Held at each Pan-Commonwealth Forum on Open Learning, the Asa Briggs Lecture honours the founding Chairman of the Board of Governors of COL and distinguished British historian, the late Rt. Hon. Lord Briggs of Lewes (1921-2016), who was instrumental in COL’s establishment.
Educational Resilience in Times of Division
Delivered by Prof. Tim Blackman, Vice-Chancellor, The Open University, United Kingdom at the Tenth Pan-Commonwealth Forum on Open Learning (PCF10) in Calgary, Canada, 14 September 2022.
Re-envisioning the 5-day work week
Delivered by Lord Puttnam of Queensgate, British film producer, educator, environmentalist and member of the House of Lords at the Ninth Pan-Commonwealth Forum on Open Learning (PCF9) in Edinburgh, Scotland, 9 September 2019.
Re-drawing the Map of Learning
Delivered by Sir John Daniel, O.C., former COL President & CEO at the Eighth Pan-Commonwealth Forum on Open Learning (PCF8) in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, November 2016.
Open Learning for Development: Towards Empowerment and Transformation
Delivered by Mr Alan Tait, Editor-in-Chief, Journal of Learning for Development, Commonwealth of Learning, Professor, Distance Education and Development, The Open University at the Seventh Pan-Commonwealth Forum on Open Learning (PCF7) in Abuja, Nigeria, December 2013.
Delivered by Dr Shashi Tharoor, M.P., Author, peace-keeper, refugee worker, human rights activist, a former Minister of State for External Affairs, member of the Indian Parliament from the Thiruvananthapuram constituency in Kerala at the Sixth Pan-Commonwealth Forum on Open Learning in Kochi, India, November 2010. VIDEO
New Technology: New Possibilities for Reaching the Unreached
Delivered by Professor Brenda Gourley, Vice Chancellor, The Open University at the Fifth Pan-Commonwealth Forum on Open Learning (PCF5) in London, United Kingdom, July 2008. VIDEO
VIDEO of the late Lord Briggs of Lewes’ response to Prof. Gourley’s lecture.
Using ICT to Increase Participation and Strengthen Democracy
Delivered by Mr Winston A. Cox, Alternate Executive Director for the Bahamas, Barbados, Guyana, Jamaica and Trinidad & Tobago, Inter-American Development Bank at the Fourth Pan-Commonwealth Forum on Open Learning (PCF4) in Ochos Rios, Jamaica, 30 October – 3 November 2006.
Delivered by Sir Shridath (“Sonny”) Ramphal, former Commonwealth Secretary-General (1975-1990) and former Foreign Minister of Guyana at the Third Pan-Commonwealth Forum on Open Learning (PCF3) in Dunedin, New Zealand, July 2004.
Combating HIV/AIDS Pandemic
Delivered by Mr Stephen Lewis, UN Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa at the Second Pan-Commonwealth Forum on Open Learning (PCF2) in Durban, South Africa, 29 July to 2 August 2002.
No transcript available – See Connections (vol. 7, no. 3)
Education and Bridging Cultures
Delivered by Professor Wang Gungwu, Director of the East Asian Institute at the National University of Singapore at the First Pan-Commonwealth Forum on Open Learning (PCF1) in Bandar Seri Begawan, Brunei Darussalam, March 1999.
Communications, the Commonwealth and the Future
The first Commonwealth Open Lecture delivered by Professor David Dilks, Vice Chancellor, The University of Hull in 1994.
