Beyond borders: Uniting Global Voices for International Collaboration

The main challenges explored by OEB 2024 share key commonalities: their global, borderless nature, demand for innovative thinking and call for brave exploration into the unknown. The exact solution to these challenges is up for debate, but one thing is certain: we need expert pioneers to help guide us through this new terrain towards improved futures of education.

Whilst educational systems function at their local levels, within their national frameworks, the foundation on which the institutions were created, and the values they maintain can be found in every corner of the globe. The ability to tackle future developments lies in building an increased understanding of what is most effective to provide long-term, quality learning for all. Only through listening to other voices and findings in an accessible shared space, are we able to navigate and progress forward together.

The ICDE community provides a rich, diverse collection of experiences and practical examples of methods to tackle some of the latest challenges and developments within education and learning. Knowledge and expertise sharing is not only an additional bonus, but an essential method to stay updated and help avoid the overwhelm of numerous priorities for leaders and institutions today. 

Our international association with members in over 70 countries in all world regions, working to further inclusive access to education with various technologies, has seen the impact of international collaboration first-hand. The International Council for Open and Distance Education has existed for more than 85 years, with support from educational institutions as members since the correspondence age, where postal letters were the only available technology for asynchronous education.

Our network experiences the continued transformation in education and society, from well-established leaders of some of the largest universities, to PhD students making their debut in the world of academia. The speed of development can be daunting. Educational advancements and disruptive technologies such as AI, provide our sector with a wide range of possibilities and potential barriers. Be it through access, control or influence, every institution, teacher and learner, is now faced with the impact of this fast-moving machine. New technologies enable development of personalised and flexible learning. They are necessary to meet that massive need for scalable education that is required to reach the UN Sustainable Development Goal 4: To ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and lifelong learning opportunities for all.

Through our members, we continue to see the power of international collaboration as it disrupts insularity, the internal echo chamber that we often find ourselves in and helps free us from our institutional and departmental silos. It pushes us to learn from others. It demonstrates that learning always happens in a context. It reminds us of the effort needed for greater unity, and how undertaking a humble perspective can open our minds to other’s perspectives.

The concept of reciprocal learning, where both the teacher and learner grow together in a shared journey of knowledge and discovery, may be new or familiar to you. It is an idea that is found in several places in the world, including, in the Indigenous Māori culture of Aotearoa New Zealand, with the term Ako. Our members explain Ako as a term that reflects a deep belief that knowledge flows both ways, between both the teacher and the learner. Ako is a powerful concept that can contribute to global discourse as it requires meaningful relationships between people, knowledge, and environments. The upcoming 30th ICDE World Conference in Wellington, Aotearoa New Zealand, November 2025, will act as our next meeting place to explore inclusive education through this lens Ako provides. We are encouraged by the diverse backgrounds of delegates and proposals, and curious to see this collaboration in-person at a new global arena.

We believe that the future of education depends on international collaboration, where innovation and regulation cross borders to create inclusive, scalable, and sustainable learning opportunities. We invite you to join our OEB24 session to hear real examples from our members on how learning from a range of perspectives has supported their work and institutional aims.

By fostering mutual understanding and respect, we find familiar ground in the values we uphold. By sharing this knowledge and understanding, we can face the unknown together and shape education policies and practices that truly reflect the needs of our global society.

We look forward to meeting you at our session on Thursday, November 28 at 16:15 in Schoeneberg!

Written for OEB Global 2024 by Torunn Gjelsvik and the team at ICDE.