5^th eLearning Conference Opening Keynote

Dr. Frits Pannekoek

President Athabasca University and President, International Council for Distance Education

Opening Keynote Title: Post Secondary "Wikinomics¹:" University 2.0

Speaker Profile
Dr. Frits Pannekoek became the sixth president of Athabasca University on June 1, 2005. Dr. Pannekoek's interest in and commitment to Athabasca University is reflected in 20 years as a tutor and course developer here. His experience with distance education, blended learning and the development of innovative learning environments are tremendous benefits to the University as it completes its transformation to the on-line environment.
Prior to joining Athabasca University in an executive capacity, Dr. Pannekoek had been the Director of Information Resources at the University of Calgary, with academic appointments in the Faculty of Communications and Culture and the Department of History. As Director of Information Resources, he had direct responsibility for the university library and its five branch libraries, the university archives, the university press and the Nickle Arts Museum. He has also been the chair of The Alberta Library, which is a consortium of more than 300 libraries and the Health Knowledge Network, which is a health information collective.
Dr. Pannekoek has a substantial reputation as a Canadian historian for the contributions he has made over the last 30 years with his academic fields of western Canadian and Métis history, museum and heritage studies, and information and communications studies. Dr. Pannekoek's long-standing interest in Aboriginal communities is reflected in his many publications as well as his participation in initiatives such as the partnership that led to the interpretive centre for Head-Smashed-In Buffalo Jump, which is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and the University of Calgary partnership with Red Crow College.
Dr. Pannekoek is recognized nationally for his leadership in the creation of digital resources and the transformation of academic publishing. He has been involved in the development of the Information Commons at the University of Calgary, an online resource that supports the integration of innovative technologies into the learning and teaching environment. He is also currently a member of the Alberta SuperNet Research Alliance which is studying the impact of the SuperNet in Alberta and is regularly called upon to serve as a provincial and national policy advisor.

Abstract:

OER’s are here to stay and are already making a profound impact on our world. But are we ready for the changes they will make to the value chain in post secondary learning? Before we are able to unlock the opportunities OER’s could hold to massify learning, there are some serious questions that will need to be answered about the institutions we govern. What will OER’s mean for faculty and learner support services like tutors and librarians? Will developing nations need fewer faculty and support? What will OER’s’ impact be on physical classrooms? Do we need any? How will OER’s impact research? How can we guarantee quality outcomes? How do we ensure real and meaningful participation by the south? A “modest proposal” which answers a number of these questions and which could begin to transform the post secondary world will be revealed.

Sir John Daniel

President & Chief Executive Officer, Commonwealth of Learning

Speaker Profile

Sir John Daniel is the President and Chief Executive Officer, Commonwealth of Learning. He came to COL in June 2004 from the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) where he had been Assistant Director-General for Education and headed the global “Education for All” programme.  He spent four years helping to establish Québec’s Télé-université, moved west to Alberta as Vice-President of Athabasca University and then returned to Montreal as Vice-Rector of Concordia University. In 1984, he became President of Laurentian University, Ontario. He then moved to the UK as Vice-Chancellor of the Open University in 1990. Knighted by Queen Elizabeth for services to higher education in 1994, the honour recognised the leading role that he has played internationally, over three decades, in the development of distance learning in universities. In 1988, Sir John chaired the Working Group that was appointed to “develop institutional arrangements for Commonwealth co-operation in distance education” and recommended the creation of the Commonwealth of Learning with headquarters in Vancouver. He subsequently served for two years as a founding member of COL’s Board of Governors. In 2002, he was named an Honorary Fellow of the Commonwealth of Learning, for his contribution to the development of open and distance education world-wide. Sir John has been active as a scholar and student throughout his career. The success of his book, Mega-Universities and Knowledge Media: Technology Strategies for Higher Education (Kogan Page, 1996), established his reputation in international university circles as a leading thinker about the role of technology in academic communities.  Sir John has been awarded 25 honorary doctorates, fellowships and professorships from universities in 15 countries, is a past President of both the International Council for Open and Distance Education (ICDE) and the Canadian Association for Distance Education (CADE), and served as Vice-President of the International Baccalaureate Organisation.

Abstract

Projections indicate that the world’s higher education system must accommodate nearly 100 million more students by 2025. To do so in conventional campuses would require the opening of three large (30,000 students) campuses every week for the next 13 years. Some of these campuses will be built but most will not. Capacity can be increased more quickly and economically by investing in distance and eLearning opportunities. In particular, higher education systems should invest in the creation of open educational resources (OER). This will create a global pool of high quality material that can be adapted and versioned for individual countries and institutions, all of which should engage in this important collective effort to widen access and improve quality.