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This BC Digitization Survey Results presentation was one of several presentations delivered at the BC Digitization Symposium 2008 held on December 1 & 2, 2008. For more information, please visit the BC Digitization Symposium 2008 website at: http://symposium.westbeyondthewest.ca.

INTRODUCTION While the concept is widely defined and interpreted, all Web 2.0 tools have certain characteristics in common; they are collaborative in nature, interactive, and dynamic. The Science and Engineering librarians at the University of British Columbia are collaborating with their liaison departments to record science and engineering podcasts, host them and share them with a wider audience. OBJECTIVES In this session, we discuss the use of podcasting as an outreach tool that connects a large academic science and engineering library with its users and raises users’ awareness of additional library services. Functionality, usability and practical applications of podcasting tools are reviewed. OUTCOMES At the end of this session, we will have demonstrated: 1) Overall usability of podcasting academic science and engineering content; tips and tricks when creating and tailoring podcasts to your community needs; 2) Use of podcasting as an outreach and community engagement tool in academic libraries and as a supplement for the traditional academic information resources. DISCUSSION The strength of podcasting, to allow content to be created by the users for the users, makes it an appealing addition to the academic librarians’ toolbox. Podcasting is a service that many of our users might not expect from their library, which makes it a unique and attractive offering. It requires few resources, and the end result might exceed librarians’ expectations. We found podcasting to be a robust outreach tool and a service that raises the profile of the library and as such creates an opportunity for users to find additional library resources. Nevertheless, it is necessary for academic librarians to critically evaluate the continuous innovations of Web 2.0 technologies on an ongoing basis so that they are best prepared to put them into the appropriate context amongst other relevant and important information.

Thesis (M.Ed. (Adult Education)) -- University of Limpopo, 2017 / This study highlights the importance of effective curriculum implementation at a Public Adult Learning Centre in a rural community in Limpopo Province. The purpose of the study was to explore the curriculum implementation facing Mbetana Public Adult Learning Centre (MPALC) with the view to recommend appropriate strategies to improve the centre’s curriculum implementation capabilities. Since the study was premised on the interpretivist paradigm, a qualitative research approach was employed to give a detailed account of the curriculum implementation challenges from the perspective of people with lived experiences of MPALC’s curriculum implementation dynamics. The participants which include six learners, the Centre Manager and two facilitators, were chosen using the purposive sampling method. Purposive sampling was preferred because it gave the researcher an opportunity to target participants deemed to possess authentic accounts of MPALC’s curriculum implementation dynamics. Multiple data sources inclusive of silent observations, semi-structured interviews and document analysis were used to gather data. The study found out that the acute shortage of textbooks and stationery, absence of fit-for purpose learning infrastructure, low employee morale due to poor working conditions, inappropriate teaching methods, and the insensitive use of the English language regardless of the learners being predominantly Tsonga speaking people are some of the challenges that hampered the effective implementation of the curriculum guidelines at MPALC. The study recommends that the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) should partner with private companies through the public-private partnership frameworks with the view to improve the MPALC’s operating and financial leverage

Many development organisations are initiating programs in Sub-Saharan Africa bringing information technology to community centres, schools, universities, and government institutions. In the United States and more particularly Silicon Valley, California, people are convinced of the benefits of the Internet. An organisation started in this context, Schools Online, has initiated programs in over 31 countries and spent millions of dollars in the South. The study focuses on Schools Online's history, structure, and vision while researching its activities in a rural school in the town of Jinja, Uganda, in Sub-Saharan Africa. It is recommended that Schools Online listens and learns from its beneficiaries when planning an information technology project. / Development Studies / M. A. (Development Studies)

This article, written by Glenn Drexhage, Communications Officer – UBC Library/Irving K. Barber Learning Centre, appeared in the BCLA Browser: Linking the Library Landscape online newsletter (vol.1, no.1 2009). For more information, please visit the BC Digitization Symposium 2008 website at: http://symposium.westbeyondthewest.ca and the BCLA Browser website at: http://bclabrowser.ca.

Many development organisations are initiating programs in Sub-Saharan Africa bringing information technology to community centres, schools, universities, and government institutions. In the United States and more particularly Silicon Valley, California, people are convinced of the benefits of the Internet. An organisation started in this context, Schools Online, has initiated programs in over 31 countries and spent millions of dollars in the South. The study focuses on Schools Online's history, structure, and vision while researching its activities in a rural school in the town of Jinja, Uganda, in Sub-Saharan Africa. It is recommended that Schools Online listens and learns from its beneficiaries when planning an information technology project. / Development Studies / M. A. (Development Studies)