An article on the cooperation of UNESCO IITE and the International Centre for Higher Education Innovation under the auspices of UNESCO (UNESCO-ICHEI) has just been released in the fifth issue of the quarterly journal “CLOUD”, published by the International Centre. The article focuses on a project aimed at enhancing the quality of higher education in Central Asian countries.
The two-year project “Digital Transformation of Higher Education in Central Asia” provides for the development of and launching in early 2023 two online educational courses in Russian language in emerging areas related to the digital transformation of higher education in Central Asia and other Russian-speaking countries. It is also planned to conduct a study of the competencies formed during the training at the courses, and to prepare an analytical report.
In the framework of the course “Introduction to Learning Analytics”, the basic concepts and approaches developed in the field of learning analytics are discussed. Based on the functional taxonomy of learning analytics as a discipline, the educational content of the course will be structured in line with three main areas: content analytics, student analytics and event analytics. The course includes coverage of topics related to individualization of learning, assessment of social learning, prediction of educational success of students and visualization of educational activities. The issue of collecting and analyzing educational data, as well as a set of ethical challenges related to this activity, will be also considered. The course envisages the basic level and is designed for representatives of the administration and university teachers. The course materials are developed by professors of the ITMO National Research University, one of the leading higher educational institutions in Russia in the field of digital technologies.
The course “Media and Information Literacy for Higher Education” is designed to enhance the level of this relevant type of literacy and to develop critical thinking skills, including competencies such as the ability to understand information, critically interact with it, use media and digital communications and the opportunities provided by them to achieve professional, personal and social goals. The course includes the study of issues of digital privacy and freedom of information online, the introduction of artificial intelligence, big data and machine learning technologies related to media and information literacy. The course participants will have the opportunity to master the skills of creating longreads, videos, podcasts and educational games, as well as learn how to apply them in the educational process. The course is being developed by a team of highly qualified specialists from Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan – university professors, lawyers and journalists with significant experience in promoting media and information literacy and organizing training in this area.
The fifth issue of the publication “CLOUD”, prepared by UNESCO-ICHEI jointly with UNESCO Office in Almaty, is dedicated to the digital transformation of higher education in this sub-region. This issue presents readers with an overview of policies and initiatives, capacity building projects and activities, the latest research findings, implemented by various stakeholders in Central Asia and beyond. The full text of the issue is available via this link (in Russian language).