ICDE and OPAL sessions at Online Educa Berlin conference

This annual global e-learning conference takes place in Berlin, Germany on 30 November - 2 December. It will feature a special session organized by ICDE and with participation from member institutions entitled, Learning Cultures: An International Panorama, as well as a session showcasing winners of the OPAL Awards. New Learning Cultures is the theme of this year's Online Educa Berlin, as it sets the agenda for an in-depth discussion of the most important questions facing those in education today. The programme is now available on the conference website detailing speakers and sessions. Representatives of ICDE member institutions are reminded that they can take advantage of reduced registration fees. ICDE session: Learning Cultures: An International Panorama 1 December, 16:30 ICDE will host a special session on day two of Online Educa. Entitled Learning Cultures: An International Panorama, it will feature ICDE members representing Brazil, Canada, India and Russia. The session will cover technologies, factors supporting and hindering development, present trends, and theoretical discourse. These high level experts will offer a global overview of developments and then present the situation in their respective areas of the world allowing for questions. Among the speakers confirmed for this event are: Luciano Sathler, Brazilian Association for Distance Education (ABED) and Universidade Anhanguera – Uniderp, Brazil Dietmar Kennepohl, Athabasca University, Canada Hemlata Chari, IDOL- Institute of Distance and Open Learning, Mumbai University, India Irina Smirnova, Moscow State University of Economics, Statistics and Informatics (MESI), Russia OPAL Awards 2 December, 16:30 The OPAL Awards 2011 for Quality and Innovation through Open Educational Practices will be presented in a further session where videos of the winning entries within the categories of learning contexts, institutions, and policy influence will be shown. The Awards are coordinated by ICDE. Ulf-Daniel Ehlers of Baden-Wuerttemberg Cooperative State University, Germany and Gráinne Conole of the University of Leicester, UK will also summarize the results of the OPAL Initiative. The Open Educational Quality Initiative with the involvement of UNESCO, ICDE, EFQUEL and several European universities works to promote open educational practices in higher and adult education. The OPAL Awards recognize excellence in OER policy, promotion and use, which have resulted in the improvement of quality and innovation in educational organizations.