Trends in higher education show the increasing popularity of opening up learning through more flexible provision and greater use of open teaching and learning resources like open textbooks and other open education resources. In Southern Africa, distance and technology-supported learning has increased quite significantly over the past decade, with many conventional face-to-face institutions introducing distance and variants of blended learning. The challenge, however has been limited understanding of these modes of provision by the majority of academics in these institutions, resulting in compromised quality. The Distance Education Association of Southern Africa (DEASA) and the National Association of Distance Education and Open Learning in South Africa (Nadeosa) are regional and South African bodies that support quality enhancement of distance in the region and in South Africa respectively.  These associations support policy development, develop quality guidelines and create opportunities for sharing and collaboration within the member networks. Every year, they each hold an annual conference which normally is based on a carefully chosen theme pertinent to distance or e-learning provision.

Joint Conference

In September 2018, the two associations will be hosting a joint conference together with the University of South Africa (Unisa) and the University of Pretoria at the Unisa in Pretoria. The theme of this conference will be Exploring open learning: Theory, policy and practise in different modes of provision. This will be a unique occasion where the two associations will bring their members together to enrich experiences through presentations from a regional as well as a South African perspective. Papers will be presented on the following sub-themes, which depict issues that are at the fore, both in South Africa and in the Southern African region, in so far as expansion of distance and e-learning is concerned:

• Exploring open learning for higher education and teacher development
• Exploring open learning for TVET, Adult Education and Training and Schooling
• Exploring open learning for inclusive access and success
• Exploring OER, MOOCs and the use of technologies in education
• Exploring open scholarship of teaching and learning.

Registration and logistics

In this newsletter article, we would like to remind everyone that:

• For the registration form and conference fees visit the conference website  
• The deadline for the Call for abstracts has been extended to 13 July 2018.
• The combined conference will be held at the Unisa Preller Street campus from 5 to 7 September 2018

All participants are encouraged to make full payment before the conference and registration is not complete until payment is made.