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Workshop Announcement Online
Learning in Diplomacy
Geneva, 29-30 May 2006
Venue: Fédération des enterprises romandes Genève
98, rue de Saint-Jean, 1211,
Genève 11
Given the wide geographic distribution of diplomatic services, online learning is the natural answer to the training needs of diplomats, bridging the limitations of space and time and connecting people over great distances.
Decision makers must address a number of practical questions in order to introduce meaningful online training programmes to their ministries. This process involves the need to resolve institutional issues, solve technical problems, and manage cultural changes.
This workshop will provide practical guidance for the introduction of effective, learner-centred, and relevant online learning programmes for diplomats.
Workshop
programme:
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Monday (29 May 2006, half-day)
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14:00-15:30 |
Online Learning for Diplomacy
The dot-com era created unrealistic expectations about the impact of Internet-based online learning, largely ignoring existing experience in technology-enhanced learning. However, the hype has passed, and practitioners increasingly deploy online learning where its use is justified and when it adds value. Diplomatic training survived the “reality check:” the geographical dispersal of diplomats makes online learning a useful part of the diplomatic training repertoire.
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Jovan Kurbalija, DiploFoundation
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The Role of Online Learning
Today
History, contexts and trends
From 19th century correspondence courses, through industrial-type one-size-fits all distance education, to 21st century learner-centred flexible online learning, educators have believed their approaches to be the right solution for the learning needs of their times and their audiences. Is the current revolution in technology-enhanced learning any different from all the others?
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Dejan Dincic, DiploFoundation
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Coffee
break |
16:00-17:30 |
Effective Learning Frameworks
Critical Success Factors for Online Learning
Can online training be planned and managed like other corporate activities, reducing risks and increasing the probability of success by decomposing complex projects and applying standard project management techniques? In this session, Ed Gelbstein will apply a “management” lens to identify critical success factors of online learning projects that don’t always neatly fit into purely educational categories.
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Eduardo Gelbstein, DiploFoundation
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Multiple Perspectives: Diplomat, Online Learner, Online
Instructor
Petru Dumitriu is Romanian diplomat with extensive and varied experience in online learning. In 2004 he attended Diplo’s online course on Internet Governance. In 2005 he co-developed an online course on Multilateral Diplomacy, which he now delivers regularly as part of Diplo’s learning programmes. In this presentation he will reflect on these different perspectives of diplomat, online course lecturer and online learner.
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Petru
Dumitriu,
Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Romania; DiploFoundation Faculty
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| Tuesday (30 May 2006) |
09:00- 9:45 |
Management Perspectives
Implementing an E-Learning Strategy: the UK Experience
John Wright has been at the centre of FCO’s e-Learning initiative. He will present the UK experience,
especially:
- drivers for e-learning;
- progress made by the FCO in implementing e-learning;
- defining the
infrastructure;
- selecting and sourcing
content;
- successes;
- challenges;
- future projects.
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John Wright,
Foreign and Commonwealth
Office, UK
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| 09:45-10:30 |
Academics
Online
Diplomatic training institutions often engage academics from traditional learning institutions to design and deliver courses. Biljana Scott was already an experienced lecturer at the Oxford University when she started designing and delivering online courses with Diplo. She will reflect on the transition from traditional to online learning and considerations for integrating academics with traditional experience in online learning programmes.
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Biljana Scott,
Lecturer, DiploFoundation and Oxford University
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Coffee
break |
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Instructional Design and Pedagogical Approaches |
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11:00-12:00 |
Instructional Design Models: How to Organise Appropriate Pedagogical Scenarios to Achieve Instructional
Goals
This session aims to familiarise participants with theoretical and methodological foundations of effective learning design. Several instructional design models, frameworks and guidelines will be introduced, along with discussion of what they might achieve. Participants will have the chance to discuss these models in relation to their instructional goals and planned projects.
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Daniel Schneider, TECFA (Educational Technology Centre), University of Geneva
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Lunch |
13:15-14:15 |
Learning About e-Learning: Pedagogical Approaches to Design and
Development
The Canadian Foreign Service has extensive experience in using different forms of online learning for training diplomats. This presentation will provide a broad overview of online learning topics, with emphasis on the experience of the Canadian Foreign Service Institute. An interactive part of the session will invite participants to reflect on their personal learning experiences and how these reflections can help them plan and design better learning programmes. |
Deborah Goudreau, Centre of Learning
for International
Affairs and Management/
Canadian Foreign Service Institute
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| 14:15-14:45 |
The Labyrinth of
Technologies
A guided tour of the labyrinth of technologies available for online learning, including the multitude of confusing acronyms, technical standards and software platforms.
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Dejan
Dincic, DiploFoundation |
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Coffee
break |
15:15-16:00 |
Quality Assurance and Evaluation
Quality assurance, including evaluation, needs to be planned from the start, and implemented throughout online course design and provision. No single approach or methodology for quality assurance and evaluation is correct; rather, different situations and needs and different resources and budgets demand different approaches and methodologies. This session will outline some of the main strategies and areas covered by quality assurance, and various approaches and methodologies for evaluation. We will raise questions of particular relevance to MFAs in planning online learning for their staff and provide opportunities for discussion of these issues. |
Hannah Slavik, DiploFoundation |
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| 16:00-17:00 |
Case Study – MFA
Mexico
Most e-learning initiatives face serious challenges: insufficient resources, drop-out rates, institutional support. Alina Bassegoda Treviño will present the experiences of the newly developed e-learning system of the Mexican diplomatic academy. She will share with us how her institute managed the challenges they faced.
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Alina Bassegoda Treviño,
Instituto Matias Romero, Mexico |
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| 17:00-17:30 |
Discussion and closing |
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Diplo will share its ten-year experience of providing online learning for diplomats. Active diplomats who have attended Diplo online courses will reflect on their experiences and present a learners’ point of view. Participants in the workshop will have the opportunity to bring up any practical questions they feel are important.
Workshop programme [PDF]
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