Crisis in ODL: What is the Response?

Abstract

Symbiosis International Conference on ODL, Pune, India, Crisis in ODL: what is the response? 23 February, 2011, Presented by Prof. Asha Kanwar, Commonwealth of Learning // I represent the Commonwealth of Learning and bring to you greetings from my President Sir John Daniel and all colleagues at Vancouver and New Delhi. Our motto, ‘learning for development’. // Our mission is to help Commonwealth Member States to harness the potential of distance education and technology to enhance access to learning which will contribute to development. // One of COL’s priorities is providing equitable access to quality learning. The Symbiosis institutions too emerged from the idea of ‘promoting international understanding through quality education’, a motto that resonates well with us at COL. ODL is the obvious solution. So my topic today is ‘Crisis in ODL: what is the response?’ // I will first highlight some of the crises that are being encountered by Open and Distance Learning around the world. I will then give an overview of how some institutions have responded to these challenges over the last forty years. I will then suggest three things that can be done to establish the credibility of ODL and finally conclude with how international organisations such as the Commonwealth of Learning have responded to the situation.