INTERNATIONAL COUNCIL FOR OPEN AND DISTANCE EDUCATION
ICDE is a non-governmental organization in formal consultative relations with UNESCO, and works together with UNESCO in the service of international cooperation and development. This status grants ICDE’s members a voice at UNESCO, while obliging ICDE to acquaint its members with UNESCO’s programmes, activities and achievements within open and distance education.
ICDE and UNESCO
Policy engagement
Conference on Higher Education, ICDE President, Frits Pannekoek, President of Athabasca University, Canada and ICDE Secretary General, Carl Holmberg helped to form the final communiqué. It stated that approaches such as open and distance learning (ODL) and information and communications technologies (ICTs) are required to realize the goals of Education for All, and to address the worldwide shortage of teachers.
ICDE’s voice at UNESCO is assured through involvement in policy debate. At the 2009 UNESCO World
“ODL approaches and ICTs present opportunities to widen access to quality education, particularly when
ICDE became formally affiliated to UNESCO in 1967.
Photo: Michel Ravassard, UNESCO
Quality initiative The Open Educational Quality Initiative is a partnership between ICDE, UNESCO and five other organizations and institutions which focuses on the provision of innovative open educational practices, both in higher education and adult education, and promotes quality, innovation and transparency. Both ICDE and UNESCO - represented by
Photo: Michel Ravassard, UNESCO Open Educational Resources are readily shared by many countries and higher education institutions.” (Source: www.unesco.org/en/ wche2009)
General Delegate at UNESCO
workings of UNESCO, and a broad
ICDE is supported in its work
“Formal relations are […] granted to
by Bernard Loing, ICDE’s
international NGOs that are widely
General Delegate at UNESCO,
representative and expert in their
who is also President of the
field of activity, and are recognized
International Conference of
as having a genuinely international
NGOs for the period 2010-
structure and membership.” (Source:
2012. His position brings ICDE
www.unesco.org/new/en/unesco/
tremendous insight in the
communities)
the sections for Communication and Information and for Education - see clear opportunities for enhancing the use of open educational resources in an international setting, and enabling
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network of contacts within the organization.
institutions around the world to help form this important area of research. The initiative is funded by the Lifelong Learning Programme of the European Commission.
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OPEN EDUCATIONAL QUALITY INITIATIVE www.icde.org
Insert 1. 2010
ICDE Standing Conference of Presidents
INTERNATIONAL COUNCIL FOR OPEN AND DISTANCE EDUCATION
The ICDE Standing Conference of Presidents (SCOP) is an annual closed forum of policy level decision makers from ICDE member institutions and co-operating organizations. SCOP provides a unique opportunity for Rectors, Presidents, and Chief Executive Officers of open and distance education universities from around the world to exchange information, share expertise, establish benchmarks, and determine advocacy directions. The meetings
are entirely confidential, in camera meetings affording institutional executive leaders the opportunity to speak freely in a peer-to-peer environment on a wide range of critical and extraordinarily sensitive subjects. SCOP 2009 was attended by eighty executives representing fifty institutions from five continents.
Participants at SCOP 2009, Barcelona, Spain. Photo: Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (UOC)
Hosting SCOP
Global insight and influence SCOP affords unique access to transnational and global views and to invaluable and detailed information about policy, strategic thinking and development in open and distance education around the world. It offers strong opportunities for exploring partnerships and strategic cooperation with other ICDE member institutions from around the world. It also offers opportunities to participate in setting the international priorities and agenda for the future of open and distance education.
ICDE President, Frits Pannekoek and President of Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, Imma Tubella. Photo: UOC
The SCOP 2009 declaration called for the economic crisis to be embraced as an opportunity to influence policy and to drive forward innovation in teaching to help lessen the impact of future economic crises.
Working group at SCOP 2009, Barcelona, Spain. Photo: UOC
ICDE member institutions may apply to host the SCOP meeting, and undertake the organization in consultation with the ICDE Secretariat. The President of ICDE and one further member of the Executive Committee usually partake in the work of the programme committee.
SCOP meetings since inception Year
Host
City
2010
University of South Africa
Pretoria, South Africa
2009
Universitat Oberta de Catalunya
Barcelona, Spain
2008
Shanghai TV University
Shanghai, China
2007
Open Universiteit Nederland
Heerlen, The Netherlands
2006
Lillehammer University College
Lillehammer, Norway
2005
Fernuniversität in Hagen
Cologne, Gemany
2003
Universitat Oberta de Catalunya
Barcelona, Spain
2002
University of South Africa
Pretoria, South Africa
2001
Fernuniversität in Hagen
Neuss, Germany
2000
Brazilian Association for Distance Education
São Paulo, Brazil
1999
ICDE
Vienna, Austria
1998
University of Southern Queensland
Noosa, Queensland, Australia
1997
Universidade Aberta
Lisbon, Portugal
1996
Lillehammer University College
Lillehammer, Norway
1995
The Open University UK
Birmingham, UK
1994
The State University of New York
Saratoga Springs, New York, USA
1993
Universidade Aberta
Lisbon, Portugal
SCOP 2010 hosted by the University of South Africa is the 17th occasion on which the meeting is being held.
www.icde.org
Insert 2. 2010
ICDE World Conference on Open and Distance Education
INTERNATIONAL COUNCIL FOR OPEN AND DISTANCE EDUCATION
The biennial ICDE World Conference on Open and Distance Education is widely recognized as the leading world event in open and distance education and offers a forum for the presentation of cutting edge developments, network building, and professional development. Running over three days, the conference normally consists of both plenary and parallel sessions, and attracts high profile speakers from leading distance education institutions, government and corporations. The programme allows for approximately 300 paper presentations in addition to
Hosting a World Conference
posters and pre-conference workshops. The World Conference attracts an average of 1,000 participants representing the research community, teaching staff, management of educational institutions, the public sector, training companies and commercial suppliers. 22 delegates from countries with developing economies received funding to attend the 23rd ICDE World Conference from the ICDE Fellowship Programme.
World Conferences of the past 25 years Year
ICDE’s World Conferences are organized in cooperation with member institutions. The first ICDE World Conference was held in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada in 1938.
Delegates at the 23rd ICDE World Conference. Photo: Open Universiteit Nederland
Conference
Host Open Universiteit Nederland
City
2009
23rd ICDE World Conference
Maastricht, The Netherlands
2006
22nd ICDE World Conference
Brazilian Association for Distance Education
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
2004
21st World ICDE Conference
The Open University of Hong Kong
Hong Kong, China
2001
20th ICDE World Conference
FernUniversität, Hagen
Düsseldorf, Germany
1999
19th ICDE World Conference
FernUniversität, Hagen
Vienna, Austria
1997
18th ICDE World Conference
Penn State University
Pennsylvania, USA Birmingham, UK
1995
17th ICDE World Conference
The Open University UK
1992
16th ICDE World Conference
Sukhothai Tammatirat Open University
Bangkok, Thailand
1990
15th ICDE World Conference
Universidad Nacional Abierta
Caracas, Venezuela
1988
14th ICDE World Conference
Norwegian Association for Distance Education
Oslo, Norway
1985
13th ICDE World Conference
La Trobe University
Melbourne, Australia
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)”.
Asha Kanwar, Commonwealth of Learning, receiving the ICDE Prize of Excellence at the 23rd ICDE World Conference. Photo: Open Universiteit Nederland
www.icde.org
Insert 3. 2010
INTERNATIONAL COUNCIL FOR OPEN AND DISTANCE EDUCATION
ICDE International Conferences Case study
It is a well-established tradition in ICDE to hold International Conferences on distance education in different parts of the world based around regional structures and activities. ICDE member institutions may apply to host an ICDE International Conference aimed at a regional audience, and can draw upon ICDE’s resources to attract leading figures from the world of open and distance education to speak at the event.
Promotion and influence 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. They are an excellent opportunity to consolidate or to initiate inter-institutional relationships, discover new opportunities for cooperative work, and discuss practice and research in the field of education and technology. ICDE International Conferences have been held over the past decade in the Dominican Republic, Mexico, China, Puerto Rico, Peru, India, Australia, Brazil and Canada.
Universidad del Caribe hosted an ICDE International Conference in the Dominican Republic in November 2008 which attracted approximately 380 participants from the region. The conference afforded professionals from Latin America the opportunity to interact with their peers in other regions using their own language, with simultaneous translation to English, Spanish and Portuguese.
The opening session of the ICDE International Conference in the Dominican Republic. Photo: Universidad del Caribe
The theme of the conference was “The Current Challenges of Virtual Learning”, and dealt with distance education as an element of social inclusion and civic participation, research and development in distance education, construction and knowledge management through distance education, and contributions of distance education in its various fields of application.
University, USA, Imma Tubella, Rector of Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, Spain, and ICDE President Frits Pannekoek, President of Athabasca University, Canada. Extensive coverage of the conference in the main national newspapers highlighted the importance of this event for the country. Two conferences will be held in 2011: in Italy, hosted by Università di Roma
The main speakers were Lalita Rajasingham of Victoria University Wellington, New Zealand, Michael G. Moore of Pennsylvania State
Tor Vergata in cooperation with Società Italiana di e-Learning; and in Argentina, hosted by Universidad Nacional de Quilmes.
Delegates at the ICDE International Conference in the Dominican Republic. Photo: Universidad del Caribe
www.icde.org
Insert 4. 2010
INTERNATIONAL COUNCIL FOR OPEN AND DISTANCE EDUCATION
ICDE has a long history of member-driven projects, and through its current activity is working to contribute to the development of new methodologies and technologies, to promote quality, and to create global arenas for the discussion of distance education policies.
ICDE Project activity
received funding from the Lifelong
Open Educational Quality Initiative
Learning Programme of the European Commission.
The Open Educational Quality
The involvement of ICDE and UNESCO
Initiative focuses on the provision
underlines the project’s strategy of
of innovative open educational
connecting European organizations
practices (OEP), both in
to international debate. During 2010
higher education and adult
and 2011, ICDE members throughout
education. It moves beyond
the world will be invited to provide
the issue of access to open
input to the project in order for
educational resources (OER),
the European context to benefit
and seeks to promote quality,
from international experience of
innovation and transparency.
good educational practice. ICDE will also disseminate updates from,
ICDE provides opportunities to its membership to lead and contribute to projects of global signiďŹ cance.
The Regulatory Framework of Distance Education It is argued that the social relevance of distance education, as well as security, quality and equity of access, are closely linked to the application of sound regulatory systems.
The initiative is a partnership
and findings of the project to its
with six other organizations
membership with a view to providing
including UNESCO and ICDE
other regions of the world with input
member institution, the
to their work on promoting innovative
Open University UK, and has
open educational practices.
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OPEN EDUCATIONAL QUALITY INITIATIVE
World Statistics on Distance Education In order to help promote the
ICDE is therefore sponsoring an investigation of regulatory systems within distance education throughout the world.
tremendous potential of open and
The aim of the project is to identify the main regulatory frameworks that apply to distance and online education in different regions of the world, and to identify good practices.
data on the use of open
ICDE is working towards being able to offer member institutions an external peer review of the student learning experience.
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Forthcoming initiatives include projects to study intra-regional collaboration, excellence and accreditation strategies, comparative issues of quality, and how successfully to overcome the digital divide.
distance learning, ICDE is beginning work on a project to develop international web-based and distance education. This will build on a model developed by ICDE member, the Brazilian Association for Distance Education, which has recently launched its fourth annual statistical yearbook of distance learning in Brazil.
www.icde.org
Insert 5. 2010
ICDE Information and Publications
INTERNATIONAL COUNCIL FOR OPEN AND DISTANCE EDUCATION
ICDE publishes research reports, conference outcomes, and news and developments from the world of distance education, as well as the online journal, Open Praxis.
Influencing perceptions of distance education ICDE is able quickly and effectively to disseminate policy work and recommendations to the worldwide education community through relevant media, regional associations and the press offices of member institutions.
Membership visibility ICDE provides members with opportunities to raise their institution’s profile within the worldwide education community through exposure for their own events and research through the ICDE website and newsletter service. ICDE also disseminates calls for papers, survey invitations and cooperation requests on behalf of members. The ICDE electronic newsletter reaches 9,000 active email addresses twice a month.
Recent reports have included the report of the ICDE Task Force on Open Educational Resources; Global Trends in Higher Education, Adult and Distance Learning, an environmental scan of the key global trends in higher education, adult and distance learning; the outcomes of the 23rd World Conference; and conclusions and recommendations of the 2009 Standing Conference of Presidents.
Describing distance education The ICDE website features an overview of the world of distance education and describes the key international, regional and institutional actors. The aim of the newly established website has been to create an authoritative reference tool and a virtual meeting place for all sections of the open and distance education community. Key elements of this are a global conference calendar, a video library section, message board, and an overview of key journals with links.
ICDE’s Executive Committee and Secretary General also disseminate this work through presentations at third party conferences and meetings where they are invited to attend as representatives of ICDE.
The ICDE website: www.icde.org
Transparency and openness ICDE embraces the free flow of information, and work produced by the organization will normally be governed by Creative Commons licences allowing for unhindered distribution and citation.
Conclusions and recommendations of the 2009 Standing Conference of Presidents
ICDE aspires to make its policies and activities transparent for
www.icde.org
members and other interested parties through the ICDE website. Minutes of Executive Committee meetings are made available to members within ten days of a meeting taking place. Requests for further information and explanation receive a detailed response from the ICDE Secretariat within two working days. ICDE’s annual report is freely available online, and annual accounts are published for members to access.
Insert 6. 2010
INTERNATIONAL COUNCIL FOR OPEN AND DISTANCE EDUCATION
ICDE Membership
Benefits Membership brings access to a tremendous network of knowledge and expertise, and the opportunity to make use of this network both on your own initiative and through participation in ICDE events and projects. ICDE can provide support and strategic advice to your institution during the planning of field seminars, study tours and academic Photo: Thompson Rivers University, British exchange programmes, and Columbia, Canada invites members to take part in its own study tours. An open invitation is extended ICDE is the leading global membership by the ICDE Secretariat to members organization for the open and wishing to study the distance distance education community education systems in Norway and with members from 60 countries northern Europe. representing every continent. Membership of ICDE also allows your institution to raise its profile The ICDE membership comprises open universities, higher and adult education institutions offering distance and campus-based learning, consortia, authorities, agencies, Institutions wishing to apply for companies and individuals. National membership of ICDE are required to and regional distance education provide evidence of recognition in associations may apply for associate their home country and references membership. to confirm their institution’s good standing and commitment to codes In 2009, ICDE had 122 paying of ethics in distance learning. New members comprising 84 institutions, member applications are presented to ICDE’s Executive Committee for 11 agencies or authorities and 27 their approval on a monthly basis, individual members, in addition to
Application procedures
internationally and provides a stage for the dissemination of information relating to your institution, events and research. ICDE members benefit from a discount on the ICDE World Conference fee, and may also apply to host an ICDE International conference where ICDE will help to attract leading figures from the world of open and distance education to the host country. Rectors, Presidents, and Chief Executive Officers from ICDE member institutions are invited to attend the annual Standing Conference of Presidents (SCOP), a closed forum for peer-to-peer discussions. Members receive all publications and materials issued in each period for which fees are fully paid. 42% of ICDE’s membership is in Asia, 39% in Europe, 14% in North America with the rest split evenly between Africa, Australasia and Latin America.
and institutions are only accepted as members after this stage. This procedure works to combat attempts by suspected diploma mills to become members. 20 of ICDE’s institutional members are universities with over 100,000 student enrolments - so-called “mega universities” (Ref: Daniel (1996) The Mega-universities and Knowledge Media (The Open and Flexible Learning Series)).
honorary individual members.
Membership fees
and upper-middle-income World Bank Country Group economies.
The annual membership fee for an institution is governed by the size of that institution’s budget. Discounts are available for institutions from low-income, lower-middle-income
Membership fees are subject to change. Full details may be found at www.icde.org/en/about/ membership.
Category
Photo: The University of the Sunshine Coast, Australia
Institution A1 Institution A2 Institution A3 Institution A4 Institution A5 Educational Authority/ Agency B Corporation C1 Corporation C2 Individual D1 Individual from member institution D2
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Budget > USD 100 mill. USD 50-100 mill. USD 25-50 mill. USD 5-25 mill. < USD 5 mill. > USD 100 mill. < USD 100 mill. -
Fee EUR 5,000 EUR 2,500 EUR 1,800 EUR 1,000 EUR 800 EUR 1,000 EUR 5,000 EUR 2,500 EUR 150 EUR 100
Insert 7. 2010
ICDE Governance and Strategy
INTERNATIONAL COUNCIL FOR OPEN AND DISTANCE EDUCATION
According to its constitution, ICDE is governed by the following bodies:
of the Executive Committee.
Strategy and activities
The Election Committee verifies the qualifications of potential candidates for the Executive Committee.
The ICDE strategic plan and activity plan provide the basis for the organization’s work during the period 2009-2012.
ICDE’s Secretary General is responsible for the day-to-day business of ICDE and all legal and financial matters, and manages the Permanent Secretariat.
Developed in close cooperation and consultation with members, the key points of the strategic plan are as follows:
• •
•
The Executive Committee is responsible for making policy decisions in accordance with ICDE’s mission and constitution, and is composed of six elected members who hold office for a period of four years. The Board of Trustees advises the Executive Committee, and monitors the conduct of the Secretary General, the President and members
ICDE is governed by its constitution which can be found at: www.icde. org/en/about/constitution.
Executive Committee The Executive Committee holds at least six committee meetings annually including two physical meetings. The Executive Committee members’ time, the work of their support staff,
and their travel costs represent a significant in-kind contribution to the organization from their respective institutions.
1. ICDE shall be the global arena for the discussion of distance education policies. 2. ICDE shall promote quality in distance, flexible and ICT-based education, and work for the achievement of a global understanding of quality within distance education. 3. ICDE will contribute to the development of new methodologies and technologies, through the dissemination of information, supporting efforts to find solutions for countries with developing economies, and through working to increase awareness of the digital divide and steps taken to minimize the divide. 4. ICDE will foster cooperation between members, leading to significant increases in cooperation between national and regional organizations, and greater opportunities for collaboration between institutions in the northern and southern hemispheres. The strategic plan and member feedback is available at: www.icde.org/en/about/mission
The ICDE Executive Committee (left to right): Fredric Litto, President of the Brazilian Association for Distance Education; Denise Kirkpatrick, Pro Vice-Chancellor Learning, Teaching and Quality, The Open University, UK; Nyameko Barney Pityana, Principal and Vice-Chancellor of the University of South Africa; Tian Belawati, Rector, Universitas Terbuka, Indonesia; Frits Pannekoek, President of Athabasca University, Canada (President); Marta Mena, General Coordinator of PROCAE, Cabinet of Ministers, Government of Argentina
www.icde.org
Insert 8. 2010