Almost a year ago, I met Ernst Suur (@ernstsuur) for the first time. We bonded in frustration over the irony of not being able to find any on-line courses to study ICT4D. We each did some research and didn’t come up with much, so we agreed I should write a blog post (See: Where’s the ICT4D distance learning?) to see if we could crowd source anything to help us out. We got some great comments with some good resources for the few courses that do exist or the ones that are in design.
We also discovered TechChange, a newish organization looking to develop some on-line ICT4D courses. We all chatted a couple of times and decided to co-host a ICT4D chat on Twitter to see if we could come up with some additional ideas on what kinds of courses people were interested in. (See the chat summary here). I also had a chance to meet with Nick, Mark and Jordan in their DC office to discuss ideas.
So I’m really excited to see that now TechChange has 3 new on-line courses happening this year:
1) Tech Tools and Skills for Emergency Management from September 5-23.
‘This course will explore how new communication and mapping technologies are being used to respond to disasters, create early warning mechanisms, improve coordination efforts and much more. It will also consider some of the key challenges related to access, implementation, scale, and verification that working with new platforms present. The course is designed to assist professionals in developing concrete strategies and technological skills to work amid this rapidly evolving landscape. Participants can expect a dynamic and interactive learning environment with a variety of real world examples from organizations working in the field including those involved in the humanitarian response to the Haitian earthquake’
Course topics include: Crisis mapping, human rights violations and elections monitoring, citizen journalism and crowd sourcing, and information overload and decision-making in real-time.
ICT tools covered include: Ushahidi, Quantum GIS, FrontlineSMS, Open Street Map, Managing News.
2) Global Innovations for Digital Organizing: New Media Tactics for Democratic Change from September 26-October 4.
‘New platforms of communication are revolutionizing social dynamics by democratizing access to and production of media. From Barack Obama’s youth mobilization efforts to the ongoing uprisings across the Middle East and North Africa, this course will examine how new channels of communication are being utilized and to what extent these efforts and techniques are successful or unsuccessful in a given context. It will also provide participants with strategies for maximizing the impact of new media and train them in the effective use of a range of security and privacy tools.’
Course topics include: the new media landscape, offline organization and change through online mobilization, data and metrics, censorship, privacy and security.
3) Mobiles for International Development: New Platforms for Health, Finance and Education from October 16-November4.
‘The mobile phone is rapidly bringing communication to the most remote areas of the world. NGOs, governments and companies alike are beginning to realize the potential of this ubiquitous tool to address social challenges. This course will explore successful applications that facilitate economic transactions, support public health campaigns and connect learners to educational content. It will also critically engage with issues of equity, privacy and access.’
Course topics include: mobile money systems, mHealth and mobile diagnostics, data management for monitoring and evaluation, many-to-many communications integrating mobiles and radio, and mobile learning.
ICT tools covered include: mPesa, RapidSMS/Souktel, Sana Mobile, Medic Mobile, TxtEagle and FreedomFone.
Modalities:
Each course costs $350 (or $250 early bird price) and runs for 3 weeks. The courses require a time commitment of at least 6 hours per week in order to earn the certificate. There are also plenty of opportunities for those that want to spend more time to engage with additional materials and students can access content up to 6 months after course is over. The entire course will be delivered on-line ‘involving a variety of innovative online teaching approaches, including presentations, discussions, case studies, group exercises, simulations and will make extensive use of multimedia.’
I’ll be attending the 3rd course gratis in exchange for helping TechChange continue to shape the content and curriculum and providing feedback on the features and content. (Thank you, social media. Thank you, barter system!)
Register for any of the 3 courses here.
Wait... What? 
[…] Read more from the original source: A new ICT4D distance learning option […]
Here are a couple of additions to your list.
GHDonline.org has an online health IT community, where more than 1,000 member actively engage in discussing various technology applications for development. For example, here’s a link on how to build technologies to support health systems in low-income countries. http://www.ghdonline.org/tech/discussion/how-to-build-a-health-system-in-the-developing-wor/
MIT and Sana mobile worked together to lead a course earlier this year on using technology to improve health care quality in developing countries. Here’s the link to lectures, course syllabus, readings, etc http://sanamobile.org/class.html
Finally, the WHO’s project Health Unbound would be a great resource for more into. http://www.healthunbound.org
Thanks! These looks great.
Great list- will share this with my colleagues.
As if by some strange co-incidence a colleague from ILO’s staff training centre shared information on a related course this morning- here are the details:
Open ECBCheck Review Training
The training course “Open ECBCheck” will make you a certified Open ECBCheck reviewer. Open ECBCheck is a global initiative consisting of UN agencies and other international capacity building initiatives which have agreed on a quality standard and developed a quality label for the field of ICT. For more and more leaders in educational organisations, professionals and developers of learning materials, authors or curriculum designers quality of ICT enhanced learning is an issue. Open ECBCheck is providing a toolset for developing and checking quality of programs and courses. The training course will provide you with in depth knowledge of quality management of e-learning delivery and e-learning development and will familiarize you with using the effective Open ECBCheck methodology to apply to your own and other programs and courses.
Along with this knowledge you will undergo a full case based review yourself and will be admitted to the Open ECBCheck pool of reviewers. In the future you will then be able to help other organisations to develop top quality e-learning, consult them on open ECBCheck and perform peer-reviews in our global initiative.
More information on Open ECBCheck: http://www.ecb-check.org
Dates:
The training will take place in Turin, Italy at ITC-ILO campus starting on June 20 and ending on June 23rd, 2011
Thanks for this Ian. (I googled ECB and it stands for E-learning Capacity Building and now your comment makes more sense! :-)). So basically the course trains you to verify whether an e-learning program meets certain elements of quality, it seems. Thanks for the link!
Distance learning is the way of the future. It is going to allow people to get degrees when they never thought they would before, and distance learning makes it possible to get your degree without even leaving the comfort of your own home.
Had a look at the techchange.org site and I must say I am very impressed with the quality of the site and products they have on offer. They look like a company with true innovation in distance learning.