We are pleased to have successfully hosted over the past three days a high-level visiting delegation from the International Council for Open and Distance Education (ICDE) to help with our advance planning for the 2019 World Conference on Online Learning. The ICDE delegation led by Gard Titlestad, Secretary General, arrived in Dublin on Sunday 11th February 2018. Formal discussions got underway on Monday when the group met with members of the DCU/NIDL Organising Committee, along with representatives from Happening Conferences and Events (HCE).
The day started with a walk through of the Convention Centre Dublin’s (CCD) world-class facilities as we confirmed our requirements for hosting such a major international conference. Everyone agreed that the CCD is ideally suited to hosting this prestigious event and for showcasing the very best of Ireland to a large international audience. Held every second year, the 2017 ICDE World Conference on Online Learning in Toronto attracted over 1,400 delegates.
Over the reminder of the day we discussed a number of exciting ideas and plans for the Dublin conference 3-7 November 2019. We would like to particularly thank CCD staff for their expert advice, great hospitality, supply of food and refreshments over the day, and use of a meeting room for our discussions.
On Tuesday the ICDE delegation visited Dublin City University’s (DCU) All Hallows, Glasnevin and St Patrick’s campuses before continuing our discussions. The intention is that DCU will host a number of timely and topical pre-conference events and workshops, including a meeting of University Presidents, Leadership Summit, the ICDE Doctoral Consortium and Digital Learning Schools Symposium, on our St Patrick’s campus before the formal start of the 28th ICDE World Conference on Online Learning.
Once again, we would like to acknowledge the support of Fáilte Ireland in our successful bid to host this major World Conference. Members of the Organising Committee consisting of key representatives from DCU, ICDE and HCE are determined to make the World Conference a truly memorable and outstanding event, with a distinctively Irish flavour. To this end we have some exciting ideas, novel twists and valuable additions to the programme in mind which we hope will make “Dublin” the place to be in early November 2019.
You can keep up-to-date with news and announcements by registering your interest through our website, subscribing to our NIDL blog, or following our dedicated World Conference Twitter account:
@WCOL2019
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