Format

The 2-day conference at the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia will include a series of thematic panels with invited speakers from academia, industry, practitioners and policy makers. Major plenary sessions will be open to the public upon registration. The discussion and workshops are designed to stimulate critical and in-depth discussions of key issues related to the future of MOOCs in developing countries.

Principal themes and topics (tentative)

1. MOOCs, ODL, OER and ICT for development (ICT4D): divergences vs. convergences in ICT4D; national and global perspectives; the latest trends.
2. MOOCs and inclusion: responding to diverse learners; authorship and ownership of MOOCs for development; digital infrastructure constraints and opportunities.
3. Challenges for international development: training and capacity building, global health, teacher training, social enterprise and digital information access.

Invited Speakers

Mamadou Adj (École Polytechnique de Dakar), Patrick Aebischer (École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne), Jamie Alexandre (Foundation for Learning Equity ), Dendev Badarch (IITE, Moscow), V. Balaji (Commonwealth of Learning), Muhammad Baligh-ur-Rehman (Minister of Education, Pakistan), Adel Ben Taziri (Universite Virtuel de Tunis), Gayle Christiansen (University of Pennsylvania),  Robert Cronin (IREX), Kostas Daniilidis (University of Pennsylvania), Jennifer DeBoer (MIT), Nodumo Dhlamini (Ruforum, Nairobi), Bakary Diallo (African Virtual University), Papa Youga Dieng (Organization Internationale de la Francophonie), Masennya Dikotla (Molteno Institute, Johannesburg), Stephen Downes (National Research Council of Canada), Steven Duggan (Microsoft), Ezekial Emmanuel (University of Pennsylvania), Meg Evans (Udemy), Robert Gregoire (University of Moncton, Canada), Juliana Guaqueta Ospina (IFC), Alex Hague (Kepler.org, Rwanda), Karen Hauff (GIZ, Germany), Larry Hirschhorn (Center for Applied Research), Rebecca Jackson Stoeckle (EDC), Malavika Jayaram (Harvard University), Ticora Jones (USAID), Abdulwaheed Khan (UNESCO), Sandra Klopper (University of Cape Town), Vijay Kumar (MIT), Minghua Li (East China Normal University), Ryan Litman-Quinn (University of Pennsylvania), John MacBeath (Commonwealth Education Trust), Mpine Makoe (UNISA, Pretoria), Rory McGreal (USAID), Abdellatif Miraoui (University Cadi Ayad, Morocco), Barbara Moser-Mercer (University of Geneva), Leda Munoz (Omar Dengo Foundation), Tumurpurev Namnan (MUST), Clara Ng (Coursera), Nguyen Hoi Nghia (Vietnam National University), Dimitrios Noukakis (EPFL), Mary Ochs (Cornell University), Driss Ouaouicha (Al Akhawayn University), George Papagiannis (UNESCO), Kimberly Parker (WHO), Andy Porter (University of Pennsylvania), Candice Reimers (Google), Michele Rimini (OECD), Ed Rock (University of Pennsylvania),Tarek Shawki (AUC, Cairo), Adel Ben Taziri (Virtual University of Tunis), Gard Titlestad (International Council for Open and Distance Education), NV Varghese (National University of Educational Planning and Administration New Delhi), Libing Wang (UNESCO-Bangkok), Freda Wolfenden (Open University UK), Deirdre Woods (University of Pennsylvania), Papa Youga Dieng (Organization Internationale de la Francophonie), and others TBA