UNESCO WHEC2022: A clear footprint of open, flexible and distance education
The theme of the UNESCO World Higher Education Conference 2022 that took place in Barcelona 18-20 May was “Reinventing Higher Education for a sustainable future”. Against the backdrop of the rapidly changing societies, the digital transformation, climate change and not least the COVID-19 crisis, flexible learning pathways and open, online and distance education was high on the agenda. ICDE participated in two sessions as part of the main programme.
Together with Hamdan Bin Mohammed Smart University (HBMSU), ICDE organised a Round Table titled: “Quality in online, open and distance higher education across borders – A multi-sectorial, cross country policy dialogue”. The 75-minute interactive panel discussion focused on quality enhancement of open, flexible and distance higher education across borders with the contribution of executive leaders from ICDE member institutions from different regions. The Round Table was moderated by ICDE Secretary General, Torunn Gjelsvik.
The point of departure for the discussion was the Consortium for the Benchmarking Framework for Online, Open, Smart, and Technology-enhanced Higher Education, initiated by HBMSU. The framework is collaboratively developed by consortium members from different world regions and includes quality dimensions and indicators that particularly reflect online, open and distance higher education. The panel discussed both potential and challenges related to quality assurance of online, open and distance education from their institutional and regional perspectives. An important insight was how the benchmarking framework can help in building multi-stakeholder collaboration in quality assurance and enhancement of online, open, and distance education regionally and globally.
The session demonstrated to its fullest that global partnerships and international collaboration through openness and transparency is crucial for building trust and obtain continuous quality enhancement of all provisions of higher education.
Watch the recording here.
In the Round Table (from left to right): Dr. Mansoor Al Awar (Chancellor - HBMSU), Deborah Adair (President - INQAAHE), George Ubachs (Managing Director - EADTU), Torunn Gjelsvik (Secretary General - ICDE), Prof. Hussein Baghirov (President - Western Caspian University), Prof. Asha Singh Kanwar (President and CEO - Commonwealth of Learning)
The ICDE Secretary General also participated in a Round Table discussion organised by UNESCO IIEP (UNESCO International Institute for Educational Planning) on Flexible Learning Pathways for Higher Education. The panel discussed the themes flexible delivery and participation, and the importance of governance to support flexible learning pathways. Ms. Gjelsvik gave an overview of main international trends in open, flexible and distance learning (OFDL) and how these have evolved during the COVID-19 crisis. She pointed out some governance challenges for the provision and organisation of OFDL, such as lack of national and institutional policies and the need for quality assurance and accreditation agencies to include and integrate various types of flexible educational provisions.
Watch the recording here.
From the UNESCO IIEP Round Table (from left to right): John Brennan (Open University UK), Michaela Martin (UNESCO IIEP), Jamil Salmi (independent expert), Garima Malik (NIEPA), Torunn Gjelsvik (Secretary General - ICDE)