KINGSTON, Jamaica — Regional development is set to face a significant setback with a recent UNICEF report highlighting school closures affecting 98 million children throughout Latin America and the Caribbean, according to Deputy Principal of The University of the West Indies (UWI) Open Campus, Dr Francis Severin.

 Severin said the urgent need to equip teachers with the appropriate skills and techniques to enable them to effectively deliver online teaching and learning, where schools remain closed because of the coronavirus pandemic, must be the top priority of The UWI.

According the Deputy Principal, improving the delivery of online teaching is critical to regional sustainability.

Dr. Severin also highlighted the upcoming Open Campus webinar, where a panel of global experts in online teaching and learning techniques will be delivering on the topic: ‘Pedagogical Approaches to Online Teaching and Learning: Strategies for Success’, hosted by the Hugh Shearer Labour Studies Institute and TEACHGood/LEADGood Foundation.

The webinar is scheduled for tomorrow Wednesday, March 10 at 4:30 pm, and is currently open for registration.

The lead presenter, Dr Luz Longsworth, is principal of The UWI Open Campus, and has played a pioneering role in advancing the online delivery of courses across the region. She will demonstrate the best method of online learning to increase retention of information among students, and improve the quality of learning in less time.

 Dr. Severin noted that “the 10 years and more of online teaching and learning by the Open Campus have led to the designing of simple techniques and strategies to achieve better communication, collaboration, creativity and critical thinking among students.”

Presentation experts will include Professor Paul Bacsich, visiting professor at the University of Derby online learning, and a consultant in e-learning, distance and open learning for over 30 years, and Dr Denise Gaspard-Richards, one of the region’s foremost authority in distance education and director of the Open Campus Academic Programming and Delivery.

Education and Leadership Consultant, Dr Renee Rattray, who is the Chief Learning Officer at the Foundation, noted that the rapid move to online learning has created the need for the adoption of new pedagogical approaches to ensure that the integration of information technology in education will be used to improve the learning capabilities of our students and maintain quality education that is necessary for growth and development.