Conference calls for world’s access to knowledge to be opened « Unisa Online – News & media

"The world conference of the International Council for Open and Distance Education (ICDE) held in Tianjin, China, heard repeated calls for post-secondary education to meet demand for learning and knowledge from a young worldwide population. 700 conference participants from 40 countries heard Paulina Gonzalez-Pose, Chief of Section for Higher Education at UNESCO underline that online and distance learning is needed more than ever before for increased opportunity and access. 'Blended learning is a new form for higher education', she said, referring to the integration of online learning with traditional classroom teaching. 'At no time in history has it been more important to invest in higher education–towards an inclusive and diverse knowledge society, to advance research, innovation and creativity.' Yang Zhijian, President of the Open University of China, which has 3.7 million students in distance education, spoke of how they are facilitating online offerings to increase accessibility, affordability and quality. The government of China is supporting and promoting this as a key element of its national digitalisation strategy ..."