Washington, D.C., March 31, 2009 – The OpenCourseWare Consortium is pleased to announce Vietnam will be the site of the 2010 Annual OCWC Global Meeting. OCWC is honored that the Vietnam Education Foundation (VEF) and the Vietnam Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) have agreed to organize the international event in cooperation with the OCWC. The 2010 OCWC Global Meeting will take place in Hanoi on May 5-7, 2010.
Dr. Stephen Maxner, Chairman of the VEF Board of Directors, said, “It is truly a great honor that Vietnam is selected to be the site of this important 2010 Annual OCWC Global Meeting. VEF and MOET, together with the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the Vietnam Advanced Software Company (VASC), have been instrumental in developing the Vietnam OpenCourseWare (VOCW) in Vietnam since its inception after the historic visit of former Prime Minister Phan Van Khai to the United States in 2005. VEF is honored to be chosen to be a primary coordinator for this important event. The 2010 Annual OCWC Global Meeting will facilitate the participation of Vietnamese faculty and students in accessing this online repository of knowledge and in understanding the emerging OCW movement in the world.”
Standing Vice Minister of MOET, Prof. Dr. Banh Tien Long, commented, “MOET is pleased to co-sponsor this meaningful event with VEF and OCWC. MOET has been supportive in bringing OCW to Vietnam. We consider the VOCW Program an invaluable resource to address the lack of learning and teaching materials in Vietnam and we have made efforts to disseminate VOCW to faculty and students nationwide. The 2010 Annual OCWC Global Meeting to be hosted in Vietnam is an outstanding opportunity for Vietnamese universities to network with various OCW experts from around the world.”
Mr. Steve Carson, President of the OpenCourseWare Consortium said, “With its innovative government run program, Vietnam has quickly become a significant contributor to the OpenCourseWare movement. Choosing Hanoi as the location of the conference in part recognizes that contribution and sets the frame for a discussion of sustainable institutional models for OpenCourseWare development and dissemination. We are honored to be working with VEF and MOET to put together this exciting event.”
The Vietnam Education Foundation (VEF) (www.vef.gov) is a special initiative by the U.S. Congress to bring the United States and Vietnam closer through educational exchanges related to science, engineering, mathematics, medicine, and technology. The Foundation is in its sixth year of operations and incorporates assistance from the U.S. National Academies in developing and executing VEF programs: the VEF Fellowship program, the Visiting Scholar Program, and the U.S. Faculty Scholar Grant Program. Among VEF’s science and technology capacity building endeavors is the VOCW Project. VEF serves as a financial provider and program manager of VOCW. VEF promotes VOCW among its grant recipients and partners inside and outside of Vietnam. For additional information on VOCW, please visit: www.vocw.edu.vn.
The Ministry of Education and Training (MOET) (www.moet.gov.vn) is the governmental body responsible for education and training in Vietnam. MOET formulates government policies and regulations to encourage rapid deployment and utilization of VOCW at Vietnamese educational institutions at all levels. It is fundamentally responsible for the successful integration of VOCW into Vietnamese educational institutions.
The OpenCourseWare Consortium (OCWC) (www.oeconsortium.org) is a collaboration of more than 250 higher education institutions and associated organizations from around the world creating a broad and deep body of open educational content using a shared model. The mission of the OpenCourseWare Consortium is to advance education and empower people worldwide through opencourseware.
A PDF of the full press release can be found here.