EXCELLENCE IN DISTANCE EDUCATION AWARDS

Garry Fletcher receives an award from Sir John Daniel * for the website “racerocks.com” on behalf of Lester B. Pearson College. A Gala Awards banquet was held  to announce the 2004 recipients of the Excellence in Distance Education Awards (EDEA).

*(Sir John Daniel – President of the Commonwealth of Learning) Further information: http://www.col.org/edea

The third EDEA were conferred at the third Pan-Commonwealth Forum on Open Learning in Dunedin New Zealand, 6 JULY 2004: The photo shows- left to right: Garry Fletcher, for Category B. Dr. Thomas Webster (U. of Papua New Guinea) and Chris Baker (the Open University, Gt Britain) for category A, and Prof Mohan Menon ( Chair of Selection Committee)

The Diploma for the Excellence in Distance Education Award	Coverage of COL Award in Goldstream Gazette	Race Rocks as an example of Distance Education and Environmental Stewardship

FROM THE “2004 CITATIONS”

COL award for excellence in distance education materials under category B: multimedia materials supporting non-formal education is awarded to Lester B. Pearson College, Victoria, Canada for its on-line materials “Racerocks.com”. We recommend this multi-media material for the award because:

it is fitting for a variety of clientele needs in non-formal education in the very important area of the environment
it has adopted a sound learning and instructional design, and
it uses a variety of media which can be integrated in a flexible manner according to individual learning needs and interests

An attractive, well-laid out site with a plethora of resources including quality content and activities providing a virtual tour of the ecosystem without actually being there. The website provides a variety of activities and resources for students and teachers at different levels, especially those in middle and high schools. The site has been designed to provide images to those who have slow computer and/or network connections thereby increasing the accessibility to the site. It enables learners to interact with a sensitive environmental area without affecting it. The nature of materials and their presentation is such that learners may either be guided to work through the site in a systematic or structured manner or they can proceed randomly, yet still learn something. It includes both current and archived material. Students are able to leave behind information for others to use and can take ownership of their learning. The topic covered by the site is and will continue to be of interest to a wide variety of people who want to learn about aquatic life and the environment.

Mr. President I ask you to confer the excellence in distance education materials award on the Lester B. Pearson College of the Pacific, British Columbia, Canada. Mr. Garry Fletcher will accept the award on behalf of the College.
Speaker: Dr. Mohan Menon
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> COL is an intergovernmental organisation created by Commonwealth Heads of Government to encourage the development and sharing of open learning and distance education knowledge, resources and technologies.