Today, the International Training Centre of the ILO (itc-ilo) in collaboration with the Commonwealth of Learning (COL) launched the Crowdfunding for Development (CF4Dev) massive open online course (MOOC). The CF4Dev MOOC will build new and connect existing online communities of learners and practitioners and help deliver technical knowledge as well as foster the exchange of practical skills among practitioners on how to tackle specific development challenges.
Robin Poppe, Head of Learning and Communication of the itc-ilo said, “There has been a rapid expansion in crowdfunding initiatives that tackle development challenges. Our research demonstrated that there is a growing learning need in how to design and develop these projects. We are pleased to work together to offer this exciting and innovative training course on a large scale through a Massive Online Open Course”.
The combination of a trending topic, CF4Dev, with an innovative learning methodology, MOOC, will allow all participants to tap into the collective intelligence and experience of the massive group of participants.
“As the world gets more connected, we will need to work in collaboration rather than isolation. And as the world embarks resolutely towards collectively achieving sustainable development, education and training will have a greater role than ever before,” said Professor Asha Kanwar, President and CEO of COL. “This MOOC is a concrete step in the right direction.”
Participants will co-create and exchange their own experiences and knowledge meanwhile crowdsource for solutions, network, and promote their own CF4Dev projects. By the end of CF4Dev MOOC, learners will be able to plan, apply the proper tools and execute their own CF4Dev campaign.
“Just imagine more than 1000 development actors exchanging about how they will implement their specific CF4Dev initiative, that’s quite a rich learning opportunity,” said Tom Wambeke, Senior Programme Officer, ITC-ILO.
Massive Open Online Courses or MOOCs provide a free open access web-based learning platform to a large number of participants around the world. The CF4Dev MOOC starts the 4th of May and lasts until the 30th of June.
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Background:
International Training Centre of the ILO
The International Labour Organization and the Italian Government established the International Training Centre in 1964 in Turin, Italy, as an advanced vocational training institute.
It has since matured into a focal point for high-level in-service training. This takes place in Turin, in course participants’ home countries or via the Internet.
The Centre provides training and related services that develop human resources and institutional capabilities. We thereby contribute to achieving the ILO’s goal of decent work for women and men.
Commonwealth of Learning
The Commonwealth of Learning (COL) is an intergovernmental organisation created by Commonwealth Heads of Government to encourage the development and sharing of open learning/distance education knowledge, resources and technologies.
COL is a world leader in open and distance learning (ODL) and open educational resources (OER). COL works towards the substantial and equitable increase in the number of Commonwealth citizens acquiring the knowledge and skills for leading productive and healthy lives, through formal and non-formal open and distance learning opportunities. Gender and eLearning are cross-cutting themes that underpin everything that COL does.
COL assists developing nations to improve access to quality education and training by helping governments to expand the scale, efficiency, quality and sustainability of learning by using appropriate technologies, particularly those that support open and distance learning.
Crowdfunding for Development (CF4Dev) MOOC
The flagship Crowdfunding for Development (CF4Dev) MOOC is an exciting and innovative training course that combines unconventional approaches in development financing with an innovative online learning platform. Massive Open Online Courses or MOOCs provide a free open access web-based learning platform to a large number of participants around the world.
WHAT?
The CF4Dev MOOC will build new and connect existing online communities of learners and practitioners and help deliver technical knowledge as well as foster the exchange of very practical skills among practitioners on how to tackle specific development challenges. Participants will co-create and exchange their own experiences and knowledge meanwhile crowdsource for solutions, network, and promote their own CF4Dev projects. By the end of CF4Dev MOOC, learners will be able to plan, apply the proper tools and execute their own CF4Dev campaign.
HOW?
Furthermore, considering the objectives of the MOOC, it will focus on participatory activity-oriented learning augmented by audio-visuals, videos, webinars, easy-to-follow templates, peer-to-peer work groups, group evaluation, strategic mapping and checklists of best practice. The MOOC will be supported by learning material (articles, links, multimedia) and tools that will be made available to each participant.
WHY?
Crowdfunding is democratizing access to capital and bringing greater financial inclusion and economic development to traditionally “bottom of the market” segments of the population that were previously considered “unbankable,” or unprofitable.
WHEN?
The MOOC starts the 4th of May and lasts until the 30th of June, everyone that wants to join will be able to do so at www.itcilo.org/C4FDEVMOOC following this guidelines.
