Tom Christoffel
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Invitation to the TechNet Think Tanks
on
"Learning Society & Accreditation for
Competencies in the Mediterranean Countries"
You are invited to participate in TechNet's Think Tank Electronic
Conferences on the topic of "Learning Society & Accreditation for
Competencies in the Mediterranean Countries."
ABOUT TECHNET
TechNet is a program of the World Bank designed to encourage understanding
and promote the use of science and technology (S&T) in development.
TechNet hosts electronic conferences, "Think Tanks," to discuss how
science and technology can effectively be used for development. Expert
views are sought on how the World Bank and others can promote S&T
contribution to economic development. TechNet's Think Tanks are
administered by Volunteers in Technical Assistance, a non-government
organization. For more information on TechNet, please visit our Web-Site
at http://www.worldbank.org/html/fpd/technet/.
ABOUT THE TOPIC
The World Bank, together with the European Union and the Institut de la
Mediteranee, will hold an international conference on "Learning Society &
Accreditation for Competencies in the Mediterranean Countries." This
conference will take place in early February 1998. As a prelude to this
conference, TechNet is hosting two Think Tanks on "A new paradigm for a
learning society" and "Defining an accreditation system for a learning
society." The results of these Think Tanks will be summarized and
presented to the February conference.
The Think Tank "A new paradigm for a learning society" will define the
learning society concept, discuss how this concept is being shaped by
changes in information technology, what the opportunities are for distance
education, and what the learning society paradigm means for developing
countries. It will then address what role an accreditation system plays
in this context, and how accreditation can be changed from being
diploma-driven to competencies and skills-driven. This raises such
questions as how to define competencies, standards, and skills based on
labor market requirements. It will also serve to map existing experiences
in developed and developing countries in this area.
The Think Tank "Defining an accreditation system for a learning society"
will discuss how to develop the accreditation system for the relevant
competencies in the Mediterranean region, how to engage developing
countries in this process and the appropriate roles by the private sector,
professional organizations, universities, et al in the accreditation
system.
FORMAT OF THE THINK TANKS
A Think Tank is a conference discussion conducted entirely via e-mail.
Twenty to thirty experts from universities, governments, non-governmental
organizations, the private sector, and the World Bank will discuss each
topic for about four weeks. In the first two weeks, the Think Tanks will
be restricted to the experts, but their comments will be "broadcast" to
everyone who subscribes to the conference. Then for two weeks, readers
are encouraged to comment on the previous and current discussion, to pose
questions, and articulate positions. All submissions will be available on
the TechNet Think Tank Web site at http://www.vita.org/technet.
The Think Tank "A new paradigm for a learning society" will start on
November 19 and is scheduled to close on December 16, 1997.
The Think Tank "Defining an accreditation system for a learning society"
is scheduled to start on November 24 and is scheduled to close on December
22, 1997 (to be confirmed).
HOW TO SUBSCRIBE
You can subscribe to the Think Tank discussions, by sending an email
message as follows:
"A new paradigm for a learning society"
To: listproc@vita.org
Subject: (leave blank)
Text: sub LSOCTECH FirstName LastName
(give your own first and last name)
"Defining an accreditation system for a learning society"
To: listproc@vita.org
Subject: (leave blank)
Text: sub ACCRTECH FirstName LastName
(give your own first and last name)
This information is also available on the TechNet Think Tank Web-Site:
http://www.vita.org/technet
-- Thomas J. (Tom) Christoffel, AICP, Executive Director Lord Fairfax Planning District Commission 103 E. Sixth St. Front Royal, Virginia - VA 22630-3499 Ph: 540-636-8800 Fx: 540-635-4147 E: lfpdc@shentel.net "Serving Virginia's Northern Shenandoah Vallley - A 21st Century Tele-Region."Learning-org -- An Internet Dialog on Learning Organizations For info: <rkarash@karash.com> -or- <http://world.std.com/~lo/>