 Distinguished colleagues, thank you for the invitation to be part of this virtual conference, an entirely new experience as I have always attended AAUU conferences in person. The Commonwealth of Learning values its collaboration with the Open University of Sri Lanka and will continue this engagement as the university adopts new technologies to provide higher education relevant for the needs of the 21st century. Call is also very proud of its partnership with the AAUU which continues to grow from strength to strength. This has been a very challenging year for everyone. COVID-19 caught us unawares. So what can we learn from this experience and build education systems for a more equal, safe and resilient future? But first a word about my organization, the Commonwealth of Learning. Call is an intergovernmental organization that works in 54 Commonwealth member states that span all regions of the globe. Our mission is to help Commonwealth member states and institutions to use distance learning and technologies for expanding access to education and training. Because of COVID-19, this role has become even more important as ODL moves from margin to mainstream. In this presentation, I will begin by outlining some of the key issues that emerged during the pandemic. I will then look at some of the potential futures of education that lie ahead and conclude with the essential elements that need to be part of the resilient future that we want. Most of the Commonwealth member states are developing countries. So what were their challenges? During the pandemic, we found the greatest challenge related to digital infrastructure, lack of access to devices, connectivity, electricity. Teachers were not prepared for the sudden transition to online learning. Inequality in both developed and developing countries have been further exacerbated. In a survey conducted at Stanford University, 16% of the undergraduate students did not have access to the internet for half the time. And 60% of students from low-income homes did not have a private space for study. And this is one of the best universities in the world. Now similarly at the University of Hyderabad in India, while close to 90% of all students had a mobile phone, only about 37% could access online classes. The barriers included unreliable connectivity and the high costs of data. Over 63 million teachers were impacted by COVID-19. Even in OECD countries, there is evidence that only 60% of teachers had some training in ICTs. In Sub-Saharan Africa, 64% primary and 50% secondary teachers had received minimum training and lacked the digital skills needed to offer quality distance learning. The vulnerable are most impacted in crisis situations. It's estimated that the numbers of school dropouts will increase, with 11 million girls not likely to return at all. The existing learning crisis is already showing signs of further deterioration. A study in the Netherlands records a learning loss of about three percentile points with higher losses among students from less educated homes. The only silver lining has been the global acceptance of distance and online learning. What would have taken years of advocacy happened within a matter of days. And a recent study in the UK found that the majority of higher education students rated the quality of online learning as excellent. Considering the current context, what are the futures of learning? Futurist Wendell Bell identifies three types, preferable futures, probable futures and possible futures. Let's consider each of these. First, the preferable future points to a more desirable state. Sustainable Development Goal 4, which aspires to ensure equitable access to quality education and lifelong learning for all by 2030, is the global community's preferable future. But five years down the line, how close are we to this future? Trends indicate that even the slow progress achieved before the pandemic is likely to be further setback because of the huge disruptions. SDG4 aspires to leave no one behind. But 15% of the world's population suffers from some form of disability, yet only a fraction in some countries 1% have access to education at any level. Similarly, gender parity in education continues to elude us. The learning crisis is assuming massive proportions. A study in West Africa indicates that only 45% students in grade 6 achieved competency level in reading and math. The situation isn't much different in other developing regions. The preferable future, which must be based on equity, inclusion and lifelong learning for all, can only be achieved through alternative and innovative approaches. Second, the probable future is what is more likely to happen based on current trends. Developments in technology will continue to drive changes in the way we teach and learn, and technology adoption has been further accelerated due to the pandemic. Artificial intelligence is being mainstreamed in education. Intelligent tutoring systems use AI techniques to simulate one-to-one human tutoring, provide timely feedback, all without the presence of a human teacher. Machine learning helps to analyze and summarize the discussions in online courses, so that a human tutor can guide the students towards fruitful collaboration. AI-powered systems can offer personalized assistance to learners. Chatpots are already proving to be fairly effective teaching assistants, right from Georgia Tech in the US to the Open University of Malaysia. Assessment has been a great challenge during the pandemic. AI-based assessments can constantly provide feedback to learners, teachers and parents about how the students learn, the support they need and the progress they are making towards their learning goals. In South Africa, mobile-based assessments were used to reach those in the most remote shanties. So how can we think of creative ways to assess and evaluate? The third is the possible future, something visionary that may or may not happen. The climate crisis is one of the defining issues of our time. Over the past 40 years, the number of climate-related disasters globally has tripled, a trend that is expected to continue. The education sector, from primary to tertiary, contributes to both direct and indirect emissions with an impact on environmental degradation and associated economic costs. If we look strictly at contributions to emissions, the achievement of SDG-4 under the current paradigm could potentially worsen the climate crisis. The Open University UK compared the carbon emissions of ICT enhanced and face-to-face courses and found that distance teaching models had significantly lower environmental impacts. Paul conducted a similar study in Botswana and found that the average carbon footprint of the face-to-face group is nearly three times greater than that of the distance learning group. So as we look ahead, we need to be prepared for all three futures. How can open and distance learning contribute to the resilient futures that we want? We have seen that purely online options don't work for everyone. The future will be a blend of online and in-person using a range of technologies that are affordable, accessible and available. And this is something which ODL institutions know. Because of the existing digital divides, call believes that technology to be effectively harnessed must be placed in an appropriate social, cultural and political context. As the pandemic forces governments to cut back on resource allocations for education, we will need to look for cost-effective solutions to bring quality learning for all. Mainstreaming open educational resources by building the capacities of teachers and policymakers and preparing learners on how to find and use OER could be another way forward for providing more affordable options. We have seen a huge rise in self-directed learning during this pandemic. And the evidence is the growth, phenomenal growth in MOOC enrollments. How can we build on these foundations to promote lifelong learning? Interestingly, formal education accounts for about 18.5% of time up to grade 12. And this keeps decreasing as we transition to post-secondary study. The rest of our waking lives are spent in informal learning environments. Many open universities including OUSL have lifelong learning as part of their mission. So what are we going to do about it? Learning approaches, credentialing and recognition strategies will also need to change. Formal assessments and proctoring systems suffered major setbacks during the pandemic. So how can we learn from the innovative approaches that people adopted to make assessment more authentic? The New Zealand Qualifications Authority has developed a microcredential framework to provide industry, employers and the community to develop programs and certify achievement for a coherent set of skills and knowledge. This could be a model to promote lifelong learning through an evidence-based assessment of learning outcomes. The pandemic has also highlighted the critical need for learner support, not just for academic matters, but also for general well-being and mental health. Parents and siblings became a critical resource in supporting learning, where parents were illiterate, they provided support by motivating children. How can parents' siblings be empowered to become part of a more flexible ecosystem when learners can learn at any place or time? Governments and institutions need to develop policies for leaving no one behind. This would mean developing policies that address the needs of the last person in the queue, and these are usually women, girls, those in remote regions and persons with disabilities. The policies that target the margins are also very effective in serving the centre. ODL institutions have tried to emulate campus universities in the past, but as ODL becomes mainstream, it is time for ODL to assume a leadership role and share its expertise and experience to promote quality education, support innovation and address issues of social justice to build resilient systems of education. So, on that note, let me thank you for your kind attention and wish the conference every success.