Dear participants,

The fifth edition of Lifelong E-Learning has officially started. From Monday 04/10 onwards registered participants will be able to participate, communicate and collaborate on Lifelong E-Learning topics. This course blog will come up with general weekly updates based on all the lifelong e-learning participants. A phase of two weeks distance learning is starting and soon all participants will fly over to Turin, Italy to take part in a face-to-face course where specific topics will be elaborated.

Log-in to see the specific structure of the course and what will be happening in the upcoming weeks.

Enjoy this course and look forward to meeting you on-line and off-line in Torino.

Kind regards,

the LLeL team

Dear participants,

The fourth edition of Lifelong E-Learning, a training course for development professionals will take place in Turin between 19/04/2010 and 23/04/2010 with an on-line phase before and after. Registration is open until 22/03/2010. You can download the courseflyer here and submit your application with curriculum vitae to delta@itcilo.org

During this month of registration we will provide you with additional webcasts on this course, extra links and information towards Lifelong E-Learning links in the field of Lifelong E-Learning.

Hope to see you in Turin !

The LLeL-team

Dear Lifelong E-learning practitioners,

A new English edition of Lifelong E-Learning will be planned again next year in 2010. Please contact e.mondino@itcilo.org   if you want more information. The Lifelong E-Learning team has been active in the meanwhile in several international e-learning events. We moderated and presented at E-Learning Africa which was held in Dakar (Senegal) this year and where the promotion started for the first French edition of Lifelong E-Learning which will be held at the International Training Centre between 16/11/2009 and 20/11/2009.

The first week and a half has been a very intensive and interactive week for the 15 participants coming from 12 different countries. The map here shows you the geographical diversity. Not only diversity in countries, but also in professional background, experience in e-learning, expectations and planned e-learning projects. We are looking forward to welcome the participants next week in Turin where several important e-learning topics will be explored. Some impressions and statements of last week:

• Technology is changing at a very fast speed
  
• Accessibility can not be defined in terms of infrastructure and connectivity alone
  
• How to cope with the digital divide?
  
• What about the digital immigrants and the digital natives?
  

Next weeks we will focus on instructional design and based on specific e-learning models explore the added value of virtual learning environments and social software. A lot is still to come.

To end this newsflash with the African quote of the week in the forum : “When you climb an Iroko Tree, you must come down with enough firewood”. Have an interesting course next week in Turin.

Dear participants,

The third edition of Lifelong E-Learning has officially started. From Monday 16/03 onwards registered participants will be able to participate, communicate and collaborate on Lifelong E-Learning topics. This course blog will come up with general weekly updates based on all the lifelong e-learning participants. A phase of two weeks distance learning is starting and soon all participants will fly over to Turin, Italy to take part in a face-to-face course where specific topics will be elaborated.

Log-in to see the specific structure of the course and what will be happening in the upcoming weeks.

Enjoy this course and look forward to meeting you on-line and off-line in Torino.

Kind regards,

the LLeL team

A quick newsflash about the course:

Registration will be possible the whole month of February. Announcements of the Lifelong E-learning course were made in several important E-Learning networks such as E-Learning Africa, E-Learning Europe and EDEN.
Participants who start with this Lifelong E-Learning journey will at the end:

• have an understanding of the importance of the process and the importance of Instructional Design adapted to e-learning environments,

• have had the opportunity to explore the e-learning landscape

• be able to identify and put into perspective a variety of tools usable in designing a virtual learning environment adapted to the needs of their institutions.

The face-to-face part of the Lifelong E-Learning takes place between 30/03/2009 and 03/04/2009. The course has a blended approach and will start on the 16/03/2009 with an online phase.

Professionals from developing countries can apply for a partial fellowship. Requests can be sent to e.mondino@itcilo.org

The Lifelong E-Learning community is growing after two successful editions. In this blogpost we added a snapshot of the overall atmosphere during the second edition of Lifelong E-Learning and several participants witnessed about their participation in this course. This is what they say:

 "Lifelong E-learning Innovative Solutions is a worthwhile, timely, enlightening and enriching course. It has bought added value to Learning. I came out satisfied with every stage of the course. You can never go wrong with your decision to participate in this course. The team of facilitators and support staff were well equipped and had excellent knowledge of the subject matter. The experience shared by other participants was a plus! I have recommended this course to other institutions in Malawi." 

[Alex Chanza from Malawi]

 "By far, it was the best blended learning  course I have attended, and I haven't attended few of them! The course offers a throughrouly comprehensive overview of the methodologies and learning considerations of e-learning. The professional level of the facilitation team is impressive, but yet, they manage to be humble, and to make sure that the trainees are truly participating and benefitting from the course. I would recommend this course definitely to the people who are just embarking on e-learning coordination and planning, but to the more experts in the field as well, as it helps discover the process from a bird's eye perspective."

[Gerda Sula from Albania]

 "The course was particularly useful to me and very timely in my career as I was charged with the responsibility of setting up a center to offer distance learning programs. On completion of the course, it was very clear to me how to embark on this project and what steps and activities needed to be conducted for the successful completion and launch of the project. I would definitely recommend this course to anyone tasked with developing new and innovative training and learning solutions."

[Sandra Atieno Aluoch from Kenya]

We have the pleasure of announcing that the ILO International Training Centre is offering a third edition of the course on "Lifelong E-Learning. Innovative solutions". The course focuses on interactive technologies and communication systems that enhance the learning experience and stimulate the potential to transform and innovate the way we learn and train.

This course stimulates a community of practice where participants with distinct interests meet each other across the world with the aim of improving their knowledge and efficient practice in the field of LifeLong E-Learning.

During the course, participants will have the opportunity to discuss and experience issues and concepts of contemporary e-learning (virtual learning environments, e-moderation, free and open source software, social learning, knowledge management, learning as a network phenomenon, learning (content) management systems, social software, e-learning 2.0 and e-pedagogy).

You can watch a screencast of the course here: or simply click on the image

The first edition of 'Lifelong E-Learning' was held in April 2008. International participants from 13 different countries participated  in this course. They went  beyond the merely technical approach of e-learning and mainly focussed on how technology could enhance learning, training, communication and collaboration in a professional community of practice.

The upcoming edition aims again to target a diverse and heterogeneous audience of professionals from different countries.

What participants said:

Svitlana Kalashnikova (Ukraine)

"This is with great gratitude and pleasure that I always remember the time in
Turin, thanks to the expert team, warm atmosphere of collaboration, useful
and modern materials learned and professional support.
My experience at the course has opened new opportunities and directions for
development of our organization. Thanks to the course we were and are able to
develop and implement new models of distance learning tailored to the modern
requirements and possibilities. We recommend this course with confidence as
it helps to put into practice the most innovative technologies introduced at
the course into the lifelong learning process of pedagogies in Kyiv.
Thank you very much indeed for your professional and useful experience shared
with us."

Joanne Fletcher (UK):
"Congratulations on an excellent course.  It was very professional and extremely informative. It provided me with a real insight to e-learning. I thoroughly enjoyed the week in Turin and especially meeting all the other participants on the course."

June Wilson (Bahamas):
"Participating in the course on Lifelong E-learning has been one of the most engaging experiences of my life.  Having been in the field of computers for over 20 years, it was refreshing to be exposed to such a vast amount of new technologies to facilitate E-learning.  This course has certainly taken the old concepts of correspondence courses and distance learning to the next level."   

Links referring to Lifelong E-Learning:

• ELDIS : Sharing the best in development policy, practice and research
• Development Gateway : Knowledge sharing and collaboration worldwide
• Train4Dev.net . Joined donors' competence development network
• E-Learning Africa
• CINTERFOR: The Inter-American Centre for Knowledge Development in vocational training