MIT Learning International Networks Consortium Presents Sixth Annual Conference

CAMBRIDGE, MA--(Marketwired - May 7, 2013) - Leading educators from more than 40 countries will join together at the upcoming Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) Learning International Networks Consortium (LINC) conference entitled, "Realizing the Dream: Education Becoming Available to All. Will the World Take Advantage?" The sixth annual conference will take place on the MIT campus from June 16-19, 2013. Global e-Learning leaders will converge to discuss best practices in distance and e-Learning technologies, innovative applications of technology-enabled education in universities around the world, the impact of open education resources on learning worldwide as well as debate the importance of massive open online courses (MOOCs) on higher education.

"As education technologies and open education resources such as MOOCs continue to evolve at a rapid pace, the conference is an important forum for like-minded educators and organizations to work with each other for the betterment of making higher education accessible to all," said Dr. Richard C. Larson, LINC founder and director and MIT professor. "The list of top educators committed to sharing their work and thoughts at the conference is a testament to the importance of the topic of e-Learning."

The LINC conference will bring together an international community of world-class educators focused on higher education in emerging countries and the role that technology can play in expanding educational reach. LINC is a consortium of educators working collaboratively to share best practices in order to move forward the success in distance learning projects.

The four-day conference will feature a program packed with education leaders from around the world sharing different perspectives on the impact of MOOCs on universities worldwide, how innovations in educational technology are expanding online quickly, the impediments to sharing education online, and the impact of technology in lowering the cost of education.

Major highlights from the conference includes:

• Debate on MOOCs: Four distinct perspectives given by well regarded leading educators on the highly controversial topic take place on Monday, June 17. Anart Agarwal, President of edX, Sir John Daniel, Former President of the Open University (UK) and of the Commonwealth of Learning, Sanjay Sarma, Director of MITx and the MIT Office of Digital Learning, and Tony Bates, Research Associate with Contact North, Ontario's Distance Education & Training Network will participate in what is expected to be one of the conference's most talked about subjects.
  
  
• State of Technology-Enabled Education Around the World: Education leaders, Fernando Reimers, Director of the International Education Policy Program at Harvard University Graduate School of Education, Robin Horn, Director, Programmes at The Children's Investment Fund Foundation (UK) and former Education Sector Manager for the World Bank's Human Development Network, Lucia Araujo, CEO of Canal Futura (an educational TV network in Brazil), and Dr. Okhwa Lee, Professor of Educational Technology at Chungbuk National University in South Korea and a major pioneer of that nation's educational movement for computer education will provide an in-depth look at how technology is aiding education globally. Touted as another important topic for attendees, the Tuesday, June 18 session is expected to offer insightful views on what's next on the horizon for educational technologies.

In addition, the following sessions will also take place during the conference:

• The Future Direction of Virtual Universities
  
  
• MIT BLOSSOMS: International Co-Creation and Co-Utilization in Producing Math & Science Video Lessons for High School Classes
  
  
• Technology-Enabled Learning: What's Going on at MIT?

Registration for the conference is available at http://www.regonline.com/builder/site/Default.aspx?EventID=1187178. For more information on the MIT LINC conference, visit http://linc.mit.edu/linc2013/default.htm.

ABOUT MIT LEARNING INTERNATIONAL NETWORKS CONSORTIUM: The MIT Learning International Networks Consortium comprises of educators from around the world who are interested in using distance and e-Learning technologies to help their respective countries increase access to quality university education for a larger percentage of the population. LINC is a professional society whose participants include scholars, practitioners, students, corporate executives, government officials and foundation professionals. LINC is funded by foundations, corporations, individuals and by MIT. For more information, visit http://linc.mit.edu/.