Convocation 2019 – Professor Asha Kanwar Q&A

I learned about Athabasca University when I first joined a distance learning institution in India, my home country.  At the Indira Gandhi National Open University, my primary interest was to improve the learning experience for our students, and I was impressed with your “openness” model—flexible entry qualifications, using technology to reach remote learners, and empowering thousands of people to pursue education on their own terms. Never would I have imagined that one day I would receive an honorary doctorate from this great institution. This is a special honour for me.

I have always had a passion for learning, and I have always been good at my studies. But in our family girls traditionally got married at a very young age, and I was married off before I had completed my third year of University. I wanted to continue my education, so I had no choice but to become a distance learner. I did a two-year Masters program externally, and because I did not have the opportunities to study like my other friends, I was even more determined to succeed.

I went on a scholarship to the University of Sussex (England) to do my D. Phil (Doctorate in Philosophy), and I had a chance to interview Professor Arnold Kettle of the UK’s Open University for my research. I asked him why he had left a campus university to teach at an open university, and he said that he wanted to reach large numbers of students to unlock their imaginations and widen their horizons. I found that very inspiring for my own journey in open and distance education.

I lead the Commonwealth of Learning (COL)—an organization that promotes distance and technology enabled learning around 53 Member States of the Commonwealth. With a combined population of 2.4 billion people and representation on every continent, the needs and challenges are very diverse. COL believes that learning is the key to sustainable development, and it must lead to opportunities for economic growth, social inclusion and environmental conservation. The biggest challenges in most developing countries of the Commonwealth are access to quality education, costs and equity. By harnessing the potential of appropriate, affordable and available technologies, we try and reach the ‘last person in the queue.’

Open and distance learning (ODL), if done well, can help overcome these challenges. Using a variety of innovative methods, ODL can enable not only individuals but entire communities to engage in new learning experiences, tap into new sources of knowledge and community services, connect with the wider world and share their learning with others. Athabasca University has proved beyond doubt that there is never a wrong time or place for learning, and we have a long history of working together. We have benefitted a lot from the expertise of your distinguished faculty, and together we have offered training programmes and courses throughout the Commonwealth and beyond. A COL-Athabasca MOOC on Technology Enabled Learning has reached hundreds of teachers not just in the Commonwealth but in over 70 countries around the world.