UNESCO launches an online training platform (eLA 2007)

The objective of this open platform is to provide users with training and capacity-building resources on literacy and other subjects. It will also provide a space to share training material.

Developed by a variety of stakeholders worldwide in co-operation with UNESCO, the platform advocates open content in non-formal education. Most of the training programmes have open licenses which make them accessible to all for teaching and learning. Besides literacy, the subjects covered include computers, business, environment and community development.

UNESCO has launched an open platform on the internet to make available training and capacity-building programmes and resources. These are developed by a variety of stakeholders worldwide in a wide range of subjects, including literacy, computers, business, environment, community development and much more.

The objective of this platform is to provide trainers and learners with resources, and a space where they can share training content. Most of the programmes have open licenses, such as Creative Commons, which make them accessible for non-commercial purposes (i.e. teaching, learning and research).

The platform has been designed to include material from many partners involved in development, notably UN agencies, governments and NGOs, especially those involved in the Open Education Resource movement and UNESCO invites all stakeholders to share their training and capacity-building resources on this platform.

“Today, ICTs provide new opportunities for the acquisition of knowledge and skills learning," explained the Director-General of UNESCO, Koïchiro Matsuura. "They can improve the quality of training and have the capacity to reach disadvantaged populations. And they have the potential to establish a stable lifelong learning system and to enhance diverse and collective learning processes. UNESCO’s open learning platform is an excellent example for harnessing the power of technology to given people access to knowledge,” Mr Matsuura concluded.

"This initiative reflects the conviction that there is much scope to increase the use of information and communication technologies in development, for both communities and individuals," said Abdul Waheed Khan, Assistant Director-General of UNESCO for Communication and Information.

Resources made available on the platform target the specific needs of a wide range of users: policy makers, development and educational specialists, teachers, trainers, and learners. Content is also organized to serve communities: civil servants, members of civil society, cultural actors, decision-makers, development and social workers, educators, environment specialists, farmers, health specialists, librarians, archivists and information specialists, media professionals, scientists, and trainers.

Designed to be user-friendly, the platform features user ratings of the training programmes it features.

http://www.opentrainingplatform.org

Newsportal: Open Source and Open Content