Featured Stories Archive
July 2008
7-Country Translation Project to Boost Microfinance Training Capacity in Asia
Participants in 7 countries will now be able to study the Microfinance Training of Trainers (MFToT) Course in their own language. By popular demand, the World Bank/Tokyo Development Learning Center, Asian Development Bank Institute (ADBI), Planet Finance Japan and course “graduates” have collaborated to implement an ambitious localization plan in China, Vietnam, Cambodia, Indonesia, Lao PDR, Thailand and Mongolia. The workbook and interactive computer-based instruction CD-ROM for participants are being translated into each language, and will be available for trial use in the current MFToT 5 course.
June 2008
Asia Pacific Policy Makers Hold In-depth Discussion in New WB GDLN AP Seminar
As inflation becomes an increasingly serious concern across Asia, economic managers are grappling with urgent questions on how best to formulate a response. To meet this need for knowledge, the Global Development Learning Network in the Asia Pacific Region (GDLN AP) launched a distance learning seminar series on Economic Management in collaboration with the World Bank. The first session, “Today’s Inflation: Global Context and Local Solutions” targeting economic decision makers in the Asia Pacific region, was held on June 5 and 6, 2008 with a total of 15 sites in 11 countries connecting over 2 days.
May 2008
African and Asian Youths Speak Out in Dialgue for TICAD IV
Youths from Africa and Asia “gathered” via GDLN
videoconference on May 26, 2008 to share knowledge and exchange views on achieving a vibrant Africa.
On the occasion of TICAD IV (Tokyo International Conference on African Development), the session was organized by the TDLC, World Bank Tokyo Office and UNICEF to provide a platform for future leaders to voice their opinions.
UNICEF Goodwill Ambassador and Senegalese singer Youssou N’Dour made a special appearance at the TDLC and pushed the younger generation to take an active role in the decision making process.
View the session webcast (archive).
In a training course developed by the TDLC, teachers and instructors across Asia sat in a virtual classroom to learn how ICTs can be incorporated to enhance multicultural education. Designed to accompany Kids Initiative, a program that enables school children to conduct exchanges with counterparts in other countries through GDLN videoconference, teachers across borders showed a strong interest in new methods of education to prepare children to meet the challenges of globalization.
April 2008
When Yae Yoshino, Lecturer at Kitasato University’s School of Nursing, visited Mongolia, she was struck by the textbooks that young nurses were using. They weren’t really “books” at all, but thin booklets translated from Russian, imported from the former Soviet Union. Not much was up to date – including nursing education. Inspired by the highly motivated nurses and midwives she met there, Yoshino contacted the TDLC to inquire about distance learning opportunities, and a partnership was born.
November 2007
The Kenya Development Learning Centre (KDLC) was launched on November 9, 2007, becoming the 12th member of the Global Development Learning Network (GDLN) in Africa. With the Tokyo International Conference on African Development (TICAD IV) scheduled for next year, Africa ranks high on the agenda of the Japanese development community. The new center in Kenya and the TDLC can capitalize on the need for Asia-Africa cooperation in both the public and private sectors.
The Kenya Center launch and the welcome video displayed at the beginning of the event is available for view on the GDLN website.
October 2007
Francophone countries in Africa have now begun receiving JICA-Net seminars in French via the GDLN. The inaugural sessions conducted in October 2007 both focused on principles that Japan has become famous for - “KAIZEN” and “One Village One Product”. The TDLC began delivering JICA-Net Seminars to Anglophone Africa in October 2005, counting 28 seminars to date, and responded to demand from French speaking centers as well.
July 2007
The Asian Productivity Organization (APO) embraces e-learning on an unprecedented scale this summer, providing 3 training programs in 9 phases for more than 900 participants in 16 countries via the GDLN. Amounting to roughly 40% of the total number trained by the organization annually in face-to-face sessions, the APO hopes to intensify its focus on e-learning as a cost-effective, environmentally friendly alternative to traditional training methods.
June 2007
The Ho Chi Minh City Development Learning Center received an enthusiastic welcome from the GDLN community at its official launch on June 26, 2007. The second center to open in Vietnam after Hanoi, the new center will deliver knowledge initiatives connecting the world with Ho Chi Minh, a city known for a vibrant private sector and trade environment which plays a pivotal role in the nation’s economy.
The first GDLN Asia Pacific General Meeting hosted by the TDLC concluded on June 21, 2007, capping three days of intensive discussions with a ｃlosing session on future governance objectives for the network.
Read more on GDLN AP General Meeting Page.
May 2007
New Guide: Effective Blended Learning for Development
Learning Binder Available Now to Guide GDLN Activities
A comprehensive guide with all you need to know to conduct effective blended learning sessions using the GDLN has been completed with the support of the TDLC. Titled “Effective Blended Learning for Development – Harnessing the Power of the Global Development Learning Network”, the guide takes the form of an accessible “Learning Binder” consisting of 9 short papers that cover basic concepts, terminologies, program design and implementation.
The authors, TDLC Senior Instructional Designer Jiping Zhang and Education and Training Consultant Charles Maguire have drawn widely from the rich experience of the GDLN, which now spans over 80 countries, incorporating real-life examples illustrating innovative uses of the network.
See full story to download the Learning Binder.
February 2007
Disclosed: Our Mid-term Review
”The TDLC has achieved a great deal in a short timeframe, and it is likely that with continued focus, the original aims can be achieved...”
The TDLC is pleased to report that it has received high marks in a mid-term review conducted by a panel of experts to evaluate its performance in the first two and a half years of the 5-year project. The TDLC was initiated in October 2003 as the Japan/World Bank Distance Learning Partnership Project.The review is intended to guide the second half of the project and includes observations and suggestions for the future
The full report and a summary prepared by the TDLC is available on the Key Documents page.
“I am very excited about our work here and the challenges ahead.”
Lester Dally, the World Bank’s Acting Special Representative in Japan, spoke enthusiastically of raising the Japan-World Bank partnership to new heights upon his arrival in Tokyo in January 2007. A strong supporter of the TDLC who played a key role in its inception, Mr.Dally hopes to ensure closer cooperation between the Bank and the TDLC.
May 2006
The Dili Distance Learning Center (DDLC), the Global Development Learning Network affiliate in Timor-Leste, has become instrumental in providing much-needed knowledge and expertise for the region’s newest nation.The force behind it is its manager, João Loução. Together with his training coordinator, Ildefonso da Silva, Joao has brought amazing energy to the Center to make it a hive of activity. Its utilization rate has averaged 40-45%, reaching 74% in March 2006—not an easy task under difficult circumstances.
April 2006
The Vietnam Development Information Center (VDIC), the GDLN affiliate in Hanoi, is ready for business — and its energetic new manager, Linh Hoai Nguyen, is exploring opportunities for collaboration with Japanese development agencies through the TDLC. Based on the cooperative relationship between the two centers, the TDLC invited Linh to visit Tokyo in April 2006 to accelerate business development between Japan and Vietnam.
