Mission
GUIDE Association aims at creating a global leadership for all institutions, networks and other agencies in the world, linked to the e-learning and distance education sector (from now on simply referred to as ODL) at a global level.The Association is based upon the knowledge and the experience that its international partners have attained, with a view to the development and the use of innovative methodologies and technologies, in order to:
- Building a model of global cooperation between universities and research bodies operating in the field of ODL and lifelong learning;
- Promoting, in a multicultural dimension, a new ethical approach to education and research, in the sector of new technologies and models of distance learning and teaching;
- Developing and supporting, in a flexible way, the learning sector of an “Open” nature, by providing a shared platform for intercultural research and cooperation and the collaboration between institutions/networks and other agencies involved in the e-learning training, in close cooperation with national and international bodies;
- Adopting a network approach suitable for overcoming diversities by discussing differences, stimulating a critical reflection of current research macro lines, and adapting them to the satisfaction of necessities and needs of different societies and cultures;
- Encouraging the collaboration between public and private bodies in the sector of ODL and e-learning;
- Providing advisory services to national and international, governmental and non-governmental bodies, concerning education and training through ODL and e-learning systems;
- Making information concerning the ODL and e-learning available, whenever possible, in cooperation with the several member institutions;
- Providing assistance for the development and consolidation of regional and national ODL and e-learning networks, programmes and new initiatives at global level;
- Participating in global cooperation and research initiatives and establishing formal relations with other international bodies or institutions, operating in different sectors of the latest-generation research (biotechnologies, biomedicine, robotics, micro-robotics):
- Promoting and enhancing experiences and resources in the field of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) already existing worldwide, which are able to promote innovative processes and models of knowledge transfer;
- Encouraging and helping member bodies to set up collaborative projects, and to find appropriate sponsors for such projects;
- Encouraging the development of best practices and quality standards with an emphasis on quality assessment and certification of trans-national education, which will provide evaluation systems for distance education and e-learning processes and products;
- Developing e-accessibility in order to make the access to the new information and communication technologies easier, and to shape a knowledge society, also accessible to the disabled.;
- Activating a permanent distance communication system through thematic forums, where people, institutions, and associations may establish a continuous professional interaction.