrer, 1996; Mayer, 2001).  Although designers of multimedia learning environments often have  a lot of information, proven instructional methods and  powerful  multimedia systems,  it is still a difficult task to produce effective multimedia learning materials for e-learning. This is  more so especially due to a lack of effective yet practical pedagogical  design model for selecting, organizing and designing multimedia materials  for e-learning (Tsoi et al.1999; 2000). Hence, the following sections  provide an insight on a onceptualized hybrid learning model, TSOI©   model for multimedia e-learning design  pedagogy
TSOI© model represents learning as a cognitive process in a cycle of four phases, namely, Translating; Sculpting; Operationalising; and Integrating. In the translating phase, multimedia experiences are translated into a beginning idea or concept to be further engaged in sculpting phase which involves logical chain of instructional events embedding episodes of thinking, guiding and reflecting leading to the identification of the attributes of the concept. The operationalising phase entails meaningful functionality for concept internalisation while the integrating phase provides the setting for diverse problem applications. Pedagogical principles of the TSOI© model are applied to science and chemical education. pedagogy.
Framework of TSOI© model The traditional model of ‘Transmit- Receive’ which when applied to multimedia learning, has so far failed to engage learners in meaningful learning (Scardamalia and Bereiter, 1993). In contrast, this hybrid learning model (Tsoi et al. 2003) for the design  of multimedia aims not only to
enhance concept learning but also to cater to different learning styles. The  theoretical basis of this hybrid  learning model is derived from the Piagetian science learning cycle model and the Kolb’s experiential learning  cycle model. The Piagetian science learning cycle model is an inquirybased  student-centered learning cycle representing an inductive application  of information processing models of  teaching and learning. It has three phases in a cycle: exploration, concept invention and concept  application (Karplus, 1977; Renner and Marek, 1990; Lawson, 1995). The  exploration phase focuses on “what  did you do?” while the concept invention phase centers on “What did you find out”. The third phase is for  application of the concept acquired. The Kolb’s experiential learning cycle  (1984) represents learning as a process in a cycle of four stages,  namely, concrete experience, reflective observation, abstract  conceptualization and active experimentation. The concrete experience stage focuses on “doing”.  The reflective observation stage deals with “understanding the doing”. The abstract conceptualization stage  focuses on “understanding” part  while the active experimentation stage is about “doing the understanding”. Bostrom et al. (1990) also conclude that learning styles are an important factor in computer-based training and  learning. Hence, a hybrid learning model is derived from a synthesis of  both the Piagetian science learning cycle model and Kolb’s experiential  learning cycle model. This hybrid
learning model termed the TSOI© model of learning represents learning  Figure 2. Instructional storyboard for translating phase as a cognitive process in a  ycle of four phases: Translating, Sculpting, Operationalizing, and Integrating.
Figure 1 shows the four phases of the TSOI© model of learning.

Pedagogical Design
Application For illustration, in science and  chemical education, the mole concept, a difficult concept which is abstract in  nature is used (Tsoi et al. 1998). The subtopic 1 is relative atomic/molecular  mass, Avogadro’s number and Mole. In the translating phase, the activity  explores the relationship between mass and number of particles. The  multimedia experiences are translated into a beginning idea or concept of  what is mass ratio which is needed to understand Avogadro’s number an  Mole in the next phase, the sculpting phase. Figure 2 illustrates in the form of instructional storyboarding the activity for the learner to go through in the translating phase. At the end of the activity, the learner will have a beginning idea or concept of mass ratio as a relationship between total
mass and equal number of particles through discovery and that this is  help in the understanding of relative atomic mass and Avogadro’s number.  In the sculpting phase, the activities take place as a chain  of logical events of content sequencing, learner guiding and  reflecting as shown  in Figures 3 and 4 as instructional  toryboarding. One  of the activities on  “physical meaning” at a microscopic (particle) level  involves the learner  comparing the  masses of various atoms that have  annotations to go with it. The various atoms are displayed with the appropriate  colour and size. This  is essential to enhance the first activity on finding  out how heavy is a single atom of  carbon leading to the idea that the actual mass of an atom is very small  and hence, the need to  compare  masses of different atoms with each other including mass ratio. Activities as shown in Figure 3 will  ead to the fundamental concept that relative atomic mass is a number used  o compare the masses of different atoms and it has no units. The learner is provided the opportunity to be  engaged in the thinking process of using the given information to create  a relative atomic mass scale. The instructional storyboarding  illustrates a way for infusing thinking  skills in the activity and consolidating  the understanding of the physical meaning of  Avogadro’s number  and Mole as well as  their relationship
both qualitative and quantitative before  proceeding to the third phase, the operationalising   phase which is important for  concept formation. The beginning activity focuses on  the physical  meaning of Avogadro’s number  and mole in which the learner chooses  a mole of atoms of an element from the  periodic table and balances it with the  correct number of particles. This is then repeated with a different element.  The element when dragged onto the balance is represented appropriately at room temperature and pressures  either in its solid state or if in its  gaseous state, it will be in the form of a balloon as well as in its chemical  formula or symbol including the molar mass. In this way of representation, a  macroscopic as well as a symbolic view is provided. Quantitative relationships in the form  of mathematical formula are acquired through relevant activities to allow  operability of the mole at the three levels, namely, the macroscopic,  microscopic and symbolic. Besides, self-questioning is embedded and the use of conversational style as in the  personalisation principle is also  applied. Generic questions such as, “How do you do it?”, “How are the  observations in this activity alike?”, are provided where appropriate for
self-questioning.  In the integrating phase, relevant and diverse problems are provided. The  learner is posed review questions such as “What have you learnt
regarding one mole and number of  particles?” and “How is the mass of   ubstance connected to the mole?”.  he translating phase is similar to exploration phase of science learning  cycle model and concrete experience stage of experiential learning cycle.  Misconceptions can also be confronted in the Sculpting phase which is similar to concept invention  phase of science learning cycle model  and reflective observation stage of the experiential learning cycle. The  operationalising phase involves increasing the understandings of the relationship between thinking and  concept acquisition. This phase is similar to the abstract conceptualisation  stage of the experiential
learning cycle and prepares the learner to be operationally ready for  applications in the integrating phase.  The integrating phase gives the learner the opportunity to solve diverse problems and thus integrate  concepts previously acquired

A vision makes the difference…
There has been a complete change in the ambit of education, especially when it is discussed in the context of Indian states. Access to progress in education is but a few more clicks away right here in this part of India-Uttaranchal. Namrata Kumar, State Project Director of India’s flagship education for all project- Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan in a conversation with Sanjeev Kumar Shrivastav of Digital Learning, on the state’s educational roadmap that takes it to its own zeniths

? What are the major interventions made under the Sarva Shiksha Abhiyan (SSA) programme in Uttaranchal so far?
We are implementing computer added learning programme in partnership with Azim Premji Foundation and it has worked out  very well. We are doing it with upper primary school level where CD based  content is being provided to students. Now the most positive effect of this programme that has happened that we are not going to just use the  content or CD based content in teaching process in the class room and the additional part like how to  operate the computer, what are the issues related to hardware and even  ensuring electricity supply and electricity backup, all these  important issues are also not bothering anymore. Apart from that if you are asking use  of technology in education programme, then we have made very  novel initiative in this in a way using video conferencing to disseminate our  instructions which is not just happening at the district level but also at block and village level. We conduct monthly meetings via video conferencing for VRC’s and CRC’s  and also do meetings at the village level.

? How much support do you get from Panchyati Raj institutions in your state while implementing your programmes?
One cannot rule out the role of Panchyati raj Institutons here, SSA has this as a base line factor. We have village  education committee (VEC). At present these VECs which we created under SSA with the Panchyati  Raj institutions will be the sub committees of the education  committee. Every Panchyat has education committee and these VECs will be the sub-committees of  these committees.

? Do the state of Uttaranchal need any state specific vision or the guideline given by the centre is adequate enough?
The government of India provides the guidelines for all the states but unless the state having its own vision I do not think that they can be outstanding. If you really want to do something outstanding then you really need to have your vision. I take proud in saying that every body from op to bottom is well informed about elementary education and providing all kind of support from whichever source is possible. What I mean is that our education minister, chief
secretary, education secretary and every body is into it. The state wants to be performing above the guidelines stated in SSA and Government of India gives it.

? What are the major challenges you face in the state while  implementing the programmes?
Uttaranchal is a small state. One may think that in a small state it is easy to manage and implement the programmes. But it is not so, because  it is one of the hill states where we do face problems in reaching to the  remotest areas. Another area, which is not difficult but  challenging. In Uttaranchal, industralisation is happening  very rapidly so we are getting huge number of children form other states. Their migration pattern  varies from months to months, year to year. We are trying to  overcome that by having a database of every child. We are conducting night service and worksite service  to capture other child coming from other states and to capture interdistance migration and to take the benefit of SSA to every child. Hilly  area also brings out a limitation of expanding the technology at the  speed we want.

? What are the strategies you adopt  to make ICTs as part of the  education process in Uttaranchal?
ICT will play an important role like I said we are into video conferencing to disseminate instructions and training inputs. So in that manner  if we have the proper convergence  of all information technologies like satellites, computers and  even mobile set and if we integrate these technologies together then we will be able to bring out solutions at very fast speed.

? How much support do you get from civil society organizations and private sector organizations in the SSA programme?
Uttaranchal is going at a pace very proactive for progress. Everybody is  into it, not only government but NGO’s and private sector  organizations are also involved in this process very much. For integrating  ICT, we are having a tie up with  Microsoft and Intel not just for elementary education but for secondary education also. Most of the elementary education has been  covered by the Microsoft tools for the  hardware, in fact, most of them are hardware. The teachers have sought  that training with Microsoft. This training part is being expanded to  elementary education teachers training also. We have the computer network till the block level and this  year we are planning to expand it to cluster also and we will provide  training which will be done by multiple agencies that include private sector organizations.

? Please elaborate the steps taken in improving teacher’s training
programme(s)?
We already have a teacher’s training programme. Now we are talking about specific training needs, for migrating,  irls and SC/ST students. We are giving a fully conscious approach to revive the teacher’s training  programme. Also we have school grading and school performancemapping  system where we have the endurance system by devising smaller  modules for remedial teachings. This
happens thrice in a year. ? Any comments you would like to  give on our publication? It is good and not only updates us  about happenings in ICT and education sector but also we know,  what is happening in other states/ countries. Sometimes distance is also  ime bound and this magazine is very   helpful in bridging the gap.

The winds of change…
There are about 888 thousands educational institutions in the country with an enrolment of about 179 millions. Elementary  Education System in India is the second largest in the world with 149.4 millions children of 6-14 years enrolled and 2.9 million  teachers. This is about 82% of the children in the age group. Yet this state in India Jammu and Kashmir is educationally backward, despite the fact that it is the only state where education is free up to
university stage. Against the national literacy rate of 44.18% for males and 19.55% for females, the state has a literacy figure of 26.67%.

Winds of change througheducation policy
The Jammu and Kashmir government has launched an ambitious education policy- “Rehbare- Taaleem” to improve standards of  education in the state.
Under the scheme, “Rehbar-e- Taaleem” (teacher) would be engaged  for a period of two years on contract at a monthly  honorarium of Rs 1,500. The
performance of “Rehbar-e-Taaleem”  will be evaluated and reviewed by the village committee after two  years before extending  his appointment for a
further period of three years. From the third year  onwards the teacher will be paid Rs 2,000 per month. After five years   his/her performance will again be
evaluated and certified by the village committee before he/she is considered  for permanent appointment. The education department has also  started constituting village-level education committees. These  committees comprise two members  from the parents, a social worker and a representative of women, and Scheduled Caste/Scheduled Tribe.  The village-level committee will supervise the functioning of the  school and report the cases of absenteeism to the authorities. They will also address the problem of  dropouts and supervise the  implementation of various government schemes.  The scheme will not only compensate shortage of teachers, but also provide  teachers in the far-flung areas where  many do not want to go.

Towards total literacy
• Massive drive launched to achieve total literacy by 2007 by  effective  implementation of SSA; 910 primary schools opened; 2500 Education  Guarantee Centres set up; 237 primary, middle and high schools upgraded.
• All primary schools being
provided third teacher.
• Construction of 223 primary, 16 middle schools taken up; engineers’ self-help groups  encouraged for taking up school building construction;
• 30,000 posts of teachers created,  7000 teachers appointed in transparent manner, 24000 more  teachers being engaged, political interference  eliminated.
• Free textbooks scheme extended up to 8th class; special grant of Rs. 50  million provided for  improving conditions ofz
classrooms for students, mats provided in classrooms.
• New subjects being introduced in  schools, biotechnology, biochemistry, environment sciences, humanities, psychology and sociology; computer education for higher secondary level.  Seasonal schools have been opened for people in the hilly areas and for the scheduled castes. On the  technical education side, there are two  regional engineering colleges in the state. There are four polytechnics to
impart vocational training.

The UN meaning of the Information Society emphasises information opportunities as inalienable rights of each. The participants of the second phase of the World Summit on the Information Society (Tunis, November  2005) reaffirmed “the desire and commitment to build a people-centred,  inclusive and development-oriented Information Society, premised  on the purposes and principles of the Charter of the United  Nations, international law and multilateralism, and respecting fully and upholding the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, so that people everywhere can create, access, utilise and share
information and knowledge, to achieve their full potential and to attain the internationally agreed development goals and objectives, including the Millennium Development Goals”.  The Information Society is a society
where the main production, communication and other processes  take place in the virtual environment. Such virtualisation of the real world  results in the fact that knowledge about “the ideas” becomes much  more important than practical realisation of the ideas which  becomes a routine due to the progress
in technologies. The Information Society is not only a  theoretical investigation of armchair scientists but it is phenomenal and  today one may observe its existing shoots in some mass phenomena. First, we mean open projects and free
(independent) communities developing in the Internet environment. These communities (still) take very modest practical aims but their activities  omprise
something common which, being extrapolated to wider community (up to whole society) makes it possible to perceive the other world, other interactions, other laws and other roductiveness. Along with the development of such projects and extend of the fields of  their implementation principally new methodology has emerged. This  methodology looks for and gradually
detects the techniques and modes of co-organisation of people in the  communities based on creation nd dissemination of knowledge, information and products of creative activities.

The term “open content” is (still) used in almost the same sense in the UNESCO documents, but here the word “open” has an additional nuance corresponding the organisation’s spirit and means not only the open regime but also the principle of openness and availability of knowledge, information and works of art, which UNESCO advocates

The Approaches to the Definition of Open Content In the narrow sense, open content means digital content under the  specific (open) regime of using, which
is usually regulated by the special  open license for dissemination of content. This empirically narrow  operational definition of open content is widely used now and appeared due  to the joining to the regime of production and  dissemination of open  software for other digital products such as texts, music, video, images and combined products united by the  term “multimedia”.
The term “open content” is (still) used in almost the same sense in the  UNESCO documents, but here the  word “open” has an additional nuance corresponding the  Organisation’s spirit and means not only the open regime but also the
principle of openness and availability  of knowledge, information and works of art, which UNESCO advocates.  Nevertheless, it seems to us that the whole sense spectrum of open  content could not be limited to the definitions mentioned above.  The “content” means not only content in proper sense but also essence, substance, meaning and  sense. By the way, an English word “content” succeeds in its sense to   two different Latin words: “contentum” that means “something
existing inside” and “contentus” that means satisfaction and contentment (sic!).
The second part of the term, namely the word “open” comprises in its sense not only openness as availability and accessibility but also  means something what was open, released, discovered as well as  “open” in the sense analogues to
those used for “open systems”, namely open-ended, unaccomplished,  unfinished and available for interactivity. Science as a part of culture is in
extreme need of junction of its separated and disaggregated parts  into a single whole. There is a long history of dialog on the necessity of  not only interdisciplinary research but also of joining science knowledge in a  unified consistent environment and construction of a “Knowledge  House” as well as on the need in combining of scientific, cultural and  historical contexts and creation of common depository, common virtual  memory of humankind. Apparently, this task must be one of the main  challengers for the Knowledge
Society.

Open Content as a Methodology
In some works on gnoseology and science of science, the multifold correlation between the levels of social development and dominant  methodologies has been realised. The transition to the next level of social  development is accompanied by a paradigmatic transformation of  methodology. Thus, the methodology corresponding to the industrial  society is a classical methodology. Its formation was routed in methods and  principles applied in natural science of those times, and so-call “classical  picture of the universe” was shaped.  The naturalists fondly believed that the dome of the science sky was  shadowed only with a few cloudlets to be dispersed easily and shortly.
After that they anticipated completed  picture of the universe basing on which it could be possible to use rather simple techniques for  comprehensive realisation of  necessary functions of description, prediction and post-diction.
But later it’s come clear that an attempt to remove even one cloudlet  from the dome of the science sky  leads to the necessity to study microcosm where the principles of  classical methodology occurred to be inadequate, e.g. there is no possibility  to measure with every required degree of accuracy and some measured  values are interdependent. The  perception of such results led to the
formation of so-called non-classical paradigm of methodology evolution,  and meanwhile the society entered a consumer phase of its development.  Along with the syntax and semantic elements of analysis the pragmatic  elements have emerged. It has become  clear that an integrated picture of the  universe could not be shaped when taking into account the existence only  of the macrocosm and microcosm and not considering the presence of the  world of information.
Thus, we have several pairs: industrial society and classical methodology as well as consumer society and nonclassical methodology. Although the  rinciples and methods  of post-non-classical science has been accepted by the intellectual community and recognised as  scientific thinking, our societies,
economics, political systems, social and public institutions, including  mass education, are still based on non-classical and even classical  picture of the universe. As a result, there are examples of failed attempts  to inculcate modern methods into mass education, namely methods of  personalised learning, structuring of personal learning environments and  tracks basing on e-learning.
Modern societies face relatively new  phenomenon, namely cognitive divide, which was emphasised at the  International conference “UNESCO between Two Phases of the World  Summit on the Information Society”. While the digital divide means  segregation according to the access to digital facilities, the cognitive  divide consists of inequality in formed basic competences and  hinking skills, which allow or disallow an individual  to participate on equal terms in  information, scientific and creative activities. The eradication of the
cognitive divide requires the  cardinal reconstruction of mass education system, and the postnon-  classical methodology should be laid at its basis. This is an urgent task as education system, unlike  industrial and services sectors,
operates for future, and the future is Knowledge Societies.

Manifestations of Open Content
The methodology of open content is a methodology based on the principle of uneliminability of a Subject (as an “inner cause”, i.e. subjective sense)     from any process. This post-nonclassical methodology is efficacious and applicable to the most of known productive and social processes. It  proved to be efficient and meaningful at global and local levels and handling  to the needs of an individual and communities of every extent scaled up  to humankind.
We are going to extract from the different projects taking place in  various countries and fields of activities and social communication  the essential common features and find out main driving forces and  mechanisms. The following should be underscored:
1. The open content projects are set  up for solving of definite problems. The specific goal of a project may be refined but  initially in must be defined in
terms of product (result) and not of process.
2. The goal of a project should be  not only very definite but also socially sound. The more significant goal the more  resources, attention and energy of the participants it may attract. The goal should be generous and  ethically sound. The explicit formulation of the goal is directly  related to accumulation of energy and motivation of the  participants. When the goal is degraded, the motivation is also degraded, and the prospects of  success of the project and
effectiveness are decreased.
3. Ideally, the open content projects  have no need in any hierarchies
for the project management or attaining the result, even in the form of some experts’ institute. The net model works due to the  fact that there is a limited number of possible rational reasons  (ideas, decisions, hypotheses)
while the number of the participants in the project is  unlimited (possibly all habitants of the Earth). In this case a full  set of hypotheses is guaranteed,   and the choice of the best one becomes simply a math task, according to the theory of taking decisions. In real life, the need in  some hierarchy may happen but it
should be situational. The excess of rights over necessary level  causes inequity of the  participants unfavorable for motivation and frightening adherents away.
4. Development of the open content  projects on major problems   allows  ccumulation of social  energy and canalising it in line with the most important social tendencies as far as such a model  of social activities play at the
same time a role of an organisational mode of social  discourse. A decision taken through social discourse are  collective, they are carefully considered by all stakeholders and at once the fact of collective  decision-making generates
collective responsibility for its implementation and mechanism  for  mplementation. Thus, knowledge immediately becomes  an action and the divide between thoughtful but futile discussions  and thoughtless actions
disappears (in particular, the conflict between competent  science and working
government). Being laid at the basis of new postnon-  classical social and production  institutions, the open content methodology is capable to reorganise  the society in a way making the global community able to meet adequately the challenges of globalisation, cope  with severe crisis situations resided in modern world, e.g. poverty, inequity,  global diseases, ecological problems and other disasters putting  humankind on the verge of survival.

Aspiring to be the seat of e-Learning in Thailand
Cathedral of Learning
The ‘Cathedral of Learning’ in Banga, Bangkok is spread across a picturesque green area with modern buildings cloaked in a mantle of  intriguing architecture, nestled in this natural environment. The imposing stone structures, roman arched  doorways and columns, in an immaculate green landscape, is a perfect model of a ‘University in a  park’. This place creates an atmosphere that is healthy and refreshing to the active mind,  intellectually stimulating and enriching, in other words, an  atmosphere conducive to learning. This ‘Cathedral of Learning’ is the Assumption University of  Bangkok.
The University is a non-profit institution administered by the  Brothers of St. Gabriel, a worldwide Catholic religious order, founded in  France in 1705 by St. Louis Marie De  Montfort, devoted to education and philanthropic activities. The congregation has been operating  many educational institutions in Thailand since 1901.  “Assumption,” besides its religious connotation in glorification of the mother of Christ, has yet another  meaning in Thai language, “the Abode of Abiding Knowledge.”  Assumption University was initially originated from Assumption Commercial College in 1969 as an  autonomous higher education institution under the name of  Assumption School of Business. In 1972, with the approval of the  Ministry of Education, it was officially established as Assumption Business Administration College or ABAC. In May 1975, it was accredited by the Ministry of University Affairs. In  1990, it was granted new status as    “Assumption University” by the Ministry of University Affairs. Assumption University has aimed to  provide scientific and humanistic knowledge, with an emphasis on business education and management  science. With two campuses in Thailand, the University has more  than 25,000 students, faculty and departmental staff. The University has  many business and academic partners in Asia, including Hong Kong, India,  Bangladesh, Korea, Malaysia, Vietnam, and the People’s Republic of  China, as well as international students from more than 58 countries. Assumption University has 26 IT  related programs. Assumption University is recognized in the USA  and other countries and the transfer of credits from the University are  accepted abroad. Graduates from the University can pursue advanced  Degrees anywhere in the world.

Srisakdi Charmonman IT Center (SCIT Center)
Recognising the importance of allowing those interested in education  the opportunity to continue their studies conveniently and promote  Life-Long Learning by using the  Internet, the Assumption University expanded its outreach from traditional  classroom-based education to Internet-based distance education. The College of Internet Distance Education is the first educational  institution in Thailand to offer  complete eLearning degree programs. Although the Board of Trustees of Assumption University has approved  the establishment of the College of Internet Distance Education on April  25, 2002, the government of Thailand  legalized eLearning degree programs in 2005.The College is located at “Srisakdi Charmonman IT Center (SCIT Center)”. The College of Internet Distance Education is housed at the Srisakdi Charmonman IT Center  (www.scitBuilding.com), constructed at the cost of about US$ 15 million. The center has 12 floors of 12,000 square meters, more than 1,000 Internet terminals, and a Network  Operation Center (NOC) with a diesel generator for power backup.  The facilities at SCIT Center spead
across 12 floors includes Computer Labs and Internet Access Room,  Courseware Development Center, Assumption University TV Station (ATV), Training Rooms for the Blind, the Deaf, the Retired, and Gifted Kids,  Video Conference Room and Mini- Theater, IT Training Room with 408  Computers Online and other facilities.These excellent facilities  are complemented by an equally excellent faculty and staff. With  its high standards and full accreditation, the College offers  “one-stop services for worldwide eEducation for anyone, from anywhere, and at anytime”.  The college at present provides a
Master of Science in Information and Communication Technology (1 Year),  Master of Science in Management  (1 year) and Master of Science in  eLearning Methodology (1 Year) that teaches designing, implementing,  and operating eLearning. Assumption University of  Thailand aims to offer more eLearning programs at all levels of education – Ph.D., Master’s,  Bachelor’s, Associate Degree, and short courses in future. In  addition to programs originating at Assumption University, the College also aims to offer accredited degree programs from the United States of  merica, the United Kingdom, Australia, and Asian countries, eventually, serving about 100,000 students per year.

The British Council, the United Kingdom’s international organisation  for educational and cultural relations, in Thailand connects people with learning opportunities and creative ideas from the UK and builds   lasting relationships between Thailand and the UK. Operating in 110 countries worldwide, it now has 4 centres in Bangkok-Siam Square, Pinklao, Ladprao and Sri Nakarin and one in Chiang Mai, after starting in Thailand in 1938. David Mathias in British Council, Thailand talking to Rumi Mallick of Digital Learning on building partnerships and networks between Thailand and the UK, on projecting creativity, and creating opportunities to connect with the latest skills, ideas and  experience.

David Mathias is a DELTA qualified teacher of English as a foreign language. He taught English in Spain and the Czech Republic before plying his trade in East Asia. After joining the British Council, Thailand, David has worked on a number of ICT  initiatives including Access English – an online community for English Language teachers; Montage Thailand – online  collaborative projects for schools, Dreams+Teams Online  Community for Young Leaders, and most recently a joint  initiative between the British Council and the Ministry of Education, Thailand – the Lab  School Middle Leadership ETraining Programme.

? What are the main focuses of British Council initiatives in ICT in education in Thailand?
I suppose there are many focuses, but the main relationship we have with the various ministries and agencies within Thailand is helping them in implementing their education progarmme. That  goes back to revamping the tight curriculum for mainstream  education that happened four/five years ago, the curriculum was rewritten and the main focus to  that is teachers should adopt different approaches, that is studentcentred  approach, integrated to different subject areas within their  own subject. With ICT it became easy for the teachers to adopt  student-centric approaches. One way was by allowing student access to information online and allowing  students to develop project works themselves, where the teacher acts  more as a facilitator of learning. So the focus of our education and ICT initiatives is among  leaders, teachers and students in mainstream education. 

? What kind of partnership do you  have with the Government in Thailand?
We are working mainly with the Ministry of Education, with the office of Basic Education Commission. For example we are working with them in  one large project- Lab Schools. We hope, eventually there will be 900 Lab  schools in the country. These Lab- Schools will act as community  schools for their region. In these Lab- Schools, we run trainings for teachers  in applying ideas in innovative  teaching, using hardwares, ideas for  putting that in practical use for
curriculum teaching.

? So is the Lab-School focused on  teachers’ training?
That’s one area, but the Lab-School initiative is something about the leaders, how they can deploy computers in their schools. So we  have done some Head teacher leadership training through bringing  leadership trainers from UK and train the head teachers here. And I have  tried to introduce the use of ICT as a

Our trial is developing a teacher as a mentor or a guide and a student as an expert. My experience as a teacher (I was a teacher in English as a foreign language) is great to work with students; I learn use of ICT from the students. We convert to a very good team, and I never feel the lack of respect or loss of face

tool for professional development of the head teachers. So we look at two
things- Head teachers being able to talk to Head teachers in forums, and also Head teachers being able to access resources for self development and professional  evelopment
.
? Do you have any kind of monitoring or evaluation method? You  work for two/three years, do you have any kind of measurement system of the outcomes?
Yes, for this there are ongoing negotiations with the Ministry of education.  here are number of aims and objectives, also indicators of what is happening. There are ways of monitoring our progress. And when  we say we’ll leave the project at a certain stage, n doubt we will  continue to consult.

? You also promote sports as a means of education!
Yes, that’s one of the very successful projects started in 2003; it’s a global project. It ran from British Council UK  in partnership with the Sports Trust of England and its an initiative that looks to leadership skills amongst 14  to 19 year old and gives responsibility for decision making that might  otherwise come from a teacher. For some reason, to reengage some disaffected learners back into the mainstream education and to give  them the confidence to carry on their education. We started that project in  2003 in three schools in Thailand. Firstly, the head teachers from  Thailand went to meet their counterpart in UK and then some teachers fro there come over to do  workshops developing sports integrated to other curricular subjects, like sport and Math, Sport and Science.

? You still have three schools in Thailand?
The project expanded in to 9 schools now. Five in Bangkok, two in Greater Bangkok, one in North of Thailand  Chiang Mai and one in Sonkla. The ministry of Education is impressed with the success. So its an initiative  they would like the Lab schools involved in.  ? There are several challenges in ICT in education. What are the present challenges for Thailand?  The major challenge is the  eaching  population is quite old. And its  getting people to be willing to change
their attitude give it a go as such and this challenge is compounded by the  fact that we still don’t have very good support teams in some of the schools,  IT teams, Internet access are still quite slow and it’s the same in our  teaching centers where we were trying  to persuade or convince the teachers that the use of ICT might be a motivating factor for a student or  might add a different dimension to teaching. There is also a knowledge  gap between the teachers and the students. If you ask a student to go  on a computer the do that in seconds,
but if you ask that to a teacher, they  cannot. So our trial is developing a teacher as a mentor or a guide and a  student as an expert. My experience as a teacher (I was a teacher in  English as a foreign language) is great to work with students; I learn use of  ICT from the students. We convert to a very good team, and I never feel the lack of respect or loss of face.

  ? But do you think that kind of culture exist when a teacher and student covert to a team? It’s beginning. Teachers are realising  now, they are more of a team now. And that’s another success of Lab school project. ?
You are focusing ICT as a prime medium of deliberating education in schools, or is it more in developing content, training, teachers capacity  building. It’s a bit above. I think Thailand still is in the stage of the custom in  themselves with use of computers in getting familiar with that. Its in a  transitional state than experimenting with the use of ICTs. I think its 50-50.  I do quite a work using multimedia devices with students to create  learning objects, to create mini  projects with series of lessons, to give teachers ideas so that they can have more continuity through out the entire term, rather than from one  lesson to one lesson to one lesson. And also we are bringing in teachers  of other subjects as well, I run a website, where I put on projects,    where I can go an integrate art and  English with maths, that also have an online element, where I can discuss  projects with other people doing it.

So it’s more blended …
Yeah, it’s more blended. But more important here is the learner. May be the teachers ability is quite low, but  they are aware what their students can do and if you are aware what your  student can do, you can use the best of your ability.