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ICDE Highlights | January 2012 | 1

ICDE HighlightsAn activity report from the International Council for Open and Distance Education

ICDE is an NGO in formal consultative relations with UNESCO, and is supported by the Norwegian Ministry of Education and Research and its members.

January 2012www.icde.org

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learning (ODL), online learning, and open educational resources (OER) can help, and are increasingly popular. Technology and the Internet have – coupled with demand – kick started a long term development that is impossible to stop. But to distil the real added value from ODL, online learning and OER is not a quick win. It takes competence, capacity, leadership, cross-sectoral cooperation, and partnerships.

The 24th ICDE World Conference in October in Bali, Indonesia, which was hosted by Universitas Terbuka, was a good example of how ODL

Globalization has made the reach of knowledge more global, and networks based on joint interests and opportunities more important than ever. Education has become a key factor in fuelling the process of poverty reduction and knowledge based economic growth and freedom. The need for higher education and lifelong learning has become a global responsibility for both public and private organizations. So when UNESCO has estimated a growth in the need for higher education places from less than 100 million students in 2000 to over 250 million students in 2025, this is a challenge to which all serious actors in the knowledge business must relate.

Many parts of the world are in serious diffi culties because of the fi nancial crisis. They need to help society to readjust and to mobilize the workforce to more future oriented, knowledge intensive tasks. The solutions, which to a large extent lie with the younger generation, are hampered by an educational system that is not capable of offering education for all. There is a real need to move the world in the right direction. Open and distance

It takes members to move the world

develops and innovates around the world. OER was a key theme at the conference, and this commitment has been taken one step further through the decision of the ICDE Executive Committee to accept the invitation for closer partnership with UNESCO in promoting OER and the fi rst World OER Congress in June this year. This issue of ICDE Highlights illustrates that ICDE is engaging more broadly and deeply in areas and activities of core interest to its members. The lesson learned is that members’ involvement is crucial in making a difference.

ICDE’s tools – projects, studies, networks and conferences – can be used by its members to facilitate measures, strategies and policies to expand high quality ODL, online learning and OER and contribute to transforming the current education system to user oriented education for all. ICDE offers through its members and its organization a platform for identifying steps to take, tasks to do, creating networks and partnerships, for liaison with governments and international knowledge actors, and for action. ICDE is a membership driven organization, and to move in the right direction members need to engage, take a lead and move. Throughout 2012 ICDE will defi ne its strategies for the years to come. It takes members to move the world.

ICDE’s Executive Committee from 2012

• Tian Belawati, Rector, Universitas Terbuka, Indonesia

• Denise Kirkpatrick, Pro Vice-Chancellor Learning, Teaching and Quality, The Open University, UK

• Mandla S. Makhanya, Principal and Vice-Chancellor, University of South Africa

• Marta Mena, General Coordinator of PROCAE, Cabinet of Ministers, Government of Argentina

• Frits Pannekoek, President, Athabasca University, Canada

• Yang Zhijian, President, The Open University of China

A message from the Secretary General

Gard Titlestad, Secretary General, ICDE

The ICDE Executive Committee 2008-2011: (front row left to right) Marta Mena,

Tian Belawati, Denise Kirkpatrick, (back row left to right) Mandla S. Makhanya, Frits Pannekoek, Fredric Litto. ICDE Secretary

General, Gard Titlestad, is also pictured.


The 24th ICDE World Conference on Open and Distance Learning was held in October on the island of Bali, Indonesia, and attracted over 600 delegates representing 49 countries. Hosted by ICDE member institution Universitas Terbuka, the conference addressed new approaches to open and distance learning and included signifi cant emphasis on open educational resources. It featured a range of internationally respected keynote speakers whose presentations were streamed live during the event.

Praise for open education

In opening the conference, the Minister of National Education of the Republic of Indonesia, Muhammad Nuh, praised Universitas Terbuka for its work in overcoming challenges in the provision of access to education. “We have to be creative – open and distance learning has to be used as widely as possible to narrow social gaps”, he said.

24th ICDE World Conference

Hal Plotkin, Senior Policy Advisor in the Offi ce of the Under Secretary of Education, United States Department of Education, drew on his own life story to highlight the opportunity that distance education can bring to underprivileged sections of society. On the verge of losing the family home, 17-year-old Plotkin left high school to work as a waiter until a newspaper article about school dropouts provoked him to write a reply, the beginning of a career as a writer and journalist. His formal education came through the US community college system which has no requirements for previous formal education. He noted that “only 5% have real opportunities to enter higher education, while among the other 95% could be geniuses capable of fi nding the cure for diabetes and solutions to the world’s economic challenges. Open education is the only tool to unlock talent and capacity and to extend economic growth”, he said.

Access challenges in developing countries

Signifi cant investments in access to education were discussed during the conference, particularly in the USA and in Korea, though Onno W Purbo, an IT evangelist noted that in Indonesia 6 million children enter school annually, but only 600,000 graduate from higher education. While learning materials are ever more freely available, the predominance of English language creates barriers. However, ingenuity is the watchword of many developing nations, and Google translate is widely used, while students and

teachers use USB memory drives to overcome the problems of slow internet connection, and kitchen utensils to extend the range of Wi-Fi hotspots.

From a Brazilian perspective, Stavros Xanthopoylos spoke of the challenges to creating and distributing free educational content when quality education is only available through private universities

and colleges: “the value chain is based on profi t and this goes against what they are about”, he said.

Academic perspectives

Lawrence Lessig, lawyer, activist and founder of Creative Commons, an initiative to provide certifi cates for the licensing of scientifi c and educational materials, spoke passionately about the injustices of commercial scientifi c publishing which restricts access to knowledge to the most privileged: “copyright is 18th century rules in a 21st century world”, he said.

Respected academics working with open educational resources including Gráinne Conole from the University of Leicester, UK, and Rory McGreal from Athabasca University, Canada, spoke on the role of technology in learning. Professor McGreal advised colleagues to create educational materials for mobile devices fi rst: “a third of the world’s population can only access the Internet from mobile devices”, he noted.

The hospitality of Bali

The conference included a number of highly successful social events with dinners under an open sky, and music and dance – including traditional Balinese entertainment. A complimentary full-day tour was included in the conference fee, allowing delegates to explore the island and gain a fl avour of its culture, history and traditions.

24th ICDE World Conference website: www.ut.ac.id/icde2011

Keynote speaker Lawrence Lessig

Group discussions during a parallel session

Delegates at an evening event


A total of 16 delegates from countries with developing economies, including a number of students, received sponsorship to take part in the 24th ICDE World Conference. The programme was made possible by the generosity of member institutions, and ICDE both contributed to and administered the scheme. Recipients were selected by the conference organizing committee on the basis of strength of motivation and the value of the expected contribution to the conference through an academic paper.

As a condition of their participation, recipients - nationals of Argentina, Bangladesh, Botswana, Brazil, India, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Mauritius, Nigeria, South Africa, Turkey and

ICDE World Conference Fellowship Programme

Zimbabwe - were asked to write a report on how the experience benefi ted them personally and their home region. Here we present a selection of their comments:

Nikhila Bhagwat, India

“I have come back home with a backpack of new stimulating ideas, many friends across the world and a life saving drug called ‘hope’ for a better future for my global family with broader access for education! [...] Peer group discussions and collaborative learning experiences have

enabled me to gauge my own performance and to develop an insight into the dynamics of open and distance learning [...] and its scope to create access to education for under-privileged and marginalized groups.”

Felix Kayode Olakulehin, Nigeria

“As a doctoral researcher it provided me with the opportunity to receive independent comments on my

research trajectory. The networks and connections that I established during the conference are useful to the development of this fi eld of research

Prize for Lifelong Contribution

Winner of the Prize for Lifelong Contribution to the Field was Helmut Hoyer, Rector at FernUniversität in Hagen, Germany. The jury noted that he has worked indefatigably throughout his career to facilitate the development and acceptance of open and distance education in German speaking countries and beyond. Professor Hoyer is seen as an important promoter of and actor in open and distance education (ODE) by ICDE members and has given signifi cant support and assistance to ICDE as an organization. The jury acknowledged his “impressive contribution for the cause of ODE globally”.

Following a call for nominations among ICDE’s members, Executive Committee member Denise Kirkpatrick announced the winners of the 2011 ICDE Prize of Excellence awards at the 24th ICDE World Conference.

The ICDE Prize of Excellence awards recognize attainment of the highest possible excellence in the fi elds of open, distance, virtual and fl exible learning. An independent international jury was formed to evaluate the nominations, resulting in the selection of two winners.

ICDE Prize of Excellence winners

Individual Prize

The Individual Prize of Excellence was awarded to Fred Mulder, Former Rector of Open Universiteit, The Netherlands, and UNESCO Chair in OER. The jury noted that Professor Mulder’s work has made a signifi cant and visible contribution to the OER movement in Europe. He Mulder has also worked to ensure a close connection between ICDE’s OER ambitions and activities in the UNESCO Chair programme. The jury also noted the deep impact Professor Mulder’s work has had beyond his institution.

A formal presentation of the ICDE Prize of Excellence statuette will be made at a forthcoming ICDE event.

in my country and within the African region.”

Suniti Nundoo-Ghoorah, Mauritius

“The conference itself was a rich opportunity for exposure to current best practices, future horizons of ODL and technological convergences. This was indeed an invaluable opportunity to see and hear academicians I had only read about [...] Opportunities for professional exchanges and refl ective practice [...] have provided a spark for continuous improvement both at [Mauritius College of the Air] and in the region.”

N. Panchanatham, India

“Even during lunchtime it became the global arena for the discussion of distance education policies

[...] My learning by attending this conference is going to be useful to all in general and to our region specifi cally in planning, designing and implementing a need based innovative open and distance education system. My participation in this conference will certainly help to build our team, creating a forum for team members to discuss tools, technologies, and processes and how we can apply them in our future endeavours.”

Recipients of Fellowship Programme funds pictured with representatives of

sponsoring organizations


Keynote speaker Jagdish Bhagwati

The 2011 ICDE Standing Conference of Presidents (SCOP) meeting was hosted by the State University of New York Empire State College in New York, USA on 19-22 June 2011. Around 70 institutional leaders and other executives from

30 countries and every continent took part in this annual meeting for the discussion of policies and developments in open and distance education. The theme for the meeting was The New Economy and the Role of Open Learning, and the programme included a day of focus on new technologies.

Decrease excess, increase access!

Jagdish Bhagwati, Professor at Columbia University and a Senior Fellow in International Economics at the Council on Foreign Relations, delivered the keynote presentation. He highlighted the role of skills in economic transformation and spoke on the benefi ts of the free movement of people to bring an infl ux of much needed skills both to developing and developed economies. Silicon Valley, he noted, is in desparate need of skilled immigrants.

He said that it is the responsibility of the Western world to help meet the demand for skills in the developing world. He argued that this represents far greater support for developing countries than the provision of fi nancial aid which creates cultures of dependency.

This developmental challenge is mirrored in institutions worldwide. The cost of education is far too high because of an over-reliance on traditional teaching. He called for both society and educational establishments to recognize the need to decrease excess and increase access. Online teaching

Standing Conference of Presidents in New York

a clearer message about the role of ODL, and to highlight for example the economies of scale which may be achieved and to present ODL as a facilitator of choice. ODL is both essential for the up-skilling of mid-career employees and can bring education to burgeoning young populations in developing economies.

Where pedagogy and technology collide

Tension between pedagogy and technology in the learning environment was a further key theme at the meeting. Representatives of Pearson e-College and CISCO together with Diane Oblinger of EduCause and facilitator Elliott Masie presented their perspective on how technology empowers learning.

Adrian Sannier of Pearson e-College noted that resistance from faculty desparate has been overcome most successfully only by private institutions where the use of innovative technology is written into faculty employment contracts. Diana Oblinger noted that large, private institutions like the University of Phoenix are achieving innovation at massive scale in the use of new technology, and through empowering faculty to use it.

In comments from delegates, however it was noted that staff of open universities are generally highly motivated and excited by the mode of learning and the opportunities afforded by the new technology.

Charles Fadel spoke of the role which technology can play in creating graduates with the required skills of communication and collaboration, who are career-ready, and who have learned to solve real world problems at the pace required by modern businesses. The challenge, he argued, is to move away from the lecture

model to one where lectures are consumed in a student’s own time while interaction takes place in the form of collaborative projects. Diane Oblinger added that a greater concentration is required on support systems for students, including building their motivation.

SCOP 2011 website: http://choose.esc.edu/scop2011

will have a signifi cant impact on this, and as technology becomes more widespread, it will benefi t developing countries. He noted that specialized knowledge from developing cultures will also benefi t the developed world.

Challenges to open learning

In the panel discussion that followed, Kevin Kinser of the University at Albany, Michael Fortunato of SUNY Empire State College, Daniel Pianko of University Ventures Fund and Bruno Laporte of the World Bank provided perspectives on the keynote and the interface between open learning and the new economy. They discussed challenges to open learning including scepticism to for-profi t education, the question of how to maintain quality, restrictions to cross-border education, and faculty resistance to innovation.

Bruno Laporte noted that the World Bank is working to explain openness to policy makers, and advised university leaders to avoid talking exclusively about education to their governments, to the public and to the press, but instead to make arguments about social and economic benefi ts, competitiveness and improved skills levels within the labour market.

Ways forward for ODL

Group discussions looked at the role of the state in ODL, comparative advantages of distance education, and whether the future of ODL may be secured through public or private funding.

Delegates noted that the state has an important role to play as facilitator for access to ODL, it should promote the development of distance learning at traditional institutions and play a leading role in quality assurance. To bolster this message, it is incumbent upon institutions to communicate

Working Group at SCOP 2011


Policy Forum on quality and international collaboration

The Standing Conference of Presidents meeting was preceded by the ICDE Policy Forum, this year focusing on quality and international collaboration and the role that ICDE can play in inter-institutional quality assurance.

Proceedings were led by Meg Benke, Provost and Vice President of Academic Affairs at SUNY Empire State College and President of The Sloan Consortium, and the keynote address was given by Gary E. Miller, World Campus Executive

Director Emeritus, Pennsylvania State University. This was followed by responses from Vincent Ado Tenebe, Vice-Chancellor of the National Open University of Nigeria;

Tian Belawati, Rector of Universitas Terbuka, Indonesia; and Marta Mena, General Coordinator of PROCAE for the Cabinet of Ministers of the Government of Argentina.

UNESCO OER Chairs network meeting

The UNESCO Chairs in open educational resources (OER) held a meeting on the fringes of SCOP 2011 with sponsorship from ICDE and SUNY Empire State College.

The event, held to exchange experiences in projects, policies

Subsequent group discussions resulted in a report which made the following key observations:

• The need for quality standards is acute in order to encourage governments to accredit inter-institutional ODL collaborations.

• Sensitivity to language and cultural differences is required as are solutions to language as a barrier to effective cross-border access to courses and programmes.

• There is a need for practice- based models of collaboration and assistance to be shared.

The outcomes of the Policy Forum will now inform work on the ICDE strategy for 2013 and beyond.

Policy Forum report: www.icde.org/policyforum2011

and implementation of OER on the national, regional and institutional levels, drew a series of useful conclusions. It also created an action plan for the UNESCO Chairs in OER based around two key activities: the establishment of a Global OER Graduate School, and the development of an OER Knowledge Cloud. Actions will also be carried out to attain global balance in the network, and to connect the Chairs in OER in a UNESCO University Twinning and Networking (UNITWIN) network.

ICDE member institutions Athabasca University, Canada, and Open Universiteit, the Netherlands, are the current holders of the UNESCO Chairs in OER. The network it represents focuses on capacity building on an institutional, national and international level and research that will contribute to the growing investigation of the OER phenomenon and its potential, and impact on education and learning.

UNESCO Chair in OER website: www.oer.unescochair-ou.nl

Gary E. Miller

ICDE International Conference in Argentina

Member institution, Universidad Nacional de Quilmes (UNQ) hosted an ICDE International Conference in Buenos Aires, Argentina in April 2011. Attracting more than 220 participants and a range of high-profi le keynote speakers, this was an opportunity for researchers, academics and specialists to come together to explore topics which fell under the theme of Information and Communication Technologies and the University: Quality, Equity and Access to Higher Education.

Representatives of institutions in Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Colombia, Iran, Mexico, Norway, Paraguay, Sweden, the United States, Uruguay and Venezuela attended the conference.

The event was presided over by Gustavo Lugones, Rector of UNQ, and Marta Mena, member of the ICDE Executive Committee. There was a strong ICDE presence among the speakers including, Begoña Gros from ICDE member institution Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, Spain; Fred Litto, President of ICDE member institution ABED, Brazil and ICDE Executive Committee member; and Louise Bertrand from ICDE member institution Télé-université UQAM, Canada.

The conference was sponsored by the National Ministry of Education, the Secretary of Public Communication, the National Secretary of Culture, the Network University of Distance Education, and by the Government of Canada.

Conference website: www.congreso-icde.uvq.edu.ar/


ICDE is collaborating with Marie Ferreira, Executive Director: Corporate Communication and Marketing, University of South Africa on an international campaign to increase awareness of the impact of distance education.

In preparation for the campaign, Dr. Ferreira visited ICDE in Oslo, Norway. Discussions were held with staff of the secretariat, and meetings held with a number of Norwegian member institutions and cooperating partners. A well-attended symposium was also held at the 24th ICDE World Conference to provide input to the

International Marketing Campaign for Distance Education

evaluation of need and concepts, and to help defi ne which target markets a marketing campaign should concentrate on, and the messages it should convey. Discussions seemed to confi rm that an emphasis on student achievement and empowerment should be at the focus.

Survey fi ndings

In the research stage of the campaign, a mapping survey of existing marketing initiatives promoting distance education was carried out among ICDE member institutions. Twenty-six institutions from every continent took part in the survey which found that:

• In 2/3 of institutions, all communication and marketing activity is concentrated in one department

• Electronic communication and public relations and media are the key focus areas

• Communication and marketing departments play a signifi cant role in strategy development

• Benchmarking, market research and surveys are used to show results and justify expenditure

The input of ICDE member institutions will be engaged throughout 2012, and the campaign will develop promotional materials, online tools and examples of best practice which may be adapted for local use.

www.icde.org/marketing_campaign

resourcing, level of wealth, ICT infrastructure and capacity – are usually more signifi cant.

The project team has also made useful recommendations for future studies.

Report, country and institution profi les: www.icde.org/regulatory_frameworks

A consortium of the International Network for Quality Assurance Agencies in Higher Education, the Australasian Council on Open, Distance and E-Learning, the Distance Education Hub, and the Australian Universities Quality Agency has been working on this ICDE sponsored project during 2011. The study has looked at the regulatory environment for distance education in 24 countries in the Asia/Pacifi c region. ICDE has been asked by its members to help raise awareness of and help

Study of the Regulatory Frameworks for Distance Education

to combat regulatory barriers to distance education, and this pilot project seeks to create a framework transferable to other regions.

FindingsThe initial fi ndings were presented by Rosalind James and Belinda Tynan of DEHub, and Len Webster of AUQA at the 24th ICDE World Conference. They reported on a demanding process caused by a lack of existing documentation on the impact of regulatory frameworks. Their fi ndings, however, show that regulatory frameworks do not necessarily constrain the development of distance education. A more signifi cant factor is how an individual institution adapts its own governance practices and procedures. Indeed, the study has found that a raft of other factors – including

Recognition for open educational practices

ICDE has been an active partner in the European Commission supported Open Educational Quality (OPAL) Initiative during 2010 and 2011 with partners including UNESCO and ICDE member The Open University UK. The project has developed tools which can be employed by organizations and educators across the world to help develop a culture of open educational practice (OEP), broadly defi ned as practices which promote and encourage the effective use of open educational resources in the name of increased quality and

innovation. This includes Guidelines for OEP, an interactive metro map for positioning practices and ascertaining the next steps to be taken, a clearing house for best practice and a register of organizations supporting the approach.

The project culminated in the presentation of the OPAL Awards

for quality and innovation through open educational practices which were announced at a ceremony in Berlin, Germany in December. ICDE took the lead in designing the framework for the awards, in forming the juries of international experts, and in administering the submission and adjudication process, as well as promoting the initiatives and institutions recognized through the Awards.

Each of the winning entries made a video fi lm describing their practices, and these together with descriptions of all winning and highly commended entries are available on the project website.

OPAL Initiative website: www.oer-quality.org


Special issue of Open Praxis

A special edition of Open Praxis was published during 2011 dedicated to former ICDE Executive Committee member N. Barney Pityana. Professor Pityana stepped down from the ICDE Executive Committee after retiring at the end of 2010 from his position as Principal and Vice Chancellor of the University of South Africa (Unisa).

Leading experts in ODL from around the world have contributed to the publication, which was edited by guest editor Olugbemiro Jegede, Secretary-General of the Association of African Universities. Personal tributes and articles on open and distance learning have been contributed by the following:

• Editorial – Olugbemiro Jegede: When the Unthinkable Happens

• Mandla S. Makhanya: Tribute to Professor Nyameko Barney Pityana

• Sir John Daniel: Unisa’s Unique Academic Odyssey

• Brenda M. Gourley: Force Majeure: Necessity Being the Mother of Invention

• Nicholas H. Allen and Susan C. Aldridge: Pityana – Visionary Service to a Global Community

• Tolly Mbwette: What Makes a Well Managed Modern Open and Distance Learning (ODL) University Much Closer to the ‘Ideal University of the Future’?

• James C. Taylor and Wayne Mackintosh: Creating an Open Educational Resources University and the Pedagogy of Discovery

New editor for Open Praxis

Following an open call among ICDE members, Inés Gil Jaurena of Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia (UNED), Spain was selected by ICDE’s Executive Committee as the new editor for the ICDE journal Open Praxis.

In this interview, she describes her background and vision for the journal.

What was your personal motivation for seeking the editorship of Open Praxis?

When I read the call, both the topic – distance education – and the format – a scientifi c journal – appeared relevant to me. Distance education is one of my areas of interest, as I have been linked to UNED and the Faculty of Education since 2000. I have experience in developing scientifi c journals, so I could contribute on that aspect as well. Beatriz Malik who will be consultative editor encouraged me also on behalf of UNED.

Inés Gil Jaurena

How is this project of importance for UNED?

For UNED, The challenge of re-launching Open Praxis is an opportunity to become more involved in the goals and projects that ICDE develops. We both share a wish to refl ect on and improve distance education, and believe that cooperation between us can lead to development of better practice in this fi eld. The support from the Vice Rectorate for Internationalization and Cooperation refl ects the commitment of UNED towards this project.

What do you think Open Praxis can achieve?

Open Praxis has the potential to become a reference journal, covering topics related to innovation and research with new methodologies, technologies and theoretical frameworks that can enrich distance education and e-learning. It is clearly a long-term project, and during these two years we will try to set the basis for consolidation of Open Praxis, improving aspects such as the management system, peer review process, scientifi c quality criteria and visibility. On the content part, we expect to become a platform for the sharing of educational experiences among ICDE member institutions and beyond.

ICDE features in international journal Nature

ICDE and President Frits Pannekoek featured in an article on online education and science in Nature, the highly-respected weekly international science journal. The article discusses challenges related to the acceptance of online learning for science subjects in higher education. “Internet-based degree programmes are gaining acceptance, but doubts remain about their suitability for graduate science” is the starting point of the article, which features both voices for and against the use of online learning in hard sciences.

Although the article is concentrated on North America, it gives a positive picture of the use and opportunities offered by online education and is fairly balanced when it comes to the challenges for distance learning. The article discusses the general trend in education for fl exible, easily accessible, lifelong learning options.

With particular reference to the challenges for online science graduate degree programmes ICDE President Frits Pannekoek is quoted as saying, “As universities become comfortable with new technologies and different learning models, they will be less reluctant to offer hard sciences through distance learning”.

Article: www.tinyurl.com/icdenature


ODL in the BRIC countries

On the tenth anniversary of the fi rst use of the term “BRIC”, to describe the emerging economic powers of Brazil, Russia, India and China, ICDE brought together representatives of member institutions in these countries at a special session of the 2011 Online Educa Berlin conference in Germany. This activity falls within ICDE’s remit to increase communication between developed and developing nations.

The session, entitled Learning Cultures: An International Panorama, covered present trends and challenges in open and distance learning in the four countries, and was chaired by Gard Titlestad, Secretary General of ICDE, and Dietmar Kennepohl of ICDE member institution, Athabasca University, Canada.

Brazil

Luciano Sathler of the Brazilian Association for Distance Education (ABED) and Universidade Anhanguera – Uniderp, Brazil presented a number of useful statistics on the growth of distance education. He noted that the percentage of students in distance education has risen from 1.4% in 2002 to 14.6% in 2010. Almost one in six students enrolled in undergraduate studies in Brazil

enters into a distance learning course. The main challenge in his country today is that of quality, he noted.

Russia

Irina Smirnova of the Moscow State University of Economics, Statistics and Informatics (MESI), Russia spoke of the tremendous growth in internet use in her country, and the potential for delivery of courses by this mode. The latest statistics show that there are 50.8 million individual users over 15 years old, more than in any other European country, she said. She reported, however, on a number of challenges for distance education including a lack of ICT skills among teachers and academics, insuffi cient knowledge of pedagogical design issues for distance courses, and that regulations for higher education institutions are often incompatible with the realities of distance learning.

India

Hemlata Chari of the Institute of Distance and Open Learning (IDOL), University of Mumbai, India spoke of how ODL has democratized access to higher education and led to a situation where today there are 8.8 million students. Key challenges for India include translation and

(left to right) Hemlata Chari, Dietmar Kennepohl, Irina Smirnova, Gard Titlestad, Luciano Stahler

dissemination of materials, a lack of teaching staff, and providing adequate assessment for large numbers of students. Information and communication technology is being used to meet some of these challenges, and at IDOL they are now integrating open educational resources, though problems of infrastructure and power shortages remain, particularly in rural areas.

China

Li Yawan of The Open University of China contributed through a paper which was read by the co-chair. In this, she noted that there are 68 e-colleges in conventional universities utilizing information technology to improve open and distance education delivery. Both open universities and e-colleges are focusing on quality education for degree and non-degree programmes, and exploring the balance of scale, quality and cost. Training programmes have been developed for lifelong learning, and a good mechanism for sharing quality resources is being constructed. The key issue is to meet the demands of society for high quality education, to ensure quality educational resources are distributed evenly, and to promote equity in education and social justice.

Follow up activities

Participants in the session agreed that they would support ICDE coordinating follow up activity to help raise exposure of the challenges and achievements in ODL in the BRIC countries. Activity under consideration includes an online discussion forum, and joining with UNESCO to study the impact of mobile learning and innovative technologies in these countries, as well as South Africa, together fast becoming known as the BRICS nations.

ICDE extends grateful thanks to the members who took part in the session, and to the representatives’ home institutions for their support for the work of ICDE.


The regional perspectiveICDE aims to work closely with regional and key national open and distance learning associations, and invites such organizations to join ICDE as Associate members. Here we feature highlights from interviews with Presidents of a number of these organizations where they describe the most promising events in their region during 2011 and the key challenges for 2012 and beyond. The full text of these interviews can be seen at www.icde.org/regions2011

Africa

Interview with Ogidan Rotimi, Ag. Executive Director, African Council for Distance Education.

The large number of participants at the 3rd African Council for Distance Education Conference and General Assembly hosted by the Open University of Tanzania was the organization’s most promising activity in 2011. Over 108 abstracts and 59 full paper presentations by participants coupled with the presentations by 14 Ministers of Education were a clear demonstration that there is hope in the effort made to provide access to education through ODL. It is further an indication that ODL has become an acceptable mode of providing quality education in Africa.

In terms of challenges, provision of ICT facilities accessible to every learner with internet connectivity at minimum cost across the fi ve regions of Africa would make teaching and learning easier and more fl exible.

Australia

Interview with Roderick Sims, President, Open and Distance Learning Association of Australia.

There is a sense that the remote or distance student is now far more mainstream than the exception – whether institutions consider themselves on-campus or not. This is in part due to the growing acceptance of computer-mediated learning as a standard for all courses.

In addition, an increasing number of educational providers are adopting ODL strategies to increase their reach, thus requiring the knowledge of ODL teaching and learning strategies to be applied. The underlying motivation of these providers is to improve opportunities for learners, wherever they may be located, rather than focus only on producing cost savings. In essence, the curriculum is returning, on the back of technology, to the principles established by the traditions of ODL.

At a national level, Australia’s increased commitment to education as a vehicle for economic development will lead to a more strategic approach to its involvement in the region. It plans to do this through the Global Partnership for Education and has rejoined the Commonwealth of Learning as a full fi nancial member. ODL is recognised by the current government as a signifi cant tool in assisting economic development through education and training.

Austerity measures have begun hitting education throughout the region, with the two major providers of support, Australia and New Zealand, facing cuts at home. While Australia needs to increase and diversify participation in post school education, fl exibility is still interpreted as providing more options for on-campus students rather than a creative and innovative solution to meet changing needs. The challenge is to convince the leadership of universities and post school providers that the current resources within their institutions can be optimised if there is a shared vision embracing the design and development of educational resources.

At the micro-level there is an increased professional development need for both faculty and students. This will help ensure that ODL strategies are understood by educational professionals to cover the broad range of interactive options made available through media and communications technologies. There also remain many courses which are content-

centred rather than outcomes centred.

Emerging from these points is the overarching issue of quality, and the means by which both quality resources and outcomes can be accurately determined.

Australasia

Interview with Gordon Suddaby, President 2010-2011, Australasian Council on Open, Distance and E-Learning.

In an ACODE workshop held at Massey University, the OERu (Open Education Resources University) initiative led by Jim Taylor and Wayne Mackintosh gained considerable traction. It is now developing rapidly and involves a number of prestigious universities from around the world as well as UNESCO and the Commonwealth of Learning.

An ACODE-funded collaborative project, led by Dr Cathy Gunn of the University of Auckland looked at the sustainability of ‘e’ innovations in learning and teaching. The whole area of sustainability of ‘e’ innovation is one which is becoming increasingly signifi cant as resources become more limited and technology becomes more accessible.

A further major development was initiated as part of the legacy projects funded by the Australian Learning and Teaching Council (ALTC) prior to its closure earlier this year. ACODE and the Australian Society for Computers in Learning in Tertiary Education led a consortium of kindred organisations in receiving funding for the development of a ‘National Networking Initiative’ project designed to disseminate, promote, and enhance the outcomes and practices arising from the many projects ALTC has funded over the years.

The global fi nancial crisis continues to impact on the fi nancial resources of institutions in the region and this in turn impacts on ODL and in particular, those units that are engaged in supporting ODL within institutions. The rapid changes in


Europe

Interview with Morten Flate Paulsen, President, European Distance and e-Learning Network.

In 2011, we launched the fi rst EDEN Fellows’ workshop as a promising think tank on European open and distance learning. The workshop concluded that all major developments during the last fi ve years had been predicted, although not by all. Even so, the Fellows agreed that resistance to educational innovation persists. In fact, developments are mostly

substantially slower than foreseen because educational institutions’ inertia is much more effective than hoped. Important emerging technologies pointed out by the Fellows were: social media; open educational resources and practices; mobile learning and personal learning environments.

The fi nancial constraints facing the European countries should also be seen as a major opportunity for ODL, and EDEN used the political and economical situation in Athens, Greece, as backdrop for the Open Classroom Conference, with the symptomatic title, Never Waste a Crisis. It was intriguing to observe the optimistic attitude of the delegates; several of the presenters argued that an educational crisis will spur innovation and that the need for cost effective education will result in many opportunities for e-learning. Several colleagues reminded me that the fi nancial situation will enforce more competition, mergers and new fi nancial models in European education. This will create both opportunities and challenges for open and distance learning providers which need to fi nd sustainable and large-scale solutions in more competitive markets.

In its Europe 2020 strategy, the European Commission has stressed the importance of healthy and active ageing, and 2012 will be The European Year of Active Ageing and Solidarity between Generations. EDEN has therefore chosen Open Learning Generations as the theme for its annual conference in Portugal in June. One year after the 22 July massacre in Norway, we should remind both young and mature learners of the dangers of unlimited and unattended access to extreme networks and resources on the Internet.

Middle East

Interview with Mansoor Al Awar, Chairman, Middle East e-Learning Association.

The rapid development of information and communication technology (ICT) offers tremendous

educational opportunities to provide new innovative, accessible and more affordable ways of learning. During the past decade, the Arab world witnessed the establishment of several open and distance higher education institutions, and there has been more and more emphasis on creating a platform for dialogue, sharing of know-how and creating a platform for research in the fi eld through the establishment of many regional conferences and seminars.

In the UAE, the fi rst ‘’e’’ university in the gulf, Hamdan Bin Mohamed e-University is considered now a blueprint for implementing ODL in the region and has played a signifi cant role in sharing its experience by organizing its annual conference on e-learning, publishing case studies, conducting research in the fi eld, establishing regional bodies to support ODL, and the recent launch of the International Consortium for Teaching and Learning Centers.

The utilization of online programs for corporate training has received substantial attention and interest in the Gulf region, as many organizations began to realize the cost-effi cient nature of online training.

The Ministry of Higher Education in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia has also recently established the Center for E-Learning and Distance Education with the aim of providing a hub for e-learning and distance education for Saudi Arabia’s universities. The recent decree issued by Jordan recognizing ODL is also another important milestone for the Arab World.

Finally, Arab Spending on e-learning has signifi cantly increased. According to Madar Research Group, total spending on eLearning in the UAE reached by the end of 2010 266.6 million UAE dirhams (US$72.6 million).

Our main challenges are that of the Arab countries suffer from a lack of recognition of ODL and that many of the Ministries of Education and Higher Education do not yet recognize degrees offered through this mode.

technology mean that more than ever, institutions need to have clear, robust decision-making processes regarding the selection and adoption of technology for the delivery and support of their programmes. Financial constraints mean that the time and expertise required to make these decisions is not available, and professional development and support limited, resulting in outcomes that are less than expected or required.

A further challenge facing institutions in this region lies in the funding models being introduced. Within the New Zealand context, caps on numbers funded by the Government and a focus on younger students and completions will have a signifi cant impact on the availability of higher education for the ‘traditional’ ODL student i.e. older, often second chance, and part-time. In Australia, it is almost the reverse. The effective lifting of caps on students will result in a strongly competitive environment with respect to student recruitment and could threaten those institutions which have traditionally met the needs of distance students as other institutions seek to enter the ODL arena.

Finally, the closure of the Australian Learning and Teaching Council was a major shock to the higher education sector. Its replacement, the Offi ce of Learning and Teaching is in its very early days and the sector is watching with interest and hoping that it will achieve the success that ALTC achieved.


New Zealand

Interview with Niki Davis, President, Distance Education Association of New Zealand.

From a DEANZ perspective the most promising development would have to be the DEANZ 2016 scenario guide to tertiary education in 2016, in which ODL is fundamental. These future-focused resources are available now through the project blog at www.tinyurl.com/deanzguide.

The research underpinning this project has identifi ed trends of increasing customisation

and standardisation from the contrasting perspectives of the tertiary institutions and those they serve. All four scenarios are likely to appear within fi ve years. From the most conservative to the most radical they are:

1. Minimal change, due to: concentration of discipline-specifi c programmes or qualifi cations; lack of development of national agencies; research assessment etc.

2. The “supermarket” with a massive range of courses and units of study/training; most effective where they engage with learners’ concerns, e.g. relevant upskilling.

3. Quality, branded consortia bringing New Zealand education into the global market as a partner with an edge on creativity through diversity.

4. Self-determination by students, as advisors and faculty recruit and work with mentors in employment and the community to provide mentored, quality- assured motivating contexts.

This region and Canterbury in particular have been challenged with repeated earthquakes and that has resulted in the recognition of ODL and blended learning as a key strategy necessary for resilience. We have developed and researched that challenge, including world leading research in social media. For this reason, our conference in April 2012 in Wellington, New Zealand, has the theme: ‘Shift Happens’ looking at resilience, relevance and reform. See www.tinyurl.com/deanz2012.

Norway

Interview with Svein Qvist-Eriksen, President, Norwegian Association for Distance Education.

The most promising development here is increased attention to lifelong education. The Norwegian Parliament’s educational committee, through its statements to the

national budget over the last two years, clearly indicates recognition of the core competence and position of distance education and online institutions within Norway’s educational system. It is also clear that online learning solutions are in the process of becoming recognized as suitable solutions for the education of children and youth, and as a supplement for both weak and strong students.

Tertiary formal accredited programmes are becoming recognized in society and are established as a specifi c area of education. Online education providers are important players in the fi eld by offering a large number of tertiary vocational programmes.

Concerning public providers, the Ministry of Education, clearly advocates the development of online, fl exible education in higher education, exemplifi ed by the political support to Norway Opening Universities and through emphasis on developing ICT infrastructure for higher online education through the “e-campus” project.

For private institutions, perhaps the main challenge, is to provide cost effi cient high quality online education. As state subsidies are fading out, students have to pay the full fees. Developing high quality online education that can be offered at a price the market is willing to pay is a great challenge in a country where education generally is free of charge or highly state subsidized. While Sweden some years ago was an international leader in distance education, private distance education nearly disappeared from the scene, as distance education lost public funding. There is a danger that Norway may experience a similar situation, as funding decreases, and also because of strong public involvement in education that to a large extent excludes accreditation and recognition of alternative solutions.

The social perception of e-learning in the region is still poor among students and their parents, instructors and even employers. There is the need for more awareness campaigns for this part of the world as many feel that the traditional learning mode is much better than ODL.

Many Arab countries score below world averages on all connectivity indicators. Countries like Yemen, Iraq, Mauritania and Libya still have internet penetration of less than 10% of the entire population. Having a solid technological infrastructure is an important element to further growing ODL in these particular countries.

There is a need for regulatory frameworks governing the quality of ODL. It is only then, that the perception of people may change while actual research based evidences are provided on the added value of ODL and the benefi t it may bring to both students and the organization while maintaining the highest standards of quality.

Finally, there is a need for re-engineering the educational model; there is a considerable need for formally developing the skills and competencies of people working in ODE.


Membership news

New membersOver the past year, the ICDE Executive Committee has admitted 13 institutions as members.

• Anadolu University, Turkey

• Commonwealth of Learning

• Kstudy Korea Distance Lifelong Education Center

• Massey University - Offi ce of Distance Education, New Zealand

• Nalanda Open University, India

• National Open University of Nigeria

• NKI Nettstudier, Norway

• School of Continuing Teacher Education, North-West University, South Africa

• Stockholm University, Sweden

• SUV Universidad de Guadalajara, Mexico

• University of Mumbai, India

• University of Southern Queensland, Australia

• Virtual University of Pakistan

ICDE presence at meetings and conferences

Members of ICDE’s Executive Committee and/ or the ICDE Secretary General have represented the organization at a signifi cant number of third party conferences. It is usual for the host or the Executive Committee member’s own institution to fund their participation.

• 46th SEAMEO Council Conference, Brunei Darussalam, January 2011

• 4th Annual Conference on e-Learning Excellence in the Middle East - HBMeU 2011 Annual Congress, Dubai, United Arab Emirates, January 2011

• National Institute of Adult Continuing Education (NIACE) and Association for Learning Technology seminar, United Kingdom, February 2011

• e-Learning Regional Conference, Kuwait, March 2011

• Seminar: Open Educational Culture and Open Educational Practices, University of Lund, Sweden, March 2011

• Norway Opening Universities Svalbard Conference, Norway March 2011

• UNESCO Global Forum: Rankings and Accountability in Higher Education: Uses and Misuses, Paris, France, May 2011

• ED-MEDIA 2011 - World Conference on Educational Multimedia, Hypermedia & Telecommunications, Lisbon, Portugal, June 2011

• ABED 17th International Congress of Distance Education, Manaus, Brazil, September 2011

• Higher Education Rankings and e-learning seminar, Barcelona, Spain, September 2011

• UNESCO Policy Forum on Mainstreaming Open Educational Practices, Paris, France, November 2011

• Annual conference of the Norwegian Association of Distance Teaching Universities, Oslo, Norway, November 2011

• Online Educa Berlin, Germany, December 2011

Call for bids for ICDE International Conferences

Member institutions may apply to host an ICDE International Conference aimed at a regional audience. An institution may thus draw upon ICDE’s resources to attract leading fi gures from the world of open and distance education to speak at the event.

International conferences give local institutions and host countries the opportunity to showcase

their institutions, experts, and educational values and systems to a broad international audience. At the same time, such events have proven their ability positively to

affect local attitudes and policy towards distance education.

International Conferences represent an important opportunity for fostering greater regional cooperation in order to further the goals and objectives of individual institutions.

For further information: www.icde.org/internationalconferences


ICDE’s new Secretary General

Gard Titlestad became ICDE Secretary General in August 2011. A Norwegian citizen, he brings to the organization signifi cant experience from the areas of knowledge and international affairs including from positions at the Nordic Council of Ministers, the Norwegian delegation to the European Union, and the European Commission.

He joins ICDE after six years at the Nordic Council of Ministers in Copenhagen, Denmark, where he was Head of the Department for Knowledge and Welfare. He managed the secretariat for

confi gurations of ministers including the ministers for education and research, the ministers for health and social affairs, the ministers for labour affairs, and ministers for IT. Gard’s

focus was on Nordic cooperation in education, research and innovation and the so called knowledge

triangle, and in particular the role of universities.

Before joining the Nordic Council of Ministers, Gard served as Research Counsellor for Norway in Brussels, Belgium, facilitating Norwegian participation in European cooperation including on Information Society initiatives. He also partcipated in the executive team of the Norwegian delegation to the European Union. Prior to this, Gard served as a senior offi cial in the European Commission, Directorate General Information Society in the Information Society Project Offi ce and later in the Department for International Affairs, and for Norwegian Government research and development agencies.

Gard Titlestad

Elections to the new ICDE Executive Committee

Following a process of voting among ICDE members, and validation by the ICDE Election Committee, the new Executive Committee to sit from 1 January 2012 was announced in July 2011.

Prior to this, members had voted in favour of changes to the ICDE constitution to help ensure the continuity from one Executive Committee to the next.

As the fi rst election under the new Constitution, it was thus required that three institutional members be elected for two years and one individual member and two institutional members for four years.

Ingeborg Boe, Chair of the ICDE Election Committee, said:

“We received an impressive list of candidates - people of high standing within our fi eld - including 20 candidates from institutional members. We wish to express our sincere appreciation to members who agreed to stand for election. We were honoured that they were willing to take an active part in the organization.”

Name Term of offi ce

Tian Belawati, Rector, Universitas Terbuka, Indonesia Re-elected for four years

Denise Kirkpatrick, Pro-Vice Chancellor Learning and Teaching, The Open University, UK

Re-elected for four years

Mandla S Makhanya, Principal and Vice-Chancellor, University of South Africa

Re-elected for two years

Marta Mena, General Coordinator of PROCAE, Cabinet of Ministers, Argentine Government, Argentina (individual member)

Re-elected for four years

Frits Pannekoek, President, Athabasca University, Canada

Re-elected for two years

Yang Zhijian, President, The Open University of China Newly elected for two years

ICDE Executive Committee from 2012 (alphabetical order):

David Sewart, Chair of the ICDE Board of Trustees expressed his thanks to the Election Committee:

“I would like to congratulate the Election Committee – Ingeborg Boe, Helmut Hoyer and Gary Miller – on their work over the past few months in organizing the election for the fi rst Executive Committee under the newly amended ICDE Constitution. The process had to be rather more complex to make a start on what will be in future a biennial system, but all went well and the new Executive Committee will begin its work at the beginning of 2012.”

Call for host SCOP 2013

ICDE announces a call for bids for the 2013 ICDE Standing Conference of Presidents (SCOP) and asks member institutions to submit declarations of interest for hosting the meeting. The deadline for applications is 20 March 2012.

For further information: www.icde.org/scophost2013


Coming soonSCOP 2012 in Dubai

ICDE is pleased to announce that the 2012 ICDE Standing Conference of Presidents (SCOP) will take place in Dubai, United Arab Emirates on 12-15 November 2012.

SCOP 2012 will be hosted by member institution Hamdan Bin Mohammmed e-University, and this will be the fi rst occasion on which SCOP takes place in the Middle East. An ICDE Policy Forum will also be held as part of the meeting.

Hamdan Bin Mohammed e-University is the fi rst online institution to be licensed and recognized by the Ministry of Higher Education and Scientifi c Research in the United Arab Emirates, and among the few in the region.

The selection of hosts for ICDE conferences and meetings is made by the Executive Committee after a bidding process open to all member institutions.

25th ICDE World Conference

The 25th ICDE World Conference on Open and Distance Learning in 2013 will be hosted by Tianjin Open University, China, in October 2013.

The host was announced at the 24th World Conference held 2-5 October 2011 in Indonesia where President of Tianjin Open University, Feng Xuefei, gave a presentation of his institution and the city of Tianjin.

Tianjin Open University, founded in 1958, has 60,000 students with 21 campuses and a distance education network covering all counties of the municipality. The university places great emphasis on international exchange and cooperation and hosted the 22nd Asian Association of Open Universities Annual Conference in 2008. Tianjin is a coastal city approximately 120km from Beijing.

Seminar with Norwegian rectors

ICDE receives funding from the Government of Norway and works to provide opportunities for Norwegian institutions to benefi t from interaction with the ICDE community.

At the end of February, and in combination with the ICDE Executive Committee’s constitutive meeting in Oslo, a seminar will be held with rectors from Norwegian institutions. Organized by ICDE and the Norwegian Association of Higher Education Institutions, in cooperation with Norway Opening Universities, the theme will be High Quality Higher Education – Challenges for Leadership, Strategies and Organization coming from an increasingly Open and Online World.

The seminar will seek to cast light on opportunities and the impact of excellence in distance learning, and will be an exchange of experiences and practices regarding leadership, strategies and organization.

UNESCO World OER Congress

The First World OER Congress will be held at UNESCO in Paris, France, from 20-22 June 2012, organized by UNESCO in cooperation with the Commonwealth of Learning and with funding from the Hewlett Foundation. ICDE has been asked to contribute to the preparations in order to encourage the participation of open and distance learning institutions in this important event. The conference will showcase best practice in open educational resources (OER) policies and initiatives, it will issue a Declaration calling on Governments to support the development and use of OER, and celebrate the 10th anniversary of the 2002 UNESCO Forum that created the term OER. Six preparatory regional conferences are planned in the run up to the World Conference in Barbados, South Africa, Brazil, the United Kingdom, Thailand and Oman.

ICDE’s specifi c role is to provide good practices, identify key stakeholders, and to raise awareness and promote the events.

New strategy development

ICDE’s strategic plan for 2013-2016 will be developed during 2012. In March, the organization will publish a summary of its achievements during the period of its current strategic plan. A revised and updated version of Global Trends in Higher Education, Adult and Distance Learning, fi rst published in 2009, will also be issued. The Executive Committee will allocate a signifi cant part of its constitutive meeting in February to strategy development, and the ICDE membership will be asked to contribute to the debate during the year. A draft strategic plan will be presented for comment at the Policy Forum on the fringes of the Standing Conference of Presidents meeting in Dubai, and online, in November.

ICDE Quality Reviews

A priority activity for 2012 will be the further development and launch of the revised format for quality assessment of member institutions.

The mission of ICDE Quality Reviews is to support member institutions who seek outside help in their quality work, and to promote public confi dence that the quality of provisions in open and distance learning are being safeguarded and enhanced.


INTERNATIONALCOUNCIL FOR OPEN ANDDISTANCE EDUCATION

ISBN: 978-82-93172-08-6

www.icde.org

www.icde.org

www.icde.owwwww.icde.orgwww icde owww icde o

www.icde.orgPicture credits: page 1 - SUNY Empire State College, Universitas Terbuka; pages 2-3 - Universitas Terbuka; page 4 - Universitas

Terbuka, FernUniversität in Hagen, Open Universiteit Nederland; pages 5-6 - SUNY Empire State College; page 7 - United Nation University Vice Rectorate in Europe; page 8 - Inés Gil Jaurena; page 10 - ACDE, ACODE, ODLAA;

page 11 - NKI Nettstudier, Hamdan Bin Mohammed e-University; page 12 - DEANZ, Henrik Beckheim

Gard TitlestadSecretary [email protected]

Vibeke HoffmannAdministration Offi [email protected]

Nick Moe-PryceInformation and Membership [email protected]

Sarah McSevenyInformation [email protected]

Find ICDE on Facebook: www.facebook.com/icde.org

Follow ICDE on Twitter: @icde_org

Contact persons at the ICDE Secretariat:

Download - ICDE Highlights 2011

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