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UC Irvine Extension Dean of Continuing Education Presents at UCEA Revolutionary Times Conference in Boston

Orange County, Calif. / Boston, Mass. – March 31, 2005 – Dr. Gary W. Matkin, dean of continuing education at UC Irvine, will discuss what open content learning means for the future of higher education at the 90th Annual University Continuing Education Association (UCEA) Revolutionary Times Conference in Boston on April 1, 2005. Alongside other leaders in continuing education, Dean Matkin will address the challenges and opportunities of open content learning, and its anticipated effects on higher education.

Open content learning, an idea that includes providing high quality educationally related content and learning opportunities to a broad public at little or no charge, is currently gaining momentum in higher education. 

Dean Matkin, who currently serves as principal investigator for the William and Flora Hewlett Foundation advising and supporting the Foundation’s open content initiative, suggests that new types of curricula, distance education, and creative pedagogical approaches are needed in order to meet the demands, expectations, and technological advances of today’s changing educational landscape.

In the discussion entitled “Open Content is Here: What It Means for Higher Education,” Dean Matkin will explore issues such as:

  • the challenge of building an inventory of information for the establishment of a repository capable of facilitating the efficient exchange of learning;
  • how institutions can adjust their pedagogical approaches, financial models, and academic policies in order to take advantage of the learning efficiencies promised by open content learning;
  • the availability of high quality, low-cost learning content and its affect on college and university programs, and the e-learning landscape;
  • how institutions can become involved, and instructed on how to prepare for the coming changes.

Dean Matkin will also discuss the potential that open educational resources can offer for developing countries and UC Irvine Extension’s leadership role in delivering on-line education to countries such as Chile and Brazil. 

 “The availability of new methods to support the delivery of university-level instruction are changing lives, and shaping the future of universities,” Dean Matkin said.

Prior to becoming dean at UC Irvine, Matkin was associate dean of University Extension at UC Berkeley.  He holds a Bachelor of Science from the University of San Francisco, an MBA and Ph.D. in Education from UC Berkeley, and is a Certified Public Accountant.

He is also the author of several acclaimed books including: Effective Budgeting in Continuing Education (1985), Technology Transfer and the University (1990), and Using Financial Information in Continuing Education (1997) and has also written numerous articles and papers on the subjects of continuing education, distance learning, and university economic development.

As the continuing education arm of the prestigious university, UC Irvine Extension is dedicated to providing a transforming learning experience for students, offering thousands of exciting courses and programs to local, regional, and global constituencies. UC Irvine Extension offers a rich array of academic and community programs to support a diverse audience from a wide selection of academic programs to numerous campus activities. UC Irvine Extension continues to provide a university-level learning experience to all students. For more information about UC Irvine Extension visit them on the Web at extension.uci.edu.