Who we are
Philosophy
This initiative is a combination of research and experimentation. Operationally it fits within a forty-year tradition of using information and communication technologies (ICTs) to facilitate information sharing for development; theoretically, it is grounded in a constructivist approach to knowledge creation. In other words, it is designed within the social definition paradigm wherein the dominant role of the outside expert in defining problems and solutions is tempered by that of individuals and communities who are experiencing reality. The initiative is part of a global effort to reduce the gap between knowledge, decision-making and action, and to recognize and value knowledge created by communities, in this case of individuals who contribute in one way or another to development in the course of their work.
Globalization, the emerging knowledge economy, economic integration processes, and free trade agreements have created a new context for knowledge transfer. The usefulness of academic, business, or policy-making knowledge and experience in national or local matters depends now to a large extent on the capacity to put them in the dynamic context of regional and international collaboration and exchange in science, technology and trade. Rapid changes in the knowledge base of social services provision, industrial production, and trade practices, have rendered indispensable more frequent the updating of professionals, technicians, administrative staff, entrepreneurs, and program operators on issues that cut across common interests in North and South.
Given these new realities, developed and developing countries need - in order to compete successfully in the global knowledge economy - policies, programs and projects that increase the capacity to get timely access to sources of knowledge. In this regard, the ICT's revolution offers a viable option to share and create knowledge.
Collective Building of Knowledge
In the new context of competition and rapid changes in knowledge, open learning communities - people who interact with each other online for educational purposes - are needed. Learning communities built on exchanges, forums, courses, shared knowledge databases, and communication tools will facilitate strengthening relations for professional training and cooperation.
The terms knowledge community, community of practice and (online) learning community are defined and used in various ways in the specialized literature. A learning community is more often defined in the context of higher education, as a group of people actively engaged in learning together from each other. Such communities have become the template for a cohort-based, interdisciplinary approach to higher education. An online learning community is a social and collaborative network using a shared Web-based space. Online learning communities are promoted as environments conducive to communities of knowledge and practice (or simply communities of practice, CoP), which are generally recognized as serving to identify, create, represent, and/or distribute knowledge within and/or between populations.
Collaboration, mutual learning and building knowledge together are central to the philosophy and modus operandi of this project. The project's approach, which structures the relationships among partners, individuals involved in online courses, and members of learning networks, is supported by an integrated system that combines a (virtual) learning platform and portal with information resources and communication tools. The approach combined with the integrated system, are referred to as the "structuring model" or simply "the model". The model uses different complementary types of knowledge, provided in the virtual classrooms, the databases, and in targeted "advertising".
Participative Learning
A central concern of this project is the promotion of a constructivist educational philosophy on knowledge creation. The overall structure provides the conceptual framework and space, tools and resources, both human and technological, to test the approach to collaborative learning and knowledge creation.
Learning not only by doing but also by interacting will make it possible to share and develop global and local knowledge applicable to diverse contexts. In this way a contribution will be possible to bridge the North-South development gap through more collaborative and collective modalities for knowledge production based on learning partnerships. Nowadays, this objective is more reachable than before given the revolution that ICTs have brought.
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