More than 60 lecturers from the Sir Arthur Lewis Institute for Economic and Social Studies (SALISES) located on three campuses of the University of the West Indies (U) WI – Cave Hill in Barbados; Mona in Jamaica and St. Augustine in Trinidad & Tobago completed the first phase of training in writing. The workshop was intended to strengthen capacity among those who will teach on the Masters programme to effectively prepare for and facilitate online delivery of the MSc Development Studies.

The workshop was part of a series of planned activities supported by COL through the Virtual University for Small States of the Commonwealth which will see SALISES offering a distance education programme for the first time. SALISES currently offers the programme on campus in Jamaica only. Director of SALISES Professor Aldrie Henry Lee explained: “Students unable to travel to Jamaica, will now have access to the programme. The transition of the MSc Development Studies programme to online delivery is an important contribution to strategic regional development goals.” The project will also build capacity in SALISES for the use of open educational resources (OER) in teaching and learning, as well as familiarise its management with OER.