Chronically Curious (The Independent Educator): a project in Turkey could reshape education in Eastern Europe, West Asia and North Africa... Learn about UDE EE WA NA

He deserves an education, too

I'm a fan of Ugur Demiray's project called UDE EE WA NA.

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You can learn more at udeeewana.org

Distance education includes delivering school through TV and the Internet, to primary, secondary and higher education...

Why not use distance education to serve students in war zones?

What regional association currently exists that can embrace the needs of students who are displaced by war or famine or economic disruption? UDEeewana.org provides a collection of experts who can help school directors meet the needs of children and young adults who want to learn new skills.

Project Title: A PROJECT TO BRING TOGETHER OPEN EDUCATION INSTITUTIONS BY CREATING

A REGIONAL ASSOCIATION CALLED UDEEEWANA, CENTERED IN TURKEY

Abstract

Globalization has affected many areas of society and will continue to shape the future of formal and distance education and content delivery indefinitely. The impact of globalization has led to higher enrollments for many universities and colleges. It has become increasingly apparent that individuals need to consistently learn new skills in order to remain employed and competitive in a knowledge and digital economy. Distance education institutions have always managed to teach students beyond the frontiers of the jurisdiction within which they exist as physical entities. The development of Information and Communication Technologies has greatly expanded the number of institutions offering programmes on a regional or global basis. The developments of modern Information and Communication Technologies have greatly helped the emergence of global distance education systems.

Leaders in distance learning must constantly be aware of how to adjust, evaluate, and assess the validity of programs, content, and emerging technologies to remain competitive and viable in this new society. Educational leaders will benefit from collaboration with business and industry leaders and vice versa. Education has benefited from insight and inquiry and might benefit from adopting practices from business and industry. In addition, faculty and administrators (in all levels of education) should work collaboratively in the practice and theory of online delivery methods.

With the increasing changes happening throughout the world, education leaders (in primary and secondary education and in universities) need to be aware of these mutable circumstances and influence their schools, colleges and universities to be able to adapt and transform accordingly. Leaders create and convey compelling images of how our reach is much less than our potential grasp; they redefine people's paradigms about what is possible. In contrast, competent managers are adept at organizing operations so that an institution's efficiency in accomplishing plans is optimized. This is a vital task often neglected by leaders who do not understand management, to their later regret, for good administration involves both envisioning and operationalizing. Leadership requires developing both instruction-oriented technologies and technology-intensive “learning-by-doing” approaches; applying this combination of pedagogical strategies necessitates numerous assumption-breaking changes in the organizational context of the classroom and the roles of teachers, parents, and students. Creating and conveying technological visions powerful enough to displace traditional educational models is one of the most challenging aspects of leadership.

In conclusion, leadership is a role fraught with difficulties, requiring both wisdom and maturity. Leaders need to encourage everyone to lead, always. If each of us were to act in the ways described above – every day, however imperfectly -- educational technology and distance education application could be the driveshaft for restructuring education and shaping a bright future for our society.

The key phrase: Education for children will build a better future for everyone. Children growing up in difficult neighborhoods can benefit from distance education.

Anadolu University, Eskisehir, Turkey has experience with open and distance education for more than 30 years. From cultural, economic, and socio-political viewpoints, Anadolu can be a leader and a role-model for neighboring countries in the region of North Africa, Eastern Europe and West Asia. The next step is to support a new distance education association (the suggested name is UDEEEWANA) to organize state/private open and distance Education institutions/units in the countries of such as Eastern Europe, including Scandinavian and Baltic countries (Norway, Sweden, Finland, Estonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Belarus, Bulgaria, Greece, Georgia, Hungary, Macedonia, Moldova, Poland, Romania, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Russia, Ukraine), Turkey and the Caucasian area; the Middle East (West Asia), including the Arab Peninsula, Azerbaijan, Egypt, Jordan, Iraq, Iran, Israel, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Oman, Palestine, Saudi Arabia, Syria, Tajikistan, Turkmenistan, United Arab Emirates, Uzbekistan; and North Africa (countries such as Algeria, Morocco, Libya, Tunisia, and so on).

UDEEEWANA = United Distance Education for Eastern Europe, West Asia and North Africa. Udeeewana.org