Contents INTRODUCTION OBJECTIVES, ORGANIZATION AND OUTCOME OF THE MEETING AND WORKSHOP Annex 1: First Announcement ...................................................................................5 Annex 2: Expert meeting: List of participants............................................................6 Annex 3: Workshop:List of invited speakers ..............................................................9 PREPARATION OF THE MEETING AND WORKSHOP .............................................10 PROGRAMMES OF THE MEETING AND WORKSHOP ............................................10 Annex 4: List of documents ......................................................................................11 Annex 5: Agenda of the expert meeting ....................................................................11 Annex 6: Timetable of the expert meeting ................................................................12 Annex 7: Schedule of the workshop..........................................................................13
3
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY OPENING MEETING SESSION ...................................................................................15 MEETING SESSIONS AND DISCUSSIONS .................................................................16 CLOSING MEETING SESSION ....................................................................................17 Annex 8: Answers to the questionnaire: Brief summary ..........................................18 Annex 9: Recommendations .....................................................................................19 OPENING WORKSHOP SESSION ...............................................................................20 SECTION 1: NETWORKING IN DISTANCE EDUCATION .........................................20 SECTION 2: ICTs AND STAFF DEVELOPMENT FOR DISTANCE EDUCATION ....22 CLOSING WORKSHOP SESSION 23
INTRODUCTION OBJECTIVES, ORGANIZATION AND OUTCOME OF THE MEETING AND WORKSHOP According to the Statutes of the UNESCO Institute for Information Technologies in Education (IITE) one of its priority areas of activities is distance education, and the IITE Governing Board adopted the IITE international project “Distance Education: Structure, Methodology, Staff Development and Legal Aspects”. Within its framework it was decided to hold an international expert meeting the central objective of which was to discuss the main trends of development of the IITE activities in the field of information and communication technologies (ICTs) usage in distance education. More specifically the objectives of the meeting were defined in accordance with the decision of the General Conference of UNESCO (30 C/5, par. 01443), namely: the UNESCO Institute for Information Technologies in Education should concentrate its attention for the period 2000 and 2001 in particular at launching of an international project “ICTs in Education: State-of-the-Art, Needs and Perspectives” and the preparing and testing of a set of training and self-training modules for various categories of educational personnel. It was expected that the experts would observe during the meeting the experience usage of ICTs in distance education; examine different acting models of distance education and utilization of ICTs in it; review examples of educational programmes and application of ICTs in staff development for distance education; discuss existing knowledge and data bases on distance education; make recommendations on main trends of the IITE activities and international co-operation in the field. It was planned to follow the expert meeting by a workshop “Distance Education: Networking and Staff Development”. Its main objectives were to demonstrate existing facilities for networking in distance education and, using the opportunity, to make it possible for the experts from different countries to enlighten for the vast audience their experience in ICTs usage in networking and staff development for distance education.
At the end of January, 2000 IITE sent the First Announcement (see Annex 1: Expert meeting: First Announcement) about the meeting and workshop and invitation to the heads of leading organizations involved in distance education and some National Commissions for UNESCO to nominate experts and observers to the meeting and workshop. 8 experts, 4 invited speakers and 15 observers, all in all 27 nominated participants representing 9 countries (Australia, Belarus, Canada, Israel, Italy, Russian Federation, Tanzania, Ukraine and United Kingdom) and the European Distance Education Network (EDEN) attended those events (see Annex 2: List of participants). They represented open universities (Israel, Russian Federation, Tanzania and United Kingdom), centers specializing in distance education and/or its support (Australia –Flexible Learning Centre; Belarus-Department of Educational Technologies of the National Institute for Higher Education; Russian Federation –Interuniversity Center for Distance Education, Centre of Informational and Analytic Provision of Distance Educational System, Centre of Intensive Technologies, International Ware Center for Higher Education International Links, Ukraine –Institute for Applied System Analysis) and other bodies experienced in distance education (Canada –Seneca College, Humber College; Russian Federation –Moscow Technical University of Communication and Informatics, International Institute of Management (LINK). As it was mentioned, the European Distance Education Network (EDEN) as well as the Canadian Association for Distance Education and the Institute of Scientific Information on Social Sciences of the Russian Academy of Sciences were represented too. The representatives of the Commission of the Russian Federation for UNESCO and the Ministry of Education, Ministry of Communications, Ministry of Science and Technologies of the Russian Federation were invited and attended the meeting and workshop. The first section of the workshop “Distance Education: Networking and Staff Development” was hosted by the Moscow Technical University of Communication and Informatics, and the second one by IITE. 17 invited speakers (see Annex 3: Workshop: List of invited speakers) took floor and presented their materials to about 100 learners who attended the meeting personally. During the first session the educational telecommunication systems used by the Moscow Technical University of Communication and Informatics and the Modern University for Humanities operated and made it possible the on-line presence at the workshop of about 50 thousand students from 157 places in 7 countries. At the end of the meeting the Recommendations (see Annex 9: Recommendations) on discussed issues addressed to the UNESCO Institute for Information Technologies in Education were adopted. The participants expressed their gratitude to IITE for the organization and hosting the meeting and workshop and their appreciation to the Commission of the Russian Federation for UNESCO and the Ministries of the Russian Federation for their attention and support. Annex 1
IITE/MOS/ME3/2000/INF.1 FIRST ANNOUNCEMENT Expert Meeting “Distance Education: Structure, Methodology, Staff Development and Legal Aspects” and Workshop on Distance Learning In accordance with the decision of the IITE Governing Board and within the framework of the IITE international project “Distance Education: Structure, Methodology, Staff Development and Legal Aspects” the UNESCO Institute for Information Technologies in Education (IITE) will organize an expert meeting and a workshop. They will be held at IITE (Moscow) from 23 to 25 March 2000. On the eve of the 21st century the development of information and communication technologies (ICTs) constitutes new challenges and major opportunities for educational sphere. Such form as distance teaching and learning spread over the world making possible education for all throughout the life. Now there are various models of distance education, its structure and management, different types of its technical and methodological support. In the field of its competence, IITE strives to assist Member States in sharing experience in distance education by promoting international co-operation. Objectives The international expert meeting will observe experience usage of ICTs in distance education in the open universities represented at the meeting; examine different acting models of distance education and utilization of ICTs; review examples of educational programmes and application of ICTs in staff development for distance
education; discuss existing knowledge and data bases on distance education; make recommendations for international co-operation in the field. The expert meeting will be followed by the workshop. Outputs It is expected that this international event will produce recommendations on extension of the project “Distance Education: Structure, Methodology, Staff Development and Legal Aspects”, its development within the framework of the international project “ICTs in Education: State-of-the-Art, Needs and Perspectives”; recommendations on elaboration of IITE educational sub-programme on usage of ICTs in distance education for different categories of educators and learners; proposals for international co-operation and possible partners for the IITE projects. Programme On 23–24 March the expert meeting will pursue its objectives through plenary sessions and round-table discussions. During plenary sessions the IITE international projects “Distance Education: Structure, Methodology, Staff Development and Legal Aspects” (and the Analytical survey of the same name) and “ICTs in Education: State-of-the-Art, Needs and Perspectives” will be presented. The round-table discussion will invite the experts to share experience and exchange their views on the following themes:
main issues of presented the Analytical survey; development of a subsystem “Distance Education” within the framework of the international project “ICTs in Education: State-of-the-Art, Needs and Perspectives”;
preparation of educational sub-programme on usage of ICTs in distance education (within the framework of the IITE educational programme);
main
trends of extension of the IITE project “Distance Education: Structure, Methodology, Staff Development and Legal Aspects”. On 25 March the workshop will be devoted to practical networking in distance learning, using modern communication technologies in distance education system, its structure and management. Languages Working languages are English and Russian. Simultaneous interpretation in two languages will be available for the meeting sessions and workshop. Preparatory Materials and Publications The nominees to the expert meeting and workshop will receive an official invitation and will be supplied in good time with the provisional agenda and time-table and abstracts from the Analytical survey “Distance Education: Structure, Methodology, Staff Development and Legal Aspects”. IITE plans to publish the materials of the expert meeting and workshop, and it is pleased to invite the participants and observers to contribute by preparing relevant papers and sending them to IITE (in paper and electronic versions, up to 5 pages). Policy papers, national and institutions’ action plans, curricula and syllabi on distance education brought by the participants and observers shall be gladly received too. For further information on the expert meeting and workshop, please contact: UNESCO Institute for Information Technologies in Education (IITE) Irina Smirnova, Co-ordinator 8/3 Kedrova St., 117292 Moscow Tel. (095) 129–49–62, fax (095) 129–12–25, e-mail: info@ iite.ru
Annex 2 IITE/MOS/ME3/2000/INF.3
EXPERT MEETING: LIST OF PARTICIPANTS EXPERTS Mr. Marquis L. BUREAU Chair Seneca College Vice-President Canadian Association for Distance
Education 77, Carlon St., # 404, Toronto, Ontario M5B 277 Canada Tel.: (416) 340-03-02 Fax: (416) 340-15-17 E-mail: marquis.bureau@senecac.on.ca Dr. Nicholas C. FARNES Director International Centre for Distance Learning The Open University Walton Hall Milton Keynes, MK7 6AA United Kingdom Tel.: (44-1908) 65-22-89 Fax: (44-1908) 65-41-73 E-mail: n.c.farnes@open.ac.uk Prof. Judith GAL-EZER Vice-President for Academic Affaires Open University of Israel 16 Klausner St., Tel-Aviv 61392 Israel Tel.: (972-3) 646-02-02 Fax: (972-3) 646-05-62 E-mail: galezer@cs.openu.ac.il Prof. Valerio GREMENTIERI President European Distance Education Network (EDEN) Associazione Campo Via Cavour 82, Florence I-50129 Italy Tel.: (39-055) 26-57-689 Fax: (39-055) 23-81-485 E-mail: campo@dada.it Prof. Bruce S. KING Director Flexible Learning Centre University of South Australia 43a Player Court St Peters SA 5069
Australia Tel.: (618) 83-02-63-68 Fax: (618) 83-02-67-67 E-mail: bruce.king@unisa.edu.au Prof. Yuri KRUGLOV Rector Moscow State Open Pedagogical University 16–18 Verkhnyay Radishchevskaya St., Moscow 109004 Russian Federation Tel.: (095) 915-50-53/915-55-80 Fax: (095) 915-50-53 E-mail: msottu@hotmail.com Dr. Satoki T. MAHENGE Director Institute of Educational Technologies Open University of Tanzania P.O. Box 23409, Dar Es Salaam Tanzania Tel.: (255-51) 41-05-86, 66-88-20 Fax: (255-51) 66-87-59 E-mail: vc@out.ac.tz Prof. Vagan SHAKHGILDYAN Rector Moscow Technical University of Communication and Informatics 8a Aviamotornaya St., Moscow 111024 Russian Federation Tel.: (095) 273-27-62 Fax: (095) 273-17-13 E-mail: mtuci@mtuci.ru
INVITED SPEAKERS Dr. Margalit GANOR Head of the Department of Evaluation and Staff Development Open University of Israel 16 Klausner St., Ramat-Aviv,
Tel-Aviv 61392 Israel Tel.: (972-3) 646-64-60, 540-18-69 Fax: (972-3) 646-05-82 E-mail: margalg@oumail.openu.ac.il Prof. Sarah GURI-ROZENBLIT Head of the Education and Psychology Department Open University of Israel P.O. Box 39328, Ramat-Aviv 61392 Israel Tel.: (972-3) 646-03-94 Fax: (972-3) 646-54-68 E-mail: saragu@oumail.openu.ac.il Prof. Valery OVSYANNIKOV Director Interuniversity Center for Distance Education Moscow State Open Pedagogical University 16–18 Verkhnyay Radishchevskaya St. Moscow 109004 Russian Federation Tel.: (095) 915-50-53, 915-55-80 Fax: (095) 915-50-53 E-mail: msottu@hotmail.com Dr. Vladimir VERZHBITSKY Deputy Director Centre of Informational and Analytic Provision of Distance Educational System (CIAN) 65 Leninsky prospect, Moscow 117917 Russian Federation Tel: (095) 137-57- 00, 903-92-11 E-mail: vvv@database.unicor.ru
OBSERVERS Prof. Artem ADJEMOV Vice-Rector Moscow Technical University of
Communication and Informatics 8a Aviamotornaya St., Moscow 111024 Russian Federation Tel.: (095) 192-84-55, 192-84-63 Fax: (095) 192-77-65, 192-85-51 E-mail: asa@mtuci2.ru Dr. Ram BEN-SHALOM Headof the Department of History, Philosophy and Judaic Study Open University of Israel 43 Merkaz Badej Mbacha, Tel-Aviv Israel Tel.: (972-3) 620-30-97 Fax: (972-3) 620-30-97 E-mail: rambe@oumail.openu.ac.il Dr. Caterina BROGI Assistant UETP-Toscana 6 Pizza Abbadia, 53.100 Siena Italy Tel.: (39-055) 265-76-83 Fax: (39-055) 238-14-85 E-mail: brogi.uept@dada.it Mr. Alexander GOUSTYR Director General Centre of Intensive Technologies 29 Kakhovka St., Moscow 113469 Russian Federation Tel.: (095) 332-83-96 Fax: (095) 332-83-97 E-mail: avgust@redline.ru Dr. Victorya LIBIN-LEVAV Head of the Russian Project Open University of Israel 16 Klausner St., Tel-Aviv 61392 Israel Tel.: (972-3) 646-07-86 Fax: (972-3) 646-05-82
E-mail: vicali@oumail.openu.ac.il Dr. Sergey MAKSIMOV Head of the Department of Educational Technologies National Institute for Higher Education Belarus State University 15 Moskovskaya St., Minsk 220001 Belarus Tel./fax: (375-17) 222-79-22 E-mail: maksimov@ nihe.unibel.by Prof. Grigori MELNIK Professor Humber College 205 Humber College Blvd., Toronto, On, MGW 5L7 Canada Tel.: (1-416) 675-66-22, 675-42-33 Fax: (1-416) 675-95-28 E-mail:melnik@adnun.humberc.on.ca Dr. Ludmila MORDVINTSEVA Senior Researcher Institute of Scientific Information on Social Sciences Russian Academy of Sciences 51/21 Nakhimovsky Prosp., Moscow 117418 Russian Federation Tel.: (095) 332-17-24 Fax: (095) 420-22-61 Dr. Alexander PANCHENKO Head of the Department Institute of Scientific Information on Social Sciences Russian Academy of Sciences 51/21 Nakhimovsky Prosp., Moscow 117418 Russian Federation Tel.: (095) 120-61-33 Fax: (095) 420-22-61 Prof. Natalya PANKRATOVA Deputy Director
Institute for Applied System Analysis 37 Pobeda Av., Kiev 03056 Ukraine Tel.: (38-044) 241-96-47 Fax: (38-044) 274-39-87 E-mail: nap@mmsa.ntu-kpi.kiev.ua Prof. Valery POPOV Director Centre of Informational and Analytic Provision of Distance Educational System 65 Leninsky prospect, Moscow 117917 Russian Federation Tel: (095) 137-57- 00 Fax: (095) 137-57- 00 E-mail: vvpopov@database.unicor.ru Prof. Sergey SHCHENNIKOV Rector International Institute of Management 1 Zhukovskogo St., Zhukovsky, Moscow Region 140160 Russian Federation Tel.: (095) 556-38-53 Fax: (095) 556-43-08 E-mail: link@link.msk.ru Mrs. Edna YAFFE Director Broad Band in Distance Education and Head of Teacher Training Open University of Israel 16 Klausner St., Ramat-Aviv, Tel-Aviv 61392 Israel Tel.: (972-3) 646-05-44 Fax: (972-3) 646-07-20 E-mail: ednaya@oumail.openu.ac.il Prof. Yuri ZAPAROVANNY Director International Ware Center
for Higher Education International Links Russian Peoples’ Friendship University 3 Ordzhonikidze St., Moscow 117923 Russian Federation Tel: (095) 952-54-30 Fax: (095) 952-54-30 Email: yuz@alasnet.ru Mr. Katvan ZEEV Lecturer Open University of Israel 16 Klausner St., Ramat-Aviv, Tel-Aviv 61392 Israel Tel. (972-3) 646-07-72 Fax: (972-3) 646-05-82 E-mail: zeevka@oumail.openu.ac.il COMMISSION OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION FOR UNESCO Mr. Vladimir SOKOLOV Deputy Secretary General MINISTRY OF EDUCATION OF THE RUSSIAN FEDERATION Mr. Stanislav KREKOTEN Senior Specialist IITE UNESCO Prof. Vladimir KINELEV Director Mr. Yury KUZMIN Administrative Officer Prof. Valery MESKOV Consultant Dr. Irina SMIRNOVA Project Co-ordinator ORGANIZING COMMITTEE Dr. Vakha ILYASOV IITE UNESCO Adviser Mr. Lev ZALMAEV Advisor International Ware Center for Higher Education International Links Russian Peoples’ Friendship University
Dr. Vladimir LAZAREV Vice-Rector Moscow State Open Pedagogical University Mr. Victor VLASOV Assistant to Vice-Rector Moscow State Open Pedagogical University
Annex 3 IITE/MOS/WSH2/2000/INF.2
WORKSHOP: LIST OF INVITED SPEAKERS Prof. Artem ADJEMOV Vice-Rector Moscow Technical University of Communication and Informatics Russian Federation Mr. Marquis L. BUREAU Chair Seneca College Vice-President Canadian Association for Distance Education Canada Dr. Nicholas C. FARNES Director International Centre for Distance Learning British Open University United Kingdom Prof. Judith GAL-EZER Vice-President for Academic Affaires Open University of Israel Israel Dr. Margalit GANOR Head of the Department of Evaluation and Staff Development Open University of Israel Israel
Dr. Alexander GOUSTYR General Director Centre of Intensive Technologies Russian Federation Prof. Valerio GREMENTIERI President European Distance Education Network (EDEN) Italy Prof. Sarah GURI-ROZENBLIT Head of the Education and Psychology Department Open University of Israel Israel Prof. Mikhail KARPENKO Rector Modern University for the Humanities Russian Federation Prof. Bruce S. KING Director Flexible Learning Centre University of South Australia Australia Prof. Yuri KRUGLOV Rector Moscow State Open Pedagogical University Russian Federation Dr. Victorya LIBIN-LEVAV Head of the Russian Project Open University of Israel Israel Dr. Satoki T. MAHENGE Director Institute of Educational Technologies Open University of Tanzania Tanzania Prof. Natalya PANKRATOVA Deputy Director Institute for Applied System Analysis
Ukraine Prof. Vagan SHAKHGILDYAN Rector Moscow Technical University of Communication and Informatics Russian Federation Prof. Sergey SHCHENNIKOV Rector International Institute of Management (LINK) Russian Federation Mrs. Edna YAFFE Director Broad Band in Distance Education and Head of Teacher Training Open University of Israel Israel
PREPARATION OF THE MEETING AND WORKSHOP The meeting and workshop were prepared by IITE in co-operation with the Moscow Technical University of Communication and Informatics. IITE established contacts with several National Commissions for UNESCO and leading organizations specializing in distance education, which nominated the participants. The Director of IITE personally invited the nominees. IITE prepared in good time necessary documents and materials (see Annex 4: List of documents) in English and Russian. The participants were supplied with the provisional agenda and provisional timetable of the meeting (see Annexes 5 and 6), provisional list of participants (see Annex 2), provisional schedule of the workshop (see Annex 7) and information materials (preliminary version of an Analytical survey “Distance Education in the World: Structure, Methodology, Staff Development and Legal Aspects”) before their arrival to Moscow. They received a full set of the documents and materials in Moscow on the eve of the meeting. The IITE conference halls serving for the meeting and workshop were equipped with the tools for simultaneous translation, video and sound recording, communication (including Internet), and different kinds of demonstration equipment. The first session of the workshop was supplied with ISDN channels, satellite and Internet components of the telecommunication educational system.
PROGRAMMES OF THE MEETING AND WORKSHOP In proportion to the adopted agenda and timetable, the meeting was divided into the opening session, three main sessions and the closing session. Each of the three main sessions was devoted to one specific matter (see item 5 of the agenda), was opened by an invited speaker and followed by free discussion. The issues concerning the development of international co-operation and partnership in promoting usage of ICTs in distance education were debated at all sessions. The workshop had two main sections: “Networking in Distance Education” and “ICTs and Staff Development for Distance Education”. Sharing the international experience in distance education as a whole completed the work of the second section. The acquaintance with the UNESCO Institute for Information Technologies in Education and the Moscow Technical University of Communication and Informatics as well as a cultural programme for the participants were organised. Annex 4
IITE/MOS/ME3/2000/INF.5 LIST OF DOCUMENTS Ѓ IITE//MOS/ME3/2000/DOC.1
Provisional Agenda (E, R)1
Ѓ IITE//MOS/ME3/2000/DOC.2
Information materials “Distance Education in the World: Structure, Methodology, Staff Development and Legal Aspects” (E)
Information Documents Ѓ IITE//MOS/ME3/2000/INF.1
First Announcement (E)
Ѓ IITE//MOS/ME3/2000/INF.2
Provisional Timetable (E, R)
Ѓ IITE//MOS/ME3/2000/INF.3
Provisional List of Participants (E)
Ѓ IITE//MOS/ME3/2000/INF.4
Questionnaire (E, R)
Ѓ IITE//MOS/ME3/2000/INF.5
List of Documents (E, R)
Reference Documents Ѓ 30 C/5
UNESCO General Conference. 30th Session (Paris, 1999). Draft Programme and Budget 2000–2001. Par. 0124, 0144 (E)
Ѓ 30 C/Rep.6
Report by the Governing Board on the Activities of the UNESCO Institute for Information Technologies in Education (1998–1999) (E)
Ѓ IITE/MOS/WP/2000/INF.2
List of IITE Projects and Partners (E)
Information Documents for Workshop
1
Ѓ IITE//MOS/WSH/2000/INF.1
Provisional Schedule (E, R)
Ѓ IITE//MOS/WSH/2000/INF.2
List of Invited Speakers (E)
Available in English (E) and/or Russian (R) Annex 5
IITE/MOS/ME3/2000/DOC.1
AGENDA 1. Opening of the expert meeting 2. Adoption of the agenda 3. Election of the Chairperson of the expert meeting 4. Election of the Rapporteur of the expert meeting 5. Discussion on main trends of development of the IITE activities in the field of information and communication technologies (ICTs) usage in distance education: preparation of an Analytical survey “Distance Education: Structure, Methodology, Staff Development and Legal Aspects”; development of a sub-system “ICTs in Distance Learning/Education” within the framework of the international IITE project “ICTs in Education: State-of-the-Art, Needs and Perspectives”;
preparation of training and re-training modules on ICTs in distance education within the framework of the intersectoral UNESCO project “The Status of Teachers and Teacher Education in the Information Society” and their comprising in the IITE educational programme; international co-operation and partnership in promoting usage of ICTs in distance education 6. Adoption of Recommendations of the expert meeting 7. Other matters 8. Closure of the expert meeting
Annex 6 IITE/MOS/ME3/2000/INF.2
EXPERT MEETING: TIMETABLE March 22, Wednesday Arrival of the participants; meeting at the airport; hotel accommodation 19.30
Reception on behalf of the Director of IITE
March 23, Thursday 10.00 - 11.20
Opening of the expert meeting. Welcome addresses. Adoption of the Agenda. Introduction of the participants. Election of the Chairperson. Election of the Rapporteur
11.20 - 11.40
Coffee-break
11.40 - 13.00
Information materials “Distance Education in the World: Structure, Methodology, Staff Development and Legal Aspects”. – Presentation by Prof. Valery Ovsyannikov (Moscow State Open Pedagogical University, Russian Federation), Dr. Margalit Ganor (Open University of Israel)
13.00 - 15.00
Lunch time
15.00 - 16.20
Discussion on the development of the Analytical survey “Distance Education: Structure, Methodology, Staff Development and Legal Aspects”:
Mr. Marquis L. Bureau (Seneca College, Canada) Prof. Valerio Grementieri (EDEN) Prof. Yuri Kruglov (Moscow State Open Pedagogical University) Other participants at the expert meeting 16.20 - 16.40
Coffee-break
16.40 - 18.00
Development of a sub-system “ICTs in Distance Learning/Education” within the framework of the IITE information system “ICTs in Education: State-of-the-Art, Needs and Perspectives”. – Introduction by Dr. Vladimir Verzhbitsky (Centre of Informational and Analytic Provision of Distance Educational System (CIAN), Russian Federation) Information Technologies at the Service of Higher Education: Functional Roles and Organizational Infrastructures. – Report by Prof. Sarah GuriRozenblit (Open University of Israel) Discussion on the development of a sub-system “ICTs in Distance Learning/Education”:
Prof.
Bruce S. King (Flexible Learning Centre, University of South Australia)
Prof.
Vagan Shakhgildyan (Moscow Technical Communication and Informatics (MTUCI)
University of
Prof.
Kailash N. Tripathi (Indira Gandhi National Open University,
India)
Other participants at the expert meeting From 18.00
Free time
March 24, Friday 10.00 - 11.20
Preparation of training and re-training modules on ICTs in distance education within the framework of the intersectoral UNESCO project “The Status of Teachers and Teacher Education in the Information Society” and their comprising in the IITE educational programme. Structure of a training module on the use of ICTs in distance teaching/learning and its support. – Report by Prof. Judith Gal-Ezer (Open University of Israel) Discussion on preparation of training and re-training modules on ICTs in distance education:
Dr.
Nicholas C. Farnes (International Centre for Distance Learning, British Open University)
Dr.
Satoki T. Mahenge (Institute of Educational Technologies, Open University of Tanzania)
Other participants at the expert meeting 11.20 - 11.40
Coffee-break
11.40 - 12.4 0
Discussion and approval of the Recommendations
12.40 - 13.00
Other matters. Closure of the expert meeting
13.00 - 15.00
Lunch time Annex 7
IITE/MOS/WSH2/2000/INF.1 WORKSHOP: SCHEDULE March 24, Friday Time: 15.00 - 18.00 Place: Moscow Technical University of Communication and Informatics (MTUCI). Narodnogo Opoltchenia St., Moscow 14.40 –15.00
Registration of the participants
15.00–15.20
Opening of the workshop. Welcome addresses
15.20–18.00
Section 1: Networking in Distance Education
32
Moderator: Prof. Vagan Shakhgildyan (Moscow Technical University of Communication and Informatics (MTUCI) 15.20–16.20
Experience of networking in distance education. – Presentation byProf. Artem Adjemov (Moscow Technical University of Communication and Informatics (MTUCI)
16.20–16.40
Coffee-break
16.40 –18.00
Experience of networking in distance education. – Presentations by:
Mrs. Edna Yaffe, Dr. Victorya Libin-Levav (Open University of Israel). Panellists: Semyon Avgustevich (Russian Federation), Victoria Chekina (Moldova), Lubov Gergodze (Belarus), Anatoly Kotliarov (Russian Federation), Ludmila Listkova (Azerbaijan), Vladislav Sokolovsky (Uzbekistan), Julianna Tsvetkova (Ukraine), Svetlana Yatskina (Estonia) Prof. Kailash N. Tripathi (Indira Gandhi National Open University, India) 18.00 –20.00
Free time
20.00
Sight seeing tour “Moscow Lights”
March 25, Saturday Time: 10.00 - 13.00, 15.00 - 16.30 Place: UNESCO Institute for Information Technologies in Education (IITE). 8 /3 Kedrova St., Moscow 09.40 - 10.00
Registration of the participants of the workshop
10.00 - 13.00
Section 2: ICTs and Staff Development for Distance Education Moderator: Dr. Nicholas C. Farnes (British Open University, United Kingdom)
10.00 - 10.10
Opening of the session
10.10 - 10.30
Evaluation and staff development for distance education. – Presentation by Dr. Margalit Ganor (Open University of Israel)
10.30 - 10.50
Dr. Alexander Goustyr (General Technologies, Russian Federation)
10.50 - 11.20
Discussion on ICTs and staff development
11.20 - 11.40
Coffee-break
11.40 - 12.00
Prof. Bruce S. King (Director, Flexible Learning Centre, University of South Australia)
12.00 - 12.20
Prof. Natalya Pankratova (Deputy Director, Institute for Applied System Analysis, Ukraine)
12.20 - 12.40
Prof. Sergey Shchennikov (Rector, International Institute of Management (LINK), Russian Federation)
12.40 - 13.00
Discussion
13.00 - 15.00
Lunch time
15.00 - 16.30
Sharing experience in distance education
15.00 - 15.20
Dr. Nicholas C. Farnes (Director, International Centre for Distance Learning, British Open University, United Kingdom)
15.20 - 15.40
Dr. Satoki T. Mahenge (Director, Institute of Educational Technologies, Open University of Tanzania)
15.40 - 16.00
Mr. Marquis L. Bureau (Chair, Seneca College; Vice-President, Canadian Association for Distance Education)
16.00 - 16.20
Prof. Valerio Grementieri (President of EDEN)
16.20 - 16.30
Closure of the workshop
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
Director, Centre of Intensive
OPENING MEETING SESSION The expert meeting was opened on the 23rd of March, 2000 at the conference hall of the UNESCO Institute for Information Technologies in Education. Prof. Vladimir Kinelev, Director of IITE, welcomed the participants and expressed his gratitude to the experts for attending the meeting. He underlined that IITE from the very beginning of its activity while deciding on its strategy in various fields of its competence has been striving to consult with the experts from different UNESCO Member States. This time IITE invited the international group of experts experienced in distance education to discuss and give their opinion onthose key problems of the usage of ICTs in this field, which should be in the centre of attention of UNESCO and IITE, its integral part. The UNESCO Institute seeks competent advice from the experts concerning the main trends of the IITE activity in the field of application of ICTs in education, which could be of use to UNESCO Member States. The best greetings and success wishes from the Commission of the Russian Federation for UNESCO and the Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation were conveyed to the participants of the meeting and IITE by Mr. Vladimir Sokolov, Deputy Secretary General, and Mr. Vyatcheslav Krekoten, Senior specialist, respectively. The experts introduced themselves, and Prof. V. Kinelev presented other participants, observers, invited speakers, and the IITE employees (see Annex 2: Expert meeting: List of participants). Agenda and timetable (see Annexes 5 and 6) of the meeting were adopted. Following items 3 and 4 of the agenda, the participants elected Prof. Valerio Grementieri, President of the European Distance Education Network (EDEN), as the Chairman, and Dr. Nicholas C. Farnes, Director of the International Centre for Distance Learning, the Open University (United Kingdom), as the Rapporteur of the expert meeting.
MEETING SESSIONS AND DISCUSSIONS At the morning session on the 23rd of March, according to item 5 of the agenda, the discussion on main trends of development of the IITE activities in the field of information and communication technologies (ICTs) usage in distance education was started. The invited speaker Prof. Valery Ovsyannikov, Director of the Interuniversity Center for Distance Education, Moscow State Open Pedagogical University (Russian Federation) presented the materials for the Analytical survey “Distance Education in the World: Structure, Methodology, Staff Development and Legal Aspects”. This paper was made up by the order of IITE by the specialists from the Open University of Israel, the Institute of Scientific Information on Social Sciences of the Russian Academy of Sciences, and the Moscow State Open Pedagogical University. These materials should be developed and turned into an Analytical survey, which could be useful to researchers and decisionmakers in the sphere of application of ICTs in education. Prof. V. Ovsyannikov told about the goals, structure, and main results of the research. It was underlined that the experience of the leading universities in the world exercising distance learning was analyzed. After that the invited speaker Dr. Margalit Ganor, Head of the Department of Evaluation and Staff Development, Open University of Israel (OUI), one of the authors of the materials, paid special attention to the part of the paper concerning staff development. Basing on the experience of OUI, she underlined the common features and particulars of staff development in different distance educational establishments. All experts took part in the discussion, which followed the presentation of the materials. They approved the concept and structure of the materials containing different models, methods and approaches to distance education. It was suggested to pay more attention to the problems of learners (Prof. Valerio Grementieri, President of EDEN; Mr. Marquis L.Bureau, Canada), quality of distance education (Prof. Sarah Guri-Rozenblit, Israel; Dr. Nicholas C. Farnes, United Kingdom), and cultural aspects (Prof. Yuri Kruglov, Russian Federation; Prof. Bruce S. King, Australia). The experts underlined that this paper was almost ready for publication and should be transformed into the Analytical survey in the nearest future. Dr. Nicholas C. Farnes, Prof. Valerio Grementieri, Prof. Bruce S. King and other participants showed their readiness to assist IITE in finalizing the Analytical survey.
At the evening session on the 23rd of March the development of a sub-system “ICTs in Distance Learning/Education” within the framework of the international IITE project “ICTs in Education: Stateof-the-Art, Needs and Perspectives” was discussed. The invited speaker Dr. Vladimir Verzhbitsky (Russian Federation) reported to the experts about elaboration of the IITE information system “Information and communication technologies in education: state-of-the-art, needs and perspectives”. Three types of information resources should be accumulated in this information system: Data on basic documents concerning the policies of UNESCO Member States in the field of application of ICTs in education; Results of applied and scientific research on ICTs in education accomplished in Member States, including those developed under the IITE auspices; Data on main information systems accessible through the Internet and specializing in the area of ICTs in education. It is planned to establish several sub-systems within the IITE information system, and Dr. V. Verzhbitsky drew attention of the participants to one of them, namely: a sub-system “ICTs in distance learning/education”. He told about the design and main parameters of this sub-system and asked the experts to show their opinion on this matter using prepared questionnaire. The experts debated this item and approved the idea of the information system as a whole and its subsystem “ICTs in distance learning/education” in particular. They stressed the need for exchange of information and databases, avoiding duplication (Prof. Bruce S. King, Australia; Dr. Nicholas C. Farnes, United Kingdom) and creating conditions for multilanguage dialogue, which could really enlarge the resources for users (Dr. Nicholas C. Farnes, United Kingdom; Mr. Marquis L. Bureau, Canada; Prof. Valerio Grementieri, EDEN). Dr. Vladimir Verzhbitsky and Prof. Natalya Pankratova (Ukraine) let the experts know about forming a network of Focal Points for IITE, establishment of which had already been launched in 23 UNESCO Member States, and emphasized that this network could be used for the outlined purposes. Nine experts answered in writing to the questionnaire, so the interrogation could be regarded as a pilot one (see Annex 9: Answers to the questionnaire: Brief summary). The morning session on the 24th of March was devoted to the preparation of training and re-training modules on ICTs in distance education. Prof. V. Kinelev told that IITE elaborated its educational programme, which should containe different modules on ICTs in education, including distance education, and asked experts to contribute to its design. The participants at the meeting from Israel, United Kingdom, Australia, Russian Federation, Canada shared experience in elaboration and using such training modules. The experts expressed their notion of IITE tasks in this field. First of all, they pointed to the need for collecting and exchange of existing modules and experience of their usage in the world (Mr. Marquis L.Bureau, Canada). It would be worth to develop a database on good practice, which should be available for users in convenient format (Dr. Nicholas C. Farnes, United Kingdom; Prof. Bruce S. King, Australia). The experts turned their attention to such mechanism as UNESCO Chairs and voted for its usage for the promoting application of ICTs in distance education (Dr. Nicholas C. Farnes, United Kingdom; Prof. Bruce S. King, Australia; Prof. Yuri Kruglov, Russian Federation). Prof. Valerio Grementieri, President of EDEN, stressed that such special Chairs should be spread in all UNESCO regions and united in a network. It was suggested to address to UNESCO to establish UNESCO Chairs on ICTs in distance education. This recommendation is in line with the intersectoral UNESCO project “The Status of Teachers and Teacher Education in the Information Society” approved by the General Conference (30 C/5, par. 01241).
CLOSING MEETING SESSION At the end of the meeting Rapporteur Dr. Nicholas C. Farnes presented the Draft Recommendations to the experts. They were discussed and adopted by consent with several amendments (see Annex 9). The participants expressed their gratitude to IITE for the organisation and hosting the meeting. They showed the intention to develop co-operation between organizations represented by them and the UNESCO Institute, as well as expressed their personal desire to collaborate with IITE and their
readiness to become voluntary experts of councils, which could be established in special areas of the IITE activities. Prof. V. Kinelev expressed the appreciation to the experts; he called upon the invited speakers, observers and all participants to their active and productive work, their contribution to the development of the IITE programme activity and declared the expert meeting closed. Annex 8
IITE/MOS/ME3/2000/INF.6 ANSWERS TO THE QUESTIONNAIRE: BRIEF SUMMARY Nine experts answered in writing to the questionnaire, so the interrogation could be regarded as a pilot one. Answering to the first question (Do you consider that it is worth to establish a thematic sub-system “ICTs in distance learning/education” within the framework of the international information system on ICTs in education?) almost all experts supported the idea and conception of such thematic sub-system. Dr. N. Farnes added that the methods of its realization should be outlined. Marking the groups of users, to which the sub-system “ICTs in distance learning/education” should be oriented, the experts supported the orientation of the sub-system to the administration of educational system, first of all to the decision and policy-makers (about 75% of maximum level), as well as to teachers, managers, designers of educational technologies (about 70% of maximum level). Only about 30% of maximum level of support was awarded to the orientation to the learners. Taking into account the requirements of the groups of users marked by you, what tasks could be, to your opinion, accomplished with the help of the sub-system “ICTs in distance learning/education”? This was the third question, answering to which the experts preferred (about 70%) the facilitating navigation in educational segment of the Internet by providing information on information systems specialized in education and relevant to users’ interests. Additionally, they marked the advantages of such sub-system in using Multilanguage resources of the Internet. The support only of 47% received the orientation to the analytical and statistical processing of information resources. Indicating the types of information, which should contain the sub-system “ICTs in distance learning/education”, the experts approved (a) (more than 90%) information on universal and specialized information systems providing search of information on education, including such issues as: scientific and applied research in the field of distance education, international organizations (foundations, centres, associations, etc.) assisting in development of distance education, information on UNESCO experts experienced in distance education; and (b) (up to 90%) international and national systems of distance education; virtual educational establishments and virtual libraries. As to the information sources and methods of their selection appropriate for the international information system on ICTs in education, the experts considered the preparation of special analytical and methodological and teaching materials for this system according IITE requests as the most preferable method (more than 80%).Rather acceptable methods are the following (about 70%): collecting information from organizations included in special list; search of information in the Internet followed by expert selection; collecting information from organizations and individuals by free completing of Web-forms followed by expert selection. Four expert presented additional comments and suggestions on establishment of the sub-system “ICTs in distance learning/education” and expressed their readiness to collaborate with IITE in its creation.
Annex 9
IITE/MOS/ME3/2000/DOC.3 RECOMMENDATIONS The participants of the expert meeting “Distance Education: Structure, Methodology, Staff Development and Legal Aspects” held by the UNESCO Institute for Information Technologies in Education (IITE) on March 2324, 2000 in Moscow (Russian Federation), Upholding the UNESCO strategies aimed at providing education for all throughout life and learning without frontiers and being convinced that the information and communication technologies (ICTs) should serve these goals, Noting that distance learning based on ICTs offers new opportunities for lifelong education for all learners without regard to their age, race, sex, time and space limits or any distinctions, economic, physical or social, Taking into account that the establishing international co-operation, exchanging knowledge, world-wide sharing experience in distance education and spreading the best practices with consideration of economic
diversity and respect to cultural variety should assist Member States in transition into information society, especially to the benefit of developing countries, Being sure that the promoting distance education and improving its quality is indispensable without studious analysis, selection and evaluation of extensive documentation on policies, legislation, staff development, and practices in distance education, teaching and learning, Realizing that the educators as leading actors in the distance education system should be specifically trained and retrained, in particular in the field of ICTs usage, Having been informed about statutes’ goals and aims of the UNESCO Institute for Information Technologies in Education and its programme activities, Having discussed the information materials “Distance Education in the World: Structure, Methodology, Staff Development and Legal Aspects”, Recommend: that UNESCO following numerous requests of the participants of the General Conference of UNESCO expressed at its 30th session should pay special attention to the development of distance education and in particular to assistance in implementation of ICTs in distance learning/teaching, that basing on presented information materials and considering the experts’ propositions IITE should prepare the Analytical survey “Distance Education in the World: Structure, Methodology, Staff Development and Legal Aspects” to be distributed among UNESCO Member States in print and on the IITE Web-site; that IITE should promote exchange of information on and experience in distance education and assist in navigation in this domain by developing information sub-system “ICTs in distance education/learning” as a part of the entire IITE information system within the framework of the IITE international project “ICTs in Education: State-of-the-Art, Needs and Perspectives”; that a set of training and re-training modules on the use of ICTs in distance education should be developed within the framework of the intersectoral UNESCO project “The Status of Teachers and Teacher Education in the Information Society” and comprised in the IITE educational programme; that in the line of intersectoral UNESCO project “The Status of Teachers and Teacher Education in the Information Society” IITE should prepare proposals for UNESCO on establishment of UNESCO Chairs and networks in the field of ICTs in distance education taking into account the demands of UNESCO Member States, regional and national needs, experts conclusions and recommendations by professional organizations in distance education. The participants expressed their gratitude to IITE for holding the expert meeting and their appreciation to the Commission of the Russian Federation for UNESCO and the Ministry of Education of the Russian Federation for their attention and support.
OPENING WORKSHOP SESSION The workshop “Distance Education: Networking and Staff Development” was opened on the 24th of March 2000 at the Moscow Technical University of Communication and Informatics (MTUCI) at 3 p.m. The Director of IITE Prof. Vladimir Kinelev greeted the participants of the workshop – about 100 persons at the conference hall and about 50 thousand in 157 places in 7 countries connected with the Moscow auditorium through ISDN channels. He thanked the international group of experts, invited speakers and high-level policy-makers attending the workshop, including Prof. Vladimir Bulgak, Member of the IITE Governing Board; Prof. Vladimir Filippov,Minister of Education of the Russian Federation; Mr. Alexander Volokitin, Deputy Minister of Communications; Mr. Yuri Yudintsev, Deputy Minister of Science and Technologies; Academicians of the Russian Academy of Sciences Alexander Petrov and Alexander Bugayov, and introduced the moderator of the Section 1 of the workshop “Networking in Distance Education” Prof. Vagan Shakhgildyan, Rector of MTUCI. Prof. V. Shakhgildyan informed the participants about the work of the Moscow Technical University of Communication and Informatics. There are 13 thousand students, 3 thousand of whom learn par correspondence. This form is supported by distance learning in case-technology, Internet-technology and through ISDN channels of Rostelecom. After that the Minister of Education of the Russian Federation Prof. Vladimir Filippov took the floor. He told about the strategy and main trends of the development of the distance education system in the Russian Federation. He underlined the urgent need for its expansion in the Russian geographical, economic and demographic situation and expressed hope that IITE should serve for enlargement of opportunities for carrying out the distance learning programmes not only for higher education, but for pre-school, primary and secondary education, for the people with special needs and other categories of learners.
Deputy Minister of Communications Mr. A. Volokitin stressed that the development of distance education is one of the priorities of the state policy and at informatization of the country. Deputy Minister of Science Mr. Y. Yudintsev presented the usage for distance education of the national telecommunication network, which was established for science and education system within the framework of the vast project launched in 1993–1998. Prof. Vladimir Bulgak greeted the participants of the workshop on behalf of the IITE Governing Board. Showing the contemporary distance education problems, he underlined the necessity of adaptation of its tools to the mentality of users.
SECTION 1: NETWORKING IN DISTANCE EDUCATION The work of this Section was devoted to the demonstration of real networking in distance education. As it was mentioned above, from the very beginning of the workshop the vast audience of about 50 thousand participants was launched with Moscow and could see and hear the speakers. At the same time there was a large screen divided into four parts at the conference hall, at which the attendees watched the auditoria in different regions of Russia, namly in Novosibirsk, Petrozavodsk, Rostov-onDon and Samara. They took an active part in the workshop too. The representatives from Rostov-on-Don informed about the experience of the development of the regional segment of the educational system and about forming network, which links 55 districts of the region. It makes possible to use distance education throughout all vast Rostov region. The participants from Novosibirsk told about the programme of distance preparation to higher education and distance post-higher education. The representatives from Samara paid special attention to the distance in-service courses for large spectrum of employees, from working professions to engineers. Taking into account a large number of faraway places, the distance learning network in the Republic of Karelia serves first of all scholars, teachers and medicine workers, underlined the participants from Petrozavodsk. The invited speaker Prof. Artem Adjemov, Vice-Rector of the Moscow Technical University of Communication and Informatics, took the floor. He underlined that distance learning is a new socially important information service. He informed about forming common distance education network for CIS countries and paid special attention to such method of structuring of the information space in the Internet as “Infocity”. Its acting model was demonstrated to the participants of the workshop via the Internet (http://moscow-infocity.mtuci2.ru). After that the experience of distance education and networking of the Open University of Israel was presented by the invited speakers Prof. Judith Gal-Ezer, Vice-President of OUI, and Mrs. Edna Yaffe, Director of Broad Band in Distance Education and Head of Teacher Training. The invited speaker Dr. Victorya Libin-Levav, Head of the Russian Project of OUI informed about this project existing from 1993, and paid special attention to the networking with national centers established in CIS and the Baltic states. She was assisted by the panellists attending the workshop, the coordinators from the centers in different countries: Semyon Avgustevich (Moscow, Russian Federation), Victoria Chekina (Moldova), Lubov Gergodze (Belarus), Anatoly Kotliarov (Saint-Petersburg, Russian Federation), Ludmila Listkova (Azerbaijan), Julianna Tsvetkova (Ukraine), and Svetlana Yatskina (Estonia). The invited speaker Prof. Mikhail Karpenko, Rector of the Modern University for the Humanities (Russian Federation) told about and demonstrated the networking for distance education in his University, which has students in 157 towns in 7 CIS countries. This educational telecommunication system consists of three components: the network of ISDN channels, the satellite component and feedback via the Internet. This presentation was illustrated by the direct interventions from SaintPetersburg by Prof. A. Derkachenko and from Samara by Prof. V. Volkov, the lecturers. In addition Dr. A. Gazaliev, First Vice-Rector of the Russian-Kazakstan Modern University for the Humanities, informed about application of new information technologies and distance form of education established in this University, which has 18 branches in the Republic of Kazakstan and maintains tight contacts with the Russian Federation. At the end of the work the Director of IITE Prof. V. Kinelev thanked the invited speakers and panellists, honorable guests and all participants in and out of Moscow. He expressed his gratitude to the moderator Rector of MTUCI Prof. V. Shakhgildyan for the perfect leading of the Section and hosting of the workshop.
SECTION 2: ICTs AND STAFF
DEVELOPMENT FOR DISTANCE EDUCATION The work of the Section 2 was started at 10 a.m. on the 25th of March, 2000 at the conference hall of IITE supplied with the equipment for different kinds of demonstrations. Director of IITE Prof. V. Kinelev introduced to the participants (about 60 persons) the moderator of this Section Dr. Nicholas C. Farnes, Director of the International Centre for Distance Learning, the Open University (United Kingdom). At the morning session the invited speakers made presentations using computers, video, overheads and the Internet. Dr. Margalit Ganor, Head of the Department, Open University of Israel, spoke about evaluation and staff development for distance education. Dr. Alexander Goustyr, General Director of the Centre of Intensive Technologies (Russian Federation), analysing the key problems of distance education in the world paid special attention to possible priorities of the IITE educational policy, including staff development. Prof. Bruce S. King, Director of the Flexible Learning Centre, University of South Australia, informed about the developments in distance education in Australia and enlightened the question of staff development. To his opinion, it is perhaps the most critical dimension to bringing about the changes that are potentially available to distance education through new technologies. Prof. Natalya Pankratova, Deputy Director of the Institute for Applied System Analysis (Ukraine), reported to the participants about the system of distance education in Ukraine and main approaches to staff development. Prof. Sergey Shchennikov, Rector of the International Institute of Management (LINK) (Russian Federation), made an overview of acting models of staff development for distance education and attracted the attention to the training of tutors in LINK. During this session, several participants took the floor and made valuable comments, among them Prof. M. Karpenko (Modern University for the Humanities), Prof. A. Gubonin (Power Engineering Institute), Prof. B. King (Flexible Learning Centre, University of South Australia), Dr. N. Farnes (International Centre for Distance Learning, the Open University), Mr. M. Bureau (Seneca Colledge), Prof. A. Yakovlev (International Engineering Academy), Prof. V. Monakhov (Moscow State Open Pedagogical University). At the evening session the invited speakers shared experience in staff development and widely – in distance education of different countries. Their interventions were also supplied with demonstrations. The following speakers took the floor, each for 20 minutes:
Dr.
Nicholas C. Farnes, Director of the International Centre for Distance Learning, the Open University, United Kingdom;
Dr. Satoki T. Mahenge, Director of the Institute of Educational Technologies, Open University of Tanzania;
Mr. Marquis L. Bureau, Chair of the Seneca College and Vice-President of the Canadian Association for Distance Education;
Prof. Valerio Grementieri, President of EDEN. After short exchange of remarks and answers to the questions put to the invited speakers, the moderator of the Section Dr. N. Farnes summarized the results of the work. He stressed the successfulness of the workshop and thanked all the invited speakers and participants for their activity.
CLOSING WORKSHOP SESSION On behalf of the experts Dr. N. Farnes expressed the gratitude to the UNESCO Institute for Information Technologies in Education, its Director and employees for the hospitality and given opportunity to have knowledge of the experience and developments in distance education systems in the Russian Federation and many other countries. Closing the workshop, Director of IITE Prof. V. Kinelev thanked the speakers for their interesting presentations. He emphasised that IITE should make use of all recommendations and suggestions for
the progress of the activity in the field of application of ICTs in distance education. He invited the participants to the fruitful co-operation with the UNESCO Institute.