Virtual Symposium examines worldwide growth of online access


The Virtual Symposium focused partly on keeping open source technologies free.
The Virtual Symposium focused partly on keeping open-source technologies free.

Online learning, open courseware, eBooks, wikis, and many other innovative technologies have forever affected education by connecting any topic in any discipline to any learner in any place. Even individuals in remote communities now can access unlimited information free of charge, if they have an internet connection. This also provides more possibilities for international collaboration, knowledge building, and sharing of best practices.

Drexel University’s School of Education capitalized on these possibilities during its second annual live and online Virtual Symposium, in conjunction with Wainhouse Research and the World Bank Institute’s Global Development Learning Network (GDLN). This year’s Virtual Symposium built upon the theme Education for Everyone: Expanding Access Through Technology.

The symposium highlighted education technology innovations, and it examined challenges to access—for example, among poor and rural communities—and possibilities for overcoming them. A major feature of the symposium was the ability for participants to share experiences among peers in both developing and developed countries.

The symposium’s live events were hosted in two locations: at the World Bank Institute in Beijing and at Drexel University in Philadelphia. Having two centers created a format that encompassed different cultural and regional perspectives as a starting point for the discussion, and these perspectives were woven through the entire program.

A virtual symposium was a perfect venue for hosting a conference of this theme and scope, because of the internet’s ability to overcome the practical limitations of space. Eliminating geographic barriers meant that individuals could participate regardless of their location. As the web helps to overcome the barrier of geography, the number of internet users also has increased, to more than 1.46 billion worldwide—creating unprecedented opportunities to connect with people in every continent and of different social classes.

Thanks to corporate sponsorship from Adobe and Sonic Foundry, participation in the event was completely free. The virtual nature of this symposium enabled organizers to expand the reach of expertise, drawing from a worldwide group of experts in the education technology field. This proved to be particularly important, as many of the confirmed panelists and speakers were traveling during the live events and had to participate from remote locations themselves.

Curtis Bonk, a professor of instructional systems technology at Indiana University and author of The World is Open, opened the live events with an engaging keynote on the role of various technologies in open education. He discussed open courseware, open-source software, open-access journals, open educational resources, and open information communities as some key technologies that have changed the education landscape. Bonk presented from his home campus in Indiana.

With such technologies, thousands of organizations and scholars are sharing their course materials, expertise, and teaching ideas globally, thereby expanding learning opportunities and resources even further. One of the symposium’s registered participants stated that she was in awe at how diverse the opportunities are, even though she spends all day, every day on the internet and teaches online.

Sheila Jagannathan, a senior education specialist focusing on eLearning at the World Bank Institute, provided a formal response to Bonk’s presentation. Although based in Washington, D.C., Jagganathan was working in the Philippines during the symposium. Fortunately the virtual nature of the symposium meant it was still possible for her to participate from the World Bank offices in Manila.

Jagganathan pointed out that while the latest technologies have certainly changed the education landscape, those that Bonk discussed are found primarily in Europe and North America. She proposed that some of the more common technologies, such as television, radio, and mobile phones, also have great potential for reaching the marginalized poor in developing countries. As she stated, the number of households having televisions in developing countries increased from 40 percent in 1995 to 60 percent today.

Bonk, too, noted that there are 40,000 new mobile subscribers per week in Rwanda, and 60,000 new mobile subscriptions every hour in India—indicating the clear potential this increasingly common technology has for disseminating information to large populations.

The symposium’s second and third days featured a panel of experts discussing a common theme from various points of view and international locales. Panelists explored what policies, programs, partnerships, and corporate initiatives have had the greatest impact in encouraging or adversely affecting the use of technology to bring education to the underserved and underprivileged around the world.

Four panelists discussed these issues live from four different locations: Drexel University sites in Philadelphia and Sacramento, the World Bank site in Beijing, and East China Normal University in Shanghai, China.

The live events wrapped up with a panel discussion around best practices for expanding educational access through technology. Panelists participated from Beijing, Tokyo, Philadelphia, and Fort Lauderdale.

The scope of participation in the symposium illustrates Bonk’s keynote, which emphasized that the world is truly open. During all of March, approximately 1,500 viewers from 54 different countries attended the virtual symposium (as compared with 19 countries in 2008). Only slightly more than half of the participants (55 percent) were located in the United States, as compared with 75 percent in 2008.

Registered participants were located in 20 European countries, 19 Asian countries, 10 countries of the Americas, and four African countries. One participant, who logged onto the event through Second Life, indicated that he was viewing the live panels from an airplane while en route to Australia.

One of the virtual symposium’s goals was to develop an international network of professionals working in the technology, education, and distance learning fields who will advance the exchange of ideas and promote best practices. The symposium let participants expand their professional networks on an international scale, without the cost of traveling.

The online discussion stimulated during the live events let participants find others with similar goals and interests, and a number of questions related to educational access emerged for further exploration. These included keeping open source technologies free, maintaining quality, and providing credentials. The symposium platform is available for post-event discussion and exchange at http://www.global-symposium.com.

Rebecca Clothey is an associate clinical professor at Drexel University and the director of the Global and International Education program.

Sign up for our newsletter

Newsletter: Innovations in K12 Education
By submitting your information, you agree to our Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy.

Oops! We could not locate your form.

Sign up for our newsletter

Newsletter: Innovations in K12 Education
By submitting your information, you agree to our Terms & Conditions and Privacy Policy.