PRESS RELEASE
Wednesday, December 14, 2011

An international partnership to share innovative practices, expertise and resources in online learning and distance education [THUNDER BAY] – Contact North | Contact Nord, Ontario’s distance education and training network, has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with Open Universities Australia (OUA). Under the agreement, the two distance and online education leaders will work together to offer students in Australia and Ontario greater access to flexible, high quality post-secondary education and training opportunities.

“At Contact North we’re constantly looking for new ideas, innovative solutions, and breakthroughs in technology that we can use to help students across Ontario gain greater access to learning opportunities from Ontario’s public colleges, universities, literacy and basic skills, and other training providers,” said Contact North | Contact Nord President – Chief Executive Officer, Maxim Jean-Louis. “Ontario and Australia share similar demographics when it comes to the students we serve, including students that live in a mix of urban, rural and remote areas, as well as students from vibrant Aboriginal communities. We believe that through this partnership with OUA we will be able to leverage the strengths of our organizations to build new opportunities for students in both jurisdictions.”

The agreement is the result of ongoing discussions between Contact North | Contact Nord and OUA about how the two organizations might go about sharing resources, knowledge and best practices in the growing field of online learning and distance education.

Under the new Memorandum of Understanding the organizations have agreed to explore opportunities for collaboration. These include:

• Exploring and developing opportunities for the parties to collaborate and capitalize on the strength and synergies of both organizations to offer learners in Australia and Ontario with greater access to flexible, high quality education and training opportunities through collaboration and the innovative use of technology; and
  
• Coordinating professional development opportunities, including staff exchanges, between Open Universities Australia staff, Contact North | Contact Nord staff, and others as may be appropriate.

“Open Universities Australia has been recognised internationally for leading in the online learning field,” said Stuart Hamilton, Chief Executive Officer of OUA. “Part of the way we uphold that standard is by developing relationships with various international leaders within the industry. We look forward to adding Contact North | Contact Nord to that group of partners and learning from their significant experience and success in the field of distance education.”

For more information:
CONTACT NORTH | CONTACT NORD

Louise Gaudrault, Marketing & Communications Coordinator, 1-855-345-5035 (toll-free), louise@contactnorth.ca, www.contactnorth.ca

OPEN UNIVERSITIES AUSTRALIA

Jessica Singh, External Communications and Media Relations Officer, Open Universities Australia, +61 3 8628 2412, jessica.singh@open.edu.au

About Open Universities Australia – the leader in online learning
Owned by seven of Australia’s premier universities, Open Universities Australia (OUA) is the national leader in quality online tertiary education. Enrolling more than 144,000 students since 1993, OUA provides access to over 1400 units and 170 qualifications taught by more than 20 leading Australian universities and tertiary education providers. It is headquartered in Melbourne, Australia.