KU to host 15th IDEA Annual Conference from 5th Nov

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For the first time in its history, the Directorate of distance Education University of Kashmir in association with Indian Distance education Association (IDEA) is all set to host a National Conference on Quality Assurance in open and Distance learning from 5th November,2009 at Kashmir University Campus. In the context of a strong debate going on at nowadays at National and International forums, between Formal and Non-formal system the conference assumes lot of significance. The theme of the Conference is Quality Assurance in Open and Distance Education: Issues, Concerns, Challenges and Developments. The main objective of the conference is to bring different institutions and individuals, to a common platform where they shall share their ideas, information and experiences on Quality Assurance in Distance and Open Learning. Giving details Prof. Shafiqa Parveen, Director, Directorate of Distance said the conference will help in identifying the key parameters for quality control in open and distance learning. It will also help in identifying the best practices devoted to open and distance learning by way of case studies which will be presented at the conference. The experts at the conference shall further examine the feasibility and applicability of various existing approaches, methodology in Distance Education and the need for re-structuring /re-modeling the same in the light of the challenges faced by huge enrollment. It is noteworthy that apart from participation from different universities of India and Abroad, it will be represented by experts from Commonwealth of Learning (COL),UNESCO and IGNOU. Prof. Shafiqa Parveen, said that she read the abstracts and some full length papers received for the conference and found that a common pool of challenges and issues are faced by the Distance Education Institutions in the country and a generalized opinion can be framed to face such challenges and also help in evolving a sound policy of Distance and Open Learning. She said that there will be cross fertilization of biophilic ideas at the conference which shall result in creation of new knowledge elements or revitalization of the existing knowledge elements, a step towards knowledge society, a dream cherished by our Vice-Chancellor KU Prof.(Dr) Riyaz Punjabi.