GFDD Will Publish Report on Distance Education by Secretary General of the International Association of Universities, Heitor Gurgulino de Souza

This month, Global Foundation for Democracy and Development (GFDD) will publish a report by Heitor Gurgulino de Souza, Secretary General of the International Association of Universities and President of Virtual Educa Brazil, on challenges in distance education.

The report calls attention to the expansion of distance education programs, and the important role of distance education in the future of growth of higher education worldwide.

Gurgulino de Souza identifies innovative technologies that will transform higher education in the coming years, and emphasizes the critical value of teacher training and quality assurance in distance education development. The analysis also refers to the important findings published in the recent report of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), which recognizes the essential link between pay scales for educators and quality of higher education.

Moreover, the author cites groundbreaking initiatives being spearheaded in the area of distance education innovation around the globe, by institutions such as: Virtual Educa; the Universidade Aberta do Brasil; the National Science Foundation in the US; Next Generation Learning Challenges in the US, funded by the the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation and The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation; Abu Dhabi University; the Bunyad Foundation in Pakistan endorsed by UNESCO; the
African Virtual University, funded by the World Bank, with headquarters in Kenya and operations in more than thirty countries in Africa; and the TED-Ed Brain Trust in the US.

The booklet will be one of series to be published by GFDD to promote knowledge sharing and the best practices.

Related links:
www.virtualeducacaribe.org
www.virtualeduca.org
www.iau-aiu.net