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Introducing the Ukraine DLC: Growing by leaps and bounds
by Vladimir Omelianenko, World Bank Consultant - Europe & Central Asia

Participants of a Distance Learning Course utilizing the Ukraine DLC facilities

Since its official opening eight months ago the DLC at the Ukrainian Public Administration Academy has hosted more than 60 seminars, presentations, videoconferences, development dialogues and World Bank Institute (WBI) courses. More than 2,000 representatives from government and private and public organizations have taken part in them.

These learning activities have included development dialogues such as a global financial policy dialogue on "Pension Reform and Stock Market Development"; WBI courses on "Corporate Governance and Strategy", which brought together representatives of Ukraine with those from Austria, Azerbaijan, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyz Republic, Russia and Uzbekistan and the "Introduction to Program Evaluation", which brought together thirty-seven representatives from the public, and private sectors, NGOs and academia; a World Trade Organization development dialogue on the "Implications of the Multilateral Trading System on the Business Community"; a videoconference with representatives of French government and State Secretaries of Ukraine to discuss "International experience of State Secretaries"; and other video conferences for specialists as well as with participation of students and even pupils from different countries.

To build capacity to develop distance learning courses and implement distance forms of education a number of courses were organized for representatives of Ukrainian universities, institutes, schools and other interested organizations. Special training was arranged for professors from the Ukrainian Academy of Public Administration where the DLC is located. And the DLC, with the Academy, has developed a program about converting the Masters of Public Administration program to the distance learning format. Two

 

two-week workshops - "Summer School '01" and "Autumn School '01" were organized to lay the groundwork for developing distance learning courses and some 30 expert instructional and web designers were given basic and advanced training on developing distance learning format activities (presentations can be found on the DLC website.In addition to all of this, two of the DLC's computer labs are being used to train government officials and broader audiences on computer and Internet literacy, as well as advanced programs.

Ukraine DLC hosting a distance learning activity

Not surprisingly, today, the Ukrainian GDLN DLC is considered the leading distance learning center in the country. One of the major principles of its operation - development on the basis of applying the best international and Ukrainian practices - contributes to this significantly. To implement this principle, the DLC is proactively carrying out a partnership development program in distance learning that involves interested institutions and organizations.

Visit the website at: http://www.uapa-dlc.org.ua/
Contact the Ukraine DLC:mailto:info@uapa-dlc.org.ua

Ghana's DLC Reaches Parliamentarians
by Rick Stapenhurst, Sr. Public Sector Management Specialist - World Bank Institute, Governance Regulation & Finance
Friday afternoon at Ghana's GDLN Distance Learning Centre and some 30 Members of Parliament took part in the first of a series of six two-hour video conference sessions for Members of Parliament. Two sessions, one on the Poverty Reduction Strategy Process and the other on Parliaments, Governance and Accountability were followed by lively Q and A sessions. The program will be continued over the coming five Fridays. Up coming sessions will cover participation and the role of representative institutions, the national policy making process, parliament and the budget cycle and holding governments to account - monitoring and evaluation.

Other national workshops that will be conducted using a mix of traditional face-to-face sessions and video-conferencing, will be held in Ethiopia, Kenya, Malawi, Niger and Nigeria.