Seminar presentation delivered to United Nations Committee on Trade and Development, Geneva, Switzerland, by Google Hangout.
In this presentation for UNCTAD's Advisory Group on "Developing skills, knowledge and capacities through innovation: E-Learning, M-Learning, cloud-Learning" I outline major forms of open online learning, contrasting between formal and informal learning mechanisms, publishing and community-based production models, and forms of recognition and certification. The audio has a lot of echo (feedback from the other venue) - The transcript of the presntation is available here.

[Slides] [Audio]

By Christopher Pappas. The rise in e-Learning's popularity isn't showing any signs of slowing. In fact, judging by the following Top 10 eLearning statistics for 2014 article and infographic, the future of the e-Learning Industry is brighter than ever.
e-Learning has revolutionized the educational sector, and has changed the way we look at knowledge and skill acquisition altogether. Thanks to modern educational technology, e-Learning tools and techniques just keep getting bigger and better. Today, they are providing learners with a more impressive, and more effective, educational experience. More...

Educación virtual en los cinco continentes
El Encuentro Internacional de Educación a Distancia llega a su vigésima primera edición, profundizando su razón de ser: el contacto entre educadores y organizaciones del mundo. Por esa razón, en esta ocasión, se quiere hacer un reconocimiento a las grandes universidades que han sido paradigmáticas en cada continente.
El desarrollo de la educación a distancia en las diferentes regiones del mundo tuvo razones tales como las condiciones geográficas, políticas y económicas. Las grandes universidades pioneras en este campo fortalecieron sus estrategias y crecieron. Este devenir histórico no ha sido lineal, y las grandes organizaciones han hecho esfuerzos para apropiarse de las nuevas condiciones favorecidas por la emergencia de la cultura digital.
Hoy la educación virtual en cada continente mantiene rasgos históricos ligados a las condiciones locales de esas organizaciones de gran tradición y prestigio, pero al mismo tiempo, su actualización e innovaciones se pueden interpretar en el marco de las grandes tendencias globales.
Por eso hablar de la educación virtual en los cinco continentes, significa reconocer las tendencias hacia el futuro de la educación en un contexto universal.
Objetivo general:
Generar un espacio de análisis, discusión y socialización de experiencias, propuestas e investigaciones relacionadas con los procesos de mundialización de los modelos educativos considerando las diferencias y semejanzas en los paradigmas educativos de los cinco continentes.

By Marc Mcilhone. “We consider the African Virtual University (AVU) Project very critical to the effort to improve access to higher education in Africa and are pleased to learn that the deliberations on the integration of e-learning and open education into mainstream education programs was fruitful,” concluded Stefan Muller, Lead Economist of the African Development Bank’s (AfDB) East Africa Regional Resource Center (EARC) during the first international conference African Virtual University organized from November 20-22, 2013 in Nairobi. Under the topic “Integrating eLearning and Open Education to Increase Access to Quality Education and Training”, the conference brought together more than 100 participants including Ministries of Education and 22 universities from the Multinational AVU support project** as well as the private sector. The main objective of this first gathering was to discuss the future of e-learning in Africa and the role of Open Education Resources (OERs) including the Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) in the ICT learning revolution.

For almost 50 years, Tony Bates has been a consistent, persistent and influential voice for the reform of teaching and learning in post-secondary education, notably through the effective use of emerging technologies. Author of 11 books and 350 research papers in the field of online learning and distance education, Tony Bates is also an advisor to over 40 organizations in 25 countries, and publisher of what is arguably the most influential blog on online learning with over 20,000 visits a month.  A Contact North | Contact Nord Research Associate, Dr. Bates has helped educators, academic administrators and policy makers grasp key concepts, trends and challenges in online learning. This posting is one of a series that looks at Tony’s perspectives and advice on key issues in online learning. 
This series was researched and developed by Contact North | Contact Nord Research Associates, Dr. Jane Brindley and Dr. Ross Paul.    
Adapting technology for effective learning is the mantra for Tony’s entire career – technology for accessibility, for flexible response to diverse needs, for improved quality and cost control, and for institutional accountability. More...