Robin Day
Unable to find enough financial backing in New Zealand to
develop an innovate web-based educational resource service,
Otago Polytechnic looked further afield.
Its determination was rewarded with a $NZ287,000 grant from
one of the largest charitable organisations in the United
States.
The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation, set up in 1966 by
Hewlett-Packard computer company founder William Hewlett and
his wife, has donated $US200,000 over two years.
The charity, which has assets of $US6.29 billion and last
year distributed $US784 million, supports educational,
environmental, poverty eradication and arts programmes around
the world.
The grant was confirmed last month and the cheque arrived
this week, polytechnic deputy chief executive Dr Robin Day
said yesterday.
"It's fantastic . . . We believe we are the first polytechnic
in New Zealand to receive a grant from this foundation."
The money will be used to expand the polytechnic's Open
Education Resources Foundation, a not-for-profit organisation
run by staff member Dr Wayne Mackintosh.
It allows educators anywhere in the world to share classroom
resources, lecture notes, textbooks and planning and policy
documents through a website called wikieducator.
Users make donations to a "virtual honesty box", with the
money used to commission more resources and to train more
people to use the site.
The polytechnic has also just received a one-off grant of
$117,500 from the Ministry of Education to commission New
Zealand people to write wikieducator resources for New
Zealand secondary schools and to train teachers to use the
site.
Wikieducator was "a whole new approach to teaching and
learning", Dr Day said.
"Through sharing, we can reduce costs for students and
institutions."
The polytechnic was rapidly gaining an international
reputation for its work in open education and the Hewlett
Foundation grant would enhance that.
"This is going to put [us] on the map in this domain - no
doubt about it. It is going to establish us as a centre of
excellence."
Bookmark/Search this post with:
A name, residential address, and (preferably residential) telephone number is required from readers who comment on ODT Online. These details will not be visible to site visitors.