Issue number one hundred and eighty-seven (August 2016) from the WorldU3A Service, the U3A Asia Pacific Alliance and also the UK Third Age Trust International committee.

Sent on the first day of every month to U3A members and kindred groups anywhere in the world.

Feel free to copy any or all of this information in your newsletters.
Please send items of possible interest to the editor, Tom Holloway.
 


Jeevan Lohani (U3A Nepal), Akiko Tsukatani (U3A Japan), Tom Holloway (WorldU3A), Thomas Kuan (U3A Singapore),
Dianne Delchau (U3A Online Australia), Kathrine Fenton May (U3A Durban, South Africa), Dr Sajjan Singh (U3A India)

MYU3A is an invitation to meet and greet U3A friends from anywhere and everywhere, and we are delighted to announce that it is now run in partnership with the Third Age Trust International Committee.

Are you visiting another town, city or country? Would you like to get in touch with U3A people there - perhaps even arrange a meeting or request some helpful information? Simply go to http://myu3a.org or just click here >>>

We will be happy to put you in touch with a U3A contact in the place you wish to visit. Confidential information (email addresses and contact phone numbers) will not be shown here, but can be requested on our contact form.

Current Affairs Groups: This site is run by faculty, staff and graduate students at Harvard Kennedy School’s Shorenstein Center on Media, Politics and Public Policy, as part of the Carnegie-Knight Initiative on the Future of Journalism Education. In addition to providing access to scholarly reports and papers on a wide range of topics, it makes available syllabi for educators and skills-based reference material.

Our weekly email and Twitter feed serve to highlight the latest studies from academia that can inform public discourse. Given the deluge of research output every day, we aim to be a useful curator. Our searchable database contains top academic and governmental research that we have selected and synthesized. We strive to translate complex statistics into clear data points and reformulate the terminology of academic specialists into more accessible language, without sacrificing rigor or nuance.

We invite all those interested in policy and public affairs to use the site’s materials, in particular instructors, students and journalists. No registration is required; the materials are free and are under a Creative Commons license.

All Groups: These wonderful pocket-sized booklets - perfect for reference - are now available online at http://www.veryshortintroductions.com

No need to sign up, just the 'Abstracts' on every subject under the sun will provide you with enough intellectual nourishment for days. Strongly recommended. (Thank you Stephen Hodges - North London)

ISU3A India: An excellent article mentioning the University of the Third Age from the Times of India, which is the largest selling English-language daily in the world. Strongly recommended.

GOOD IDEA DEPARTMENT: Please note that a large (2000 pixels) image can be downloaded to your computer and printed onto A4 and used for publicity material and for recruiting new members to your local group. To download it CLICK HERE >>>

(Thank you Apratim Chattopadhyay, ISU3A Eastern Zone)
MOOCS (Massive Open Online Courses):
The Commonwealth of Learning's interest in MOOCs is rooted in its mission to increase access to quality education and training in an equitable and affordable manner. The MOOC is the only scalable educational technology that was developed by and for educators.

We have, over the last three years, partnered with various institutions to offer ten MOOCs for learners in developing countries. We have been successful in offering MOOCs to a wide range of learners, from research professionals to university students as well as to farmers and extension workers. We recognise that most of the learners in developing countries have access to the Internet with relatively limited bandwidth, require offline access to learning materials and are not quite used to the online, peer-to-peer interactions that are taken for granted in the design and management of mainstream MOOCs. Click here for more >>>

This important international U3A conference will bring together the combined Governing Boards of AIUTA, the International Association of Universities of the Third Age, and the U3A Asia Pacific Alliance.
For the Conference Registration Form (pdf) please click here >>>

Report from JR Gupta, President of India Society of U3A: In July U3A Senior Citizens Delhi, in association with Max Hospital, ran another in their series of Health Checks for more than 120 elderly people. It included ECG, MDI, Blood and Sugar levels. and also Cardiology, Dental and General diseases.
Report from U3A Senior Citizens of Chennai:
Dr. Capt. M. Singaraja, in his presidential address appreciated both the great and premier institutions viz., Chinmaya Mission Seva Trust and Ethiraj college for Women for their excellent community service and academic advancement and he honored the students and NSS coordinator Dr. Navaneetha Lakshmi. He complimented Swami Mitrananda, for blending spirituality and modern management science and the Principal of Ethiraj College, Dr. A. Nirmala. Dr. A. Nirmala is the leading light to thousands of students with the able guidance of Ethiraj College Management Board Chairman Mr. V. M. Muralidharan. She received the first copy of “Sweet -21” and highlighted in her sweet and thought provoking speech, how Ethiraj College is a standing example of solidarity of youth and elderly.

Tree Planting: Under the inspiration of Dr Pradeep Sinha (standing) 170 Senior Citizens of U3A Allahabad and other groups came together in July to plant trees and enjoy a communal meal.


U3A Online: A complete GEMs Archive - Rick Swindell's newsletter - pdf printouts of all prior editions can be found at www.u3aonline.org.au

Do you know someone who would like to receive this newsletter in future? Ask them to email tom@worldu3a.org with a request and they will be put on the list. This webpage may be printed onto both sides of an A4 page and distributed to those with no Internet.