DWU courses on net

By ANCILLA WRAKUALE
DIVINE Word University has gone a step further with the use of information and communication technology (ICT) with the opening of DWU online study centre.
The facility was opened last Saturday by Prime Minister Sir Michael Somare and blessed by the Apostolic nuncio to PNG and the Solomon Islands Archbishop Francisco Padilla.
The online centre has 10 million teaching and learning resources for education purposes from text books to other resources.
It also has online education programmes with a digital library called e-granary which simply means internet in a box.
 E-granary is fast up to 5,000 times faster than a satellite connection and can cut internet connectivity costs by 70 % or more.
Content and software are updated via a subscription to the granary digital library
update service.
The project was a partnership between DWU and the PNG Sustainable Development Programme.
DWU president Fr Jan Czuba said the initiative in implementing the project started three years back when Sir Michael had a meeting with all university’s vice-chancellors and challenged them to explore different areas to deliver quality education especially in rural areas.
Czuba also encouraged other political leaders to do similar projects adding that DWU was willing to provide technical support and assistance.
Meanwhile, Sir Michael expressed his appreciation to DWU for the great initiative that came about as a result of his challenge to PNG universities three years back.
The online centre is a pilot pro­ject and is fully solar powered.