The International Council for Distance Education’s conferences are major worldwide conferences on open and distance learning, with representatives present from all the leading publicly funded open and distance education institutions,as well as representatives from most major ‘dual-role’ institutions (i.e. campus-based universities that also offer distance education programs.) It will be interesting to see to what extent traditional open distance education has adapted to or been affected by digital online learning. (I suspect it still has a lot of catch-up to do.)
The 24th ICDE World Conference, hosted by Universitas Terbuka, Indonesia, and supported by the Ministry of National Education of the Republic of Indonesia, will be held 2–5 October, 2011 in Bali, Indonesia. The conference theme will be “Expanding Horizons – New Approaches to Open and Distance Learning (ODL)”, and will focus on issues from organizing distance education to the role of ODL in building the knowledge-based society.
The venue for the World Conference will be the Westin Resort Nusa Dua in Bali, Indonesia. Located in the central part of Indonesia, Bali is connected by air with major international cities in Asia, Europe and the Pacific region.
First call for papers
The conference provides a forum for sharing ideas on redefining the role and strategies of ODL in promoting cross-nation human capacity building. Beyond the main theme of “Expanding Horizons – New Approaches to Open and Distance Learning (ODL)”, will be the following sub-themes:
1) ODL and human capacity building
2) ODL in a changing world
3) Quality and ODL – the way forward
4) Management and strategic development of ODL
5) Open Educational Resources (OER) in a global world
6) International development and distance learning
Abstract submission through the conference web site (not yet active) will open on 1 September 2010. However, with capacity for almost 300 paper presentations and 150 posters, there is ample opportunity to contribute.
Dr. Tony Bates is the author of eleven books in the field of online learning and distance education. He has provided consulting services specializing in training in the planning and management of online learning and distance education, working with over 40 organizations in 25 countries. Tony is a Research Associate with Contact North | Contact Nord, Ontario’s Distance Education & Training Network.
Tony, I hope to go to this – love the ICDE conference in Holland in 2009. Proposals are due my March 31.