The UWI Teaching and Learning Remotely website project was undertaken by the OOL at the onset of the COVD-19 pandemic in the Caribbean region in March 2020. The purpose was to create a repository of information and resources on online teaching and learning to assist faculty and students in the transition to emergency online classes.
OOL Past Projects
Prior to the launch of the Global Online initiative in October 2019, the main goal of the OOL was to support faculties in developing their courses and programmes to be delivered online. To that end, the Sir Arthur Lewis Institute of Social and Economic Studies (SALISES) engaged with the OOL in order to move their MSc in Development from face-to-face to online delivery.
The OOL provided project management, faculty development, consultative and instructional design support over a period of almost two years to ensure that the MSc in Development was launched online in August 2020. The initial online programme intake increased by almost 200% over the previous year.
The Hemispheric University Consortium (HUC) was established in April 2018 and comprises fourteen institutions from across Latin America, the Caribbean and North America. The UWI is a founding member of the Consortium which offers opportunities for partnerships with member institutions on a wide range of projects. One such project is the HUC Collaborative Online International Learning (COIL) initiative.
The HUC COIL initiative provide opportunities for students, faculty and researchers within the consortium to connect and collaborate in a virtual environment. The OOL works jointly with the UWI Latin-American-Carribean Centre to promote HUC COIL projects and encourage participation among UWI faculty.
Many interesting opportunities for both student and faculty collaborations have emerged. One such recent opportunity is the Hemispheric Student Dialogues on SDGs - a series of faculty-led virtual workshops which focus on subjects areas that centre around Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Students from across the member institutions participate in the workshops in a virtual collaborative environment. For details on UWI's recent contribution to this event, visit: https://www.thehuc.org/studsdgs/bilingualism/
The OOL in collaboration with the Office of Global Affairs has embarked on a project aimed at making UWI courses and programmes more accessible to the West Indian diaspora, including UK and USA markets. A survey is being conducted to assess the level of interest in various areas. For further information, please contact the OOL at ool.rhq@uwi.edu
The focus on Africa is a strategic objective to leverage UWI’s existing relationships in Africa and explore new relationships aimed at extending UWI’s programmes and courses to targeted locations in Africa.
To this end, the OOL is working with relevant stakeholders across The UWI to explore opportunities in the African market. The OOL has teamed up with the PJ Patterson Centre for Africa-Caribbean Advocacy and some academic departments to develop strategies and explore collaborative initiatives for the expansion of programmes/courses to various locations in Africa. The OOL has also conducted preliminary market research in sub-Saharan Africa.
