This is a keynote address delivered at the Committee for Vice Chancellors and Directors (CVCD) conference 2015 in Colombo, Sri Lanka. The presentation covers the evolution of Distance Education (DE) from correspondence to modern day online; redefining the “D” in DE to “Digital”; flipping the classroom to teach digital natives in a connected world; using MOOC to increase flexibility and access to Higher Education in Sri Lanka; how to use OER with MOOC; and the OERu model to maximize equity in a country desperate to create a knowledge society.

1. Flexible Course Delivery
and the Potential of
Open and Distance Education
Keynote Address
Committee of Vice Chancellors and Directors (CVCD)
Conference 2015, Colombo, Sri Lanka
By
Ishan Abeywardena, Ph.D.
Advisor (Designate): Open Educational Resources (OER)
The Commonwealth of Learning (COL), Burnaby, Canada
13th November 2015

2. The concept of Distance Education (DE) can be defined as:
(i) one-way traffic in the form of pre-produced course materials sent from the
supporting organization and involving students in interaction with texts; and
(ii) two-way traffic which is real communication between students and the
supporting organization (Holmberg , 2005 )Image Source:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:The_World,_on_the_globular_projection_with_a_graduation_for_the_measurement_of_distances_especially_adapted_for_the_u
se_oe_(sic)_schools,_geographical_%26_historical_lectures,_and_missionary_meetings_(5489515269).jpg#/media/File:The_World,_on_the_globular_projection_with_a_g
raduation_for_the_measurement_of_distances_especially_adapted_for_the_use_oe_(sic)_schools,_geographical_%26_historical_lectures,_and_missionary_meetings_(548

3. DE Today…
“ Technology is responsible for
distorting the concept of distance
between learner and instructor, and
enabling learners to access education
at any time and from any place”.
Beldarrain (2006, p.139)
Beldarrain, Y. (2006). Distance education trends: Integrating new technologies to foster student interaction and collaboration. Distance
education, 27(2), 139-153.

4. Source:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Internet_of_Things.jpg

5. Source:
https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Kids_Holding_Possible_High_Tech_Mother%27s_Day_Gifts.jpg#/media/File:Kids_Ho
lding_Possible_High_Tech_Mother%27s_Day_Gifts.jpg
Digital Natives

7. Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Ghanaian_using_a_tablet.jpg
Redefining the “D” in DE to “Digital”

8. Source: Computer Literacy Statistics - 2014, Department of Census and Statistics, Sri Lanka;
http://www.statistics.gov.lk/ComputerLiterarcy/BuletinComputerLiteracy.pdf
Digital Distance in Sri Lanka

9. Source: http://nanasala.org/ and http://www.nodes.lk/

10. Source: http://usercontent2.hubimg.com/5630013_f520.jpg

11. Source: http://www.eit.edu.au/image/onlinebook/Sage-on-the-Stage-11.jpg
Flipping the Classroom: Conventional to DE

12. Source: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Massive_open_online_course#/media/File:MOOC_poster_mathplourde.jpg

13. Source: https://www.edx.org/sites/default/files/upload/intro-four-example-videos960.jpg

14. The Flexibility of MOOC
Source: http://image.slidesharecdn.com/mooc-150607151930-lva1-app6892/95/massive-open-online-courses-moocs-6-638.jpg?cb=1434031431

15. Asian MOOC Initiatives

16. Source: http://static.betaboston.com/uploads/2015/08/HBX-Live-6.jpg

18. “teaching, learning and
research materials in any
medium, digital or otherwise,
that reside in the public
domain or have been released
under an open license that
permits no-cost access, use,
adaptation and redistribution
by others with no or limited
restrictions”
(UNESCO Paris OER Declaration, 2012)
UNESCO. (2012, June 22). 2012 PARIS OER DECLARATION. Retrieved June 13, 2013, from unesco.org:
http://www.unesco.org/new/fileadmin/MULTIMEDIA/HQ/CI/WPFD2009/English_Declaration.html

19. OER: Just another means of getting there…
Source: http://www.worldbank.org/content/dam/Worldbank/Feature%20Story/sar/srilanka/lk-edu-computers-400x264.jpg

20. four ‘R’s model:
Reuse
Redistribute
Revise
Remix
Retain
Hilton, J., Wiley, D., Stein, J., & Johnson, A. (2010). The four R‘s of openness and ALMS Analysis: Frameworks for open educational resources.
Open Learning: The Journal of Open and Distance Learning, 25(1), 37-44.
O
Openness

23. Source: http://www.slideshare.net/mackiwg/oeru-overview-2014

24. Source: http://www.slideshare.net/mackiwg/oeru-overview-2014

25. Source: http://www.slideshare.net/mackiwg/oeru-overview-2014

26. Source: http://www.slideshare.net/mackiwg/oeru-overview-2014

27. Can we do it?
Thank you!
Source: https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/Category:Maps_of_Sri_Lanka#/media/File:Sri_Lanka_on_the_globe_(Asia_centered).svg