Need for open access to learning stressed at conference - Khaleej Times

"The best way to gauge success of a ‘Smart City’ programme in Dubai is to measure the level of happiness in the city, said Eng Muammar Al Katheeri, executive vice-president, engineering management and chairman smart city project committee, Dubai Silicon Oasis Authority ... Organised by the Canadian University of Dubai with technical support from Unesco and the Institute of Electronics and Electrical Engineering (IEEE), the conference opened on Tuesday.  The Chancellor of the Canadian University of Dubai, Butti Saeed Al Gandi, said: 'The university is honoured to host the region’s first conference on open access to learning. UAE is at the forefront in the use of digital technologies. This is due to the increasingly central role ICT occupies in the government’s agenda as an enabling infrastructure for developing a world-class educational infrastructure.' Prof Mike Sharples, professor of educational technology, the Open University, UK, said there is a crisis of access to higher education with growing numbers seeking it. The only answer is massive scale open courses. He related the experience of the Open University, the largest in the UK and 14th largest in the world, with over 250,000 students. Another pioneer is the company, Future Learn, which has 5 million registered users. It offers 130 courses for 30 partners and has a community of 750,000 learners ..."