The document discusses the transformative potential of open and online education within global higher education, highlighting its ability to improve individual employment prospects and societal benefits. It emphasizes the growing demand for accessible education, the increasing role of open universities, and the necessity for inclusive educational practices. The author calls for a collective, policy-driven dialogue on harnessing the opportunities of an evolving educational landscape.

1. Challenges and opportunities from
a more open and online world
The 4th Smart E-Learning Russia Conference
9-10 October 2012, Moscow
Gard Titlestad
Secretary General
ICDE

2. Paradox
• While governments world wide celebrate
the success of higher education,
governmental policies are outdated and
are not capable of grasping the benefits
from the most constructive and
disruptive factor in the higher education
sector: open and online education

3. Higher Education – a goldmine
for the individual and the society
• For the individual – the
employment prospects
increase
• For the individual – the
net value is good
business
• For the public – cost
benefit is success!
– Documented by OECD in
Education at a glance
2012

4. The crisis reinforces the
importance of good education
• Over the past decade, more than two-thirds of
GDP growth in EU21 countries was driven by
labour income growth among tertiary-
educated individuals, compared with just 51%
in the United States.
• Even in the midst of the recession in 2009,
labour income growth among tertiary
graduates increased in the majority of EU
countries with available data.
Education at a Glance: OECD Indicators 2012

5. Global need for barrier-free
access to higher education
• Irina Bokova, Director-General of UNESCO
“Higher education: In less than 40 years,
enrolments have increased fivefold. Globally it
is estimated that demand will expand from
less than 100 million students in 2000 to over
250 million students in 2025.”
”Four universities a week”
Open and distance elearning is needed!

7. World Development
Report 2013
• “The youth challenge alone is staggering.
More than 620 million young people are
neither working nor studying. Just to keep
employment rates constant, the worldwide
number of jobs will have to increase by
around 600 million over a 15-year period”
October 1, 2012

8. ODL in rapid growth
• The world’s 18 largest mega-universities are open
universities serving more than 14.3 million students. Most
of these universities were founded after the 1970s.
• China: 1 of every 10 registered students in higher education
is a student at The Open University of China.
• Africa: African Virtual University has signed up with 21
countries and 28 Universities to provide Open and Distance
eLearning, based on OER and the Internet.
• Almost one-third of enrolments in HE in the autumn of
2010 in the USA were online enrolments, with more than
30% of the students taking at least one course online.

9. Coursera
and more!

10. Disruptive innovation
Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Disruptive innovation does not make a good product or service better,
but makes it more affordable and accessible, so more people can
purchase or use it.

11. Costs

12. Many questions
• Motivation for MOOCs? Money, Branding or
doing the Good things?
• Sustainable?
• Business models?
• The cost savings – for quality or profit?
• Pedagogic quality? Flip the classroom?
• Lot of criticism
–Criticism can be the mother of
progress

13. What about
the users?

14. EDUCAUSE: ECAR STUDY OF UNDERGRADUATE
STUDENTS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY, 2012

15. EDUCAUSE: ECAR STUDY OF UNDERGRADUATE
STUDENTS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY, 2012

16. EDUCAUSE: ECAR STUDY OF UNDERGRADUATE
STUDENTS AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY, 2012
19% 57%

17. EDUCAUSE: ECAR STUDY OF UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS
AND INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY, 2012

18. System failure

19. University drop-outs (or push outs?) cost 660
million Euros per year in Spain alone
Norway – 2005 - 2010
Total drop outs/push outs in higher education:
12% (Health educations)- 37 % (Management and Economy)
Only health educations have lower drop out rate than 20%

20. Dr Qian Tang, Assistant Director-General for Education, UNESCO,
Flexible learning for inclusive education
• Yet all people, regardless of their sex, race, religion,
disability or national, ethnic and social origin, are entitled
to a quality education. Denying them such an opportunity is
not only an infringement of their fundamental human
rights; it is also a serious waste of society’s human
resources. Indeed, education that is restricted to certain
social groups deprives a country of significant assets and
skills that could be tapped to build prosperous
communities. Furthermore, it limits the impact of national
efforts to create peaceful, just, fair and cohesive societies.
• Inclusive education is therefore non-negotiable.

21. A wake up call is needed!

22. To harvest the benefits from a more
Open and Online world
To be adressed:
Governments (wake up): Universities (shake up):
• Optimal regulatory and • Strategies and leadership
policy framework for ODL, • Partnership Open and
incentives for OER Conventional universities
• Sector overarching policies • Build competencies
for mobilising the workforce • Faculty training, student
• Initiatives for research, new training for ODL
knowledge on effect and • Flip the classroom for
impact of ODL on delivering student-oriented and
high quality ODL personalised learning
HEI, private and public sector: Build partnerships and
agreements for knowledge supply, mobilising the workforce

23. Conclusion
• I believe we are at the beginning of a big debate
about the future learning system.
• We need a professional, policy-oriented
debate, in Europe, and throughout the world, on
the opportunities and challenges coming from a
more open and online world.
• Educational systems will be decided
nationally, but the direction will also be a global
issue.
• ICDE will be a visible and eager player in this
debate.
• And: You are welcome to join!

24. Thank you!
titlestad@icde.org
www.icde.org