Schools reach global partners with new platform for online learning
Friday, October 28, 2011

Oba, a global educational network featuring a comprehensive suite of online teaching and learning tools and opportunities, has been unveiled by the University of Oregon's College of Education.

EUGENE, Ore. -- (Oct. 28, 2011) -- Oba, a global educational network featuring a comprehensive suite of online teaching and learning tools and opportunities, has been unveiled by the University of Oregon's College of Education.
The new educational platform is designed to connect students to learning opportunities offered in online courses made available by their own schools or by schools in other locations. Students also will able to engage in collaborative educational projects with students in other countries.
"We understand the challenges schools face today, and we want to help address these challenges in innovative ways," said Yong Zhao, the UO's presidential chair for global academic extension and associate dean for Global and Online Education. "The platform is designed to address the immediate needs of schools to provide better education with a shrinking budget. But more importantly, it is intended to deliver a 21st century education to prepare our students to become global entrepreneurs."
Oba is a solution to a number of pressing problems facing schools globally, UO officials said in announcing the platform during an educational conference hosted by the college.
Online learning provides a way to distribute high-quality education in spite of dwindling financial resources in public education. The financial crunch has forced schools to cut programs, staff and school calendars. These challenges greatly impact the ability of small schools to afford or maintain an online learning system.
Oba, centrally operated by the UO's Institute for Global and Online Education, provides such capacity at a fraction of the cost of owning such a system. Costs are shared. Individual schools or districts are not required to have dedicated staff to run the system.
"This is huge for small schools like ours," said Todd Hamilton, superintendent of the Creswell School District, which has 1,265 students in its three schools, located about 12 miles south of Eugene. "It not only removes the financial burden but more importantly it gives us the technical expertise we don't have."
Even for schools that operate their own learning systems, UO officials said, Oba offers something not typically available: opportunities to securely collaborate with schools in other locations and countries. A school in Oregon, for example, can both offer its courses to students in China and have its students participate in courses being offered by a school in Australia.
"This is very important for our students, who have to become successful in the age of globalization," said Michael Phillips, principal of Ringwood Secondary College in Melbourne, Australia. Ringwood has been sending its students to study abroad for a number of years and is recognized for its innovations in using technology. "We want our students to have the ability to work with people from all over the world, and Oba makes that possible," he said.
Oba's pilot stage will include 30 schools in Oregon, Washington, China, Australia and England, but will seek to encompass 5,000 schools within three years. "We are ambitious but I believe the goal is realistic because it meets so many needs of schools worldwide," Zhao said.
"Oba is much more than a technology platform," Zhao said. "It is a global education community where students, teachers and school leaders exchange ideas, work together on projects and engage in in-depth collaboration. True global competitiveness comes from the ability to collaborate across different cultures. A globally competitive workforce is one that understands other people's needs and knows how to engage in mutually beneficial transactions."
The Oba learning platform empowers students to master their skills and leverage their unique talents through mentorship and collaboration to create products and services that are marketed to members of the global community. The Oba community also will help schools organize events such as science fairs, global expeditions, teaching contests, film and arts festivals, app development competitions, game contests and creative writing.
The name Oba was chosen because its three letters form the heart of the word global.
About the University of Oregon
The University of Oregon is among the 108 institutions chosen from 4,633 U.S. universities for top-tier designation of "Very High Research Activity" in the 2010 Carnegie Classification of Institutions of Higher Education. The UO also is one of two Pacific Northwest members of the Association of American Universities.
Media Contact: Jim Barlow, director of science and research communications, 541-346-3481, jebarlow@uoregon.edu
Source: Yong Zhao, presidential chair for academic extension, associate dean for Global and Online Education, 541-346-8275, yongzhao@uoregon.edu
Links:
Institute for Global and Online Education: http://globaleducation.uoregon.edu/
UO College of Education: http://education.uoregon.edu
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