International Council for Open and Distance Education

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ICDE - International Council for Open and Distance Education
FormationAugust 1938
TypeNGO
Headquarters Oslo, Norway
Region
Worldwide
Membership200 institutional members Universities, higher education institutions & associations.
Official language
English
President
Neil Fassina, President of Okanagan College, Canada
Secretary General
Torunn Gjelsvik
Affiliations UNESCO, Commonwealth of Learning, IAU, Open Education Consortium
Website www.icde.org

The International Council for Open and Distance Education (ICDE) [1] is a membership-led global organization in the field of online, open and technology enhanced education. It consists of more than 200 higher education institutions and organizations in some 84 countries. [2]

Contents

Founded in 1938, the ICDE has its permanent secretariat in Oslo, Norway. It is currently partly funded by a grant from the Government of Norway and has been hosted in Oslo since 1988, where is a registered not-for-profit organization in Norway and operates under Norwegian law.

Since 1960, ICDE has a partnership with UNESCO.

History

ICDE was founded in 1938 in Canada as the International Council for Correspondence Education (ICCE). The first World Conference was held in Victoria, British Columbia, Canada the same year. The idea for holding an international conference came from J. W. Gibson, director of high school correspondence instruction for the province of British Columbia, who attended the National Conference on Supervised Correspondence Study in New York in 1936. Gibson shared with other delegates knowledge he had about correspondence education in several countries and then suggested that an international conference be held. Rex Haight, then chair of the New York conference, supported the idea and later served as president for the first conference.

At the second conference, held in 1948, the delegates voted unanimously to establish a more permanent international council.

The third conference took place in 1953 in Christchurch, New Zealand, where a committee presented a proposed "Constitution and Rules" for the council that was adopted by the delegates. These rules helped the council became more established and conferences began to follow a more regular schedule.

In 1969, the 8th World Conference was held at UNESCO Headquarters in Paris to celebrate the affiliation with UNESCO.

In 1982, during the 12th World Conference held in Vancouver, the organization changed its name to "the International Council for Open and Distance Education" (ICDE). [3]

In 1988, during the 14th ICDE World Conference held in Oslo, the King of Norway, King Olav V, and the Norwegian Prime Minister, Gro Harlem Brundtland, both attended. This conference led to the establishment of the permamenent secretariat in Oslo. [3]

Due to COVID-19 outbreak, in 2021 the conference organized its first-ever Global Virtual Conference Week in 2021. [4]

Membership

ICDE is a membership organization with 10 different types of memberships: Individuals, Students, Associations, Colleges and Universities, Companies, Educational networks, Governmental organizations, Non-Governmental organizations, Secondary Schools.

World Conference

Since 2000, the ICDE World Conference has been organized biannually and on a different continent each time. The conference is traditionally organized at the invitation of an ICDE member.

SessionLocationYearHosted byfrom
30th Wellington 2025Te Whanganui-a-Tara / WellingtonFlag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand
29thNatal2021 The Federal University of Rio Grande do Norte – UFRNFlag of Brazil.svg  Brazil
28thDublin2019 Dublin City University – DCUFlag of Ireland.svg  Ireland
27thToronto2017 Contact North Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada
26th Sun City 2015 The University of South Africa – UNISAFlag of South Africa.svg  South Africa
25thTianjin2013 Tianjin Open University Flag of the People's Republic of China.svg  China
24thBali2011 Indonesia Open University (Universitas Terbuka)Flag of Indonesia.svg  Indonesia
23rdMasstricht2009 The Open University of the Netherlands Flag of the Netherlands.svg  Netherlands
22ndRio de Janeiro2006 The Brazilian Distance Education Association – ABEDFlag of Brazil.svg  Brazil
21stHong Kong2004 The Open University of Hong Kong Flag of Hong Kong.svg  Hong Kong
20thDüsseldorf2001 FernUniversität Flag of Germany.svg  Germany
19thHagen1999FernUniversitätFlag of Germany.svg  Germany
18thState College1997 Pennsylvania State University Flag of the United States.svg  United States
17thMilton Keynes1994 The Open University UK Flag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom
16thNonthaburi1992 Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University Flag of Thailand.svg  Thailand
15thCaracas1990Universidad Nacional AbiertaFlag of Venezuela.svg  Venezuela
14thOslo1988The Norwegian Association for Distance EducationFlag of Norway.svg  Norway
13thMelbourne1985 La Trobe University Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia
12thVancouver1982 Athabasca University Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada
11thNew Delhi1978 Punjabi University Flag of India.svg  India
10thBrighton1975Rapid Results CollegeFlag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom
9thWarrenton1972Flag of the United States.svg  United States
8thParis1969 UNESCO Headquarters Flag of France.svg  France
7thStockholm1965Flag of Sweden.svg  Sweden
6thGearhart1961Flag of the United States.svg  United States
5thBanff1958 Banff School of Fine Arts Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada
4thState College1953 Penn State Flag of the United States.svg  United States
3rdChristchurch1950Flag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand
2ndLincoln1948 The University of Nebraska Flag of the United States.svg  United States
1stVictoria1938The Department of Education for British ColumbiaFlag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada

Presidents

The first 10 years of the council the presidence was led by Rex Haight in Canada who was also the chair of the first ICCE World Conference held in Victoria in 1938. [5] Since 1948 the presidency of the council has been limited to a maximum of 5 years.

SessionfromtoNameAffiliationfrom
24th2023-Mark NicholsOpen Polytechnic of New ZealandNew Zealand
23rd20202023 Neil Fassina [6] Okanagan College Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada
22nd20182020Belinda TynanRMIT UniversityFlag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia
21st20152018Mandla MakhanyaThe University of South Africa – UNISAFlag of South Africa.svg  South Africa
20th20122015Tian BelawatiIndonesia Open University (Universitas Terbuka)Flag of Indonesia.svg  Indonesia
19th20082012Fritz PannekoekAthabasca UniversityFlag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada
18th20042008Helmut HoyerFernUniversitätFlag of Germany.svg  Germany
17th19992004Molly Corbett-Broad University of North Carolina Flag of the United States.svg  United States
16th19951999Armando Rocha-TrindadeUniversidad Nacional AbiertaFlag of Venezuela.svg  Venezuela
15th19921995Marian Croft Laurentian University Flag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada
14th19881992David SewartThe Open University UKFlag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom
13th19851988Kevin SmithThe University of New EnglandFlag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia
12th19821985Sir John DanielAthabasca UniversityFlag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada
11th19781982Bakhshish SinghPunjabi UniversityFlag of India.svg  India
10th19751978David YoungRapid Results CollegeFlag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom
9th19721975 Börje Holmberg Hermods FoundationFlag of Sweden.svg  Sweden
8th19691972Charles WedemeyerThe Open University UKFlag of the United Kingdom.svg  United Kingdom
7th19651969Rene Erdos University of New South Wales Flag of Australia (converted).svg  Australia
6th19611965Donald Cameron
5th19581961G.J. BuckBanff School of Fine ArtsFlag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada
4th19541958William R.Young
3rd19501954A.G. ButcherThe New Zealand Correspondence SchoolFlag of New Zealand.svg  New Zealand
2nd19481950Knute O. BroadyUniversity of NebraskaFlag of the United States.svg  United States
1st19381948Rex HaightThe High School correspondence instruction for the province of British ColumbiaFlag of Canada (Pantone).svg  Canada

Publications

ICDE regularly publishes or contributes to reports, surveys and articles on the following topics: Quality in Education; Online Education; Flexible Education; Elearning; Lifelong Learning; Higher Education; Distance Education; Open Education and OER (Open educational resources); Alternative Digital Credentials; Learning Analytics; Education Policies; Research and Innovation in Education; etc.

ICDE publishes the Open Praxis journal, a peer-reviewed open access scholarly journal focusing on research and innovation in open, distance and flexible education. [7]

References

  1. Klotz, David. "Who we are". www.icde.org. Archived from the original on 31 July 2018. Retrieved 31 July 2018.
  2. "ICDE members". www.icde.org. Archived from the original on 25 March 2019. Retrieved 31 July 2018.
  3. 1 2 Paulsen, Morten F. (1 January 2023). "Thirty Years with ICDE". Thirty Years with ICDE.
  4. "ICDE 85th Anniversary". icde.shorthandstories.com. Retrieved 10 February 2025.
  5. HANDBOOK OF DISTANCE EDUCATION, Edited by Michael Grahame Moore, The Pennsylvania State University, William G. Anderson, Massey University, LAWRENCE ERLBAUM ASSOCIATES, PUBLISHERS, 2003 Mahwah, New Jersey London
  6. "Announcement of the next ICDE Board". ICDE. Retrieved 10 February 2025.
  7. "Open Praxis". openpraxis.org. Archived from the original on 1 December 2012.