The UOC - Open University of Catalonia - The Global Online University - Presidents of Distance and Virtual Universities from Around the World Meet in Barcelona
The meeting served to discuss the challenges arising from the current economic crisis for a university community that has to face up to strategic change.
Barcelona, Spain, November 29, 2009 --(PR.com)-- Quality in the context of the financial crisis. This was the focus for the two-day meeting in Barcelona of the world’s leaders of open, distance and virtual education who form part of the International Council for Open and Distance Education (ICDE). Around 80 presidents, rectors and chief executive officers of universities from countries as diverse as China, Israel, USA or Nigeria met in Barcelona to debate the ways to guarantee levels of quality and university services in a context of scarce economic resources.
The ICDE Standing Conference of Presidents, SCOP, 2009 was organized by the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (Open University of Catalonia, UOC) and the ICDE. It took place at the Hotel Majestic (Passeig de Gràcia 68) on 20 and 21 November. Those taking part, alongside UOC President Imma Tubella and ICDE President Frits Pannekoek, included the Catalan Minister for Innovation, Universities and Business, Josep Huguet. The keynote speech, entitled The Financial Crisis, Innovation and Education, was given by the economist Xavier Sala i Martín, at 10am on Friday, 20 November.
The conference, which forms part of the celebrations for the UOC’s fifteenth anniversary, took place at a time when the crisis raises a series of challenges for a university community that has to face up to strategic change. This is even more the case for open or distance education universities, which are undergoing expansion and deemed fundamental tools for educating the population of the 21st century. Thus, the SCOP 2009 debated the answers to challenges such as how to ensure and assess quality in open education processes, or how universities can contribute to overcoming the current economic difficulties.
The ICDE Standing Conference of Presidents, SCOP, takes place every year and gives rectors, presidents and chief executive officers of the ICDE-member universities the chance to exchange information, share expertise, establish benchmarks, develop new cooperative projects and determine advocacy directions.
UOC - Open University of Catalonia - The Global Online University, offers online courses in the languages English, Spanish, Catalan and French. For more information about the online courses offered by UOC visit the website TheGlobalOnlineUniversityUocEdu. For individual questions or enquiries, contact the training advisor team at +34 93 326 30 00, or send an e-mail to: queries@uoc.edu
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The ICDE Standing Conference of Presidents, SCOP, 2009 was organized by the Universitat Oberta de Catalunya (Open University of Catalonia, UOC) and the ICDE. It took place at the Hotel Majestic (Passeig de Gràcia 68) on 20 and 21 November. Those taking part, alongside UOC President Imma Tubella and ICDE President Frits Pannekoek, included the Catalan Minister for Innovation, Universities and Business, Josep Huguet. The keynote speech, entitled The Financial Crisis, Innovation and Education, was given by the economist Xavier Sala i Martín, at 10am on Friday, 20 November.
The conference, which forms part of the celebrations for the UOC’s fifteenth anniversary, took place at a time when the crisis raises a series of challenges for a university community that has to face up to strategic change. This is even more the case for open or distance education universities, which are undergoing expansion and deemed fundamental tools for educating the population of the 21st century. Thus, the SCOP 2009 debated the answers to challenges such as how to ensure and assess quality in open education processes, or how universities can contribute to overcoming the current economic difficulties.
The ICDE Standing Conference of Presidents, SCOP, takes place every year and gives rectors, presidents and chief executive officers of the ICDE-member universities the chance to exchange information, share expertise, establish benchmarks, develop new cooperative projects and determine advocacy directions.
UOC - Open University of Catalonia - The Global Online University, offers online courses in the languages English, Spanish, Catalan and French. For more information about the online courses offered by UOC visit the website TheGlobalOnlineUniversityUocEdu. For individual questions or enquiries, contact the training advisor team at +34 93 326 30 00, or send an e-mail to: queries@uoc.edu
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Contact
UOC - Open University of Catalonia
Daniela Silva
55-71-31134203
www.theglobalonlineuniversity.uoc.edu/
Daniela Silva
55-71-31134203
www.theglobalonlineuniversity.uoc.edu/
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