The Lagos-based Institute for Media and Society, (IMESO), is holding a four-week online forum for open learning from October 21 to November 15, 2013. The forum is designed as a pre-conference activity in the build up to the Pan Commonwealth Forum on Open Learning, an international event which will run in Abuja, Nigeria from December 2 to 6, 2013.
“The objective of the online forum is to enrich the capacity of community/campus radio sector as well as Open and Distance Learning (ODL) practitioners,” said the organisers. They added that: “The forum will focus on discussing the innovations and potentials that new media offer in the development of open and distance learning in Nigeria and other countries.”
IMESO said that, in recent times, campus radio operators in Nigeria are exploring innovations of new media to support ODL in their various campuses. It added that regardless of challenges, operators have made some progress in using new media resources to engage ODL activities. IMESO said: “While still awaiting the issuance of licences, grassroots community radio initiatives are also exploring the new media space for dissemination of audio contents.”
The upcoming online forum will bring together communities/campus radio practitioners, civil society groups, academia and others to share experiences and generate ideas on improved mechanism which grassroots/community-focused communicators could deploy using new media for community learning and development. Participants will be drawn from Nigeria and other countries including those from the Commonwealth.
The discussion took place on various online platforms, including IMESO’s Facebook page at https://www.facebook.com/ImesoNigeria, on Twitter using hash tag #NCR4ODL, and IMESO’s Twitter handle @imesoimeso, as well as on Google+ with label #NCR4ODL.
