Veletsianos appointed Commonwealth of Learning Chair

Canada Research Chair in Innovative Learning and Technology and School of Education and Technology Professor George Veletsianos has been appointed a Commonwealth of Learning Chair for a three-year term effective Oct. 1, 2019.

The Commonwealth of Learning is an intergovernmental organization created in 1987 to promote the development and sharing of open learning and distance education knowledge, resources and technologies.

Hosted by the Government of Canada with headquarters in Burnaby, the Commonwealth of Learning is the world’s only intergovernmental organization solely concerned with the promotion and development of distance education and open learning.

Veletsianos’s research will investigate experiences and practices with flexible, open and distance learning and develop solutions that preclude individuals from taking full advantage of flexible learning opportunities.

According to Veletsianos, flexible learning is widely seen as democratizing and accommodating. “Flexibility stands to empower learners to make choices that align with their needs and daily realities, potentially leading to broadening participation in education,” he says.

But some people — particularly women — face significant systemic and structural obstacles to taking advantage of flexible learning opportunities.

“In this research, we will be collaborating with the Commonwealth of Learning to understand those obstacles better and develop recommendations to address them,” he says. “In doing so, we hope to develop flexible learning environments that are better for everyone.”