The 21st CS Workshop was held from 22-26 February in Kathmandu, Nepal is regarded as one of the successful meetings on improving the pedagogical skills where the pedagogue experts discussed with the experts of HAMK and JAMK to update their subject curriculum with skills needed for the 21st century. The workshop was held online for 3 days and physically for two days 24-25 February at Summit Hotel, Kathmandu.
21st Century Skills in Action – To teach something you have to be able to do it yourself
Creating a master’s degree programme that includes 21st-century skills that qualify successful graduates to work as a teacher is a complex matter. We first have to define what we mean by 21st-century skills and then decide how to produce concrete learning tasks so that the ideas can be integrated into the educational programme in order for student teachers to learn. Such skills are defined as, but not limited to, for example, critical thinking & problem-solving skills, innovation & creativity, learning to learn, metacognition, collaboration skills, communication skills, social and cross-cultural skills, and global citizenship. A complex mix indeed. Now, add to that degree of complexity that such creation has to be conducted remotely between Finland and Nepal, and you are beginning to understand the basis of the project’s first week-long co-creation workshop that took place on 22-26 February 2021. Teacher educators from JAMK University of Applied Sciences and HAMK University of Applied Sciences sitting in various home offices in Finland joined colleagues online from Tribhuvan University and Nepal Open University in their respective home offices and other such places across Nepal.
Working remotely but collaboratively.
Co-creation is one of the fundamentals of the human rights-based approach to development upon which our project is founded. In essence, by requiring that all participants are seen as equal; none in more or less important that the others, it supports the development of respect and equity of possibility. From the holistic project perspective this in accord with the requirement to engage with marginalised elements of the Nepalese community to increase the equity of access to education of those peoples.
This approach was also evident in our workshop as we worked together to build a new qualifying programme of education for teachers. Ideas were explored and developed through participatory decision-making in a learning community environment, which of course, supports teacher agency – that all-important driver of change in education.
Working remotely but collaboratively
The experiences gained during this workshop by all participants in applying 21st century skills in their everyday work will ensure that the valuable lessons learned are transferred into the courses that will form Output 1 of the project, a newly designed master’s programme focusing on digital pedagogy, guidance and counselling, and the development of 21st century skills required of workers in changing societies. The co-creation process involved in developing Output 1 will also inform work required in Output 2, a guidance and counselling module that will include one face-to-face taught study module and a MOOC, both designed for teachers and teacher students to support the HRB approach, to promote equity in education, and to prevent dropouts among girls and representatives of excluded (marginalized and disadvantaged) communities.
By the same token, Output 3, creating increased capacity of TU and NOU to promote integration of ICT and 21st century skills into existing education programmes of all levels of education through workshop and training for educational personnel at provincial and local governments will benefit accordingly.
A good week’s work by all participants. We all had such a positive and enjoyable experience during this week. So much so that we are looking forward to our next workshop week in early April with eager anticipation.
In the picture at the top of the blog post are TU and NOU co-creation teams in Nepal.
Text by
Graham Burns, project manager, firstname.lastname@jamk.fi
Photographs by
Dr Bed Prasad Dhakal, Tribuhvan University, Kathmandu, Nepal
A glimpse of 24th and 25th Feb workshop held at Summit Hotel, Kathmandu
Venue: Summit Hotel, Nepal
Date and Time: 24th-25th Feb
The 21st CS Workshop was held from 22-26 February in Kathmandu, Nepal is regarded as one of the successful meetings on improving the pedagogical skills where the pedagogue experts discussed with the experts of HAMK and JAMK to update their subject curriculum with skills needed for the 21st century. The workshop was held online for 3 days and physically for two days 24-25 February at Summit Hotel, Kathmandu.
21st Century Skills in Action – To teach something you have to be able to do it yourself
Creating a master’s degree programme that includes 21st-century skills that qualify successful graduates to work as a teacher is a complex matter. We first have to define what we mean by 21st-century skills and then decide how to produce concrete learning tasks so that the ideas can be integrated into the educational programme in order for student teachers to learn. Such skills are defined as, but not limited to, for example, critical thinking & problem-solving skills, innovation & creativity, learning to learn, metacognition, collaboration skills, communication skills, social and cross-cultural skills, and global citizenship. A complex mix indeed. Now, add to that degree of complexity that such creation has to be conducted remotely between Finland and Nepal, and you are beginning to understand the basis of the project’s first week-long co-creation workshop that took place on 22-26 February 2021. Teacher educators from JAMK University of Applied Sciences and HAMK University of Applied Sciences sitting in various home offices in Finland joined colleagues online from Tribhuvan University and Nepal Open University in their respective home offices and other such places across Nepal.
Working remotely but collaboratively.
Co-creation is one of the fundamentals of the human rights-based approach to development upon which our project is founded. In essence, by requiring that all participants are seen as equal; none in more or less important that the others, it supports the development of respect and equity of possibility. From the holistic project perspective this in accord with the requirement to engage with marginalised elements of the Nepalese community to increase the equity of access to education of those peoples.
This approach was also evident in our workshop as we worked together to build a new qualifying programme of education for teachers. Ideas were explored and developed through participatory decision-making in a learning community environment, which of course, supports teacher agency – that all-important driver of change in education.
Working remotely but collaboratively
The experiences gained during this workshop by all participants in applying 21st century skills in their everyday work will ensure that the valuable lessons learned are transferred into the courses that will form Output 1 of the project, a newly designed master’s programme focusing on digital pedagogy, guidance and counselling, and the development of 21st century skills required of workers in changing societies. The co-creation process involved in developing Output 1 will also inform work required in Output 2, a guidance and counselling module that will include one face-to-face taught study module and a MOOC, both designed for teachers and teacher students to support the HRB approach, to promote equity in education, and to prevent dropouts among girls and representatives of excluded (marginalized and disadvantaged) communities.
By the same token, Output 3, creating increased capacity of TU and NOU to promote integration of ICT and 21st century skills into existing education programmes of all levels of education through workshop and training for educational personnel at provincial and local governments will benefit accordingly.
A good week’s work by all participants. We all had such a positive and enjoyable experience during this week. So much so that we are looking forward to our next workshop week in early April with eager anticipation.
In the picture at the top of the blog post are TU and NOU co-creation teams in Nepal.
Text by
Graham Burns, project manager, firstname.lastname@jamk.fi
Photographs by
Dr Bed Prasad Dhakal, Tribuhvan University, Kathmandu, Nepal
A glimpse of 24th and 25th Feb workshop held at Summit Hotel, Kathmandu
Dr.Ganga Ram Gautam, Director of ODEC/TU and Dr. Bishnu Khanal, Member of ODEC Management Committee participated in the UNESCO-UNITWIN Working Group Seminar at Korea National Open University in Seoul, Korea held on October 25, 2019. The seminar was organized by a UNESCO-UNITWIN network which brings together Korea National Open University (KNOU), Open University Malaysia (OUM), Honoi Open University (HOU), Mongolian University of Science and Technology (MUST) and Tribhuvan University (TU) Nepal.
During the seminar, representatives of different universities presented their best practices in online learning and discussed the possibilities of collaboration among them in the future. On behalf of ODEC/TU, Dr. Ganga Ram Gautam presented a paper on UNESCO-UNITWIN Collaboration Between TU and KNOU: Mid-Term Plan and Expected Results. In his presentation, Dr. Gautam highlighted how the ongoing collaboration between TU and KNOU will help develop the capacity of the faculty members of TU in integrating ICT in their pedagogy. Under this collaboration, KNOU team will run faculty development training for the 40 faculty members of TU in 2020 on online learning pedagogy.
Similarly, Dr. Bishnu Khanal made a presentation on Open and Distance Education in Tribhuvan University: Policy, Programs, Challenges and Future Plan. In his presentation, Dr. Khanal presented a brief overview of the history of open and distance education in Nepal and the current scenario of it.
Dr. Ganga Ram Gautam, Director of Open and Distance Education Center, Tribhuvan University (ODEC/TU) and Dr. Bishnu Khanal, Member of the ODEC Management Committee attended a Working Group meeting at Korea National Open University (KNOU) in Seoul on October 24, 2019. During the meeting, discussion was held on the on-going research collaboration between ODEC/TU and KNOU. On the same occasion, Dr. Gautam also video recorded a Guest Lecture for the KNOU students on E-learning in Nepal. Dr. Gautam and Dr. Khanal are also attending the UNESCO-UNITWIN Working Group Seminar on October 25, 2019. The seminar is organized by KNOU. UNESCO-UNITWIN is a network of the universities that are offering higher educaiton through open and distance learning. Tribhuvan University joined the UNESCO-UNITWIN network last April.
