Over 80 speakers to deliver lectures during four-day event RIYADH: Dr. Khaled Bin Muhammad Al-Anqari, Minister of Higher Education, is scheduled to inaugurate the 2nd International Conference on e-Learning in Riyadh, Monday. The conference, under the theme ‘Unique learning for next generation', is being organized under the patronage of King Abdullah, Custodian of the Two Holy Mosques. Over 80 speakers, 38 from abroad including United States, Britain, Australia and Japan will deliver lectures during the four-day event. The workshops that were organized as part of the e-learning conference have witnessed a record number of attendance with more than 100 women that exceeded the number of men participants concluded Sunday, a day ahead before the official opening of the event. The national and international experts in the field of e-learning will address the gathering of professors, instructors, teachers, students and their parents on various topics of e-learning and distance education, which is considered as the major component for an integrated education system in Saudi Arabia. Among prominent speakers, include Jim Wales, founder of Wikipedia and Sir Tim Berners-Lee, the inventor of worldwide web will deliver his keynote address on the opening day on “www and hopes for future.” Jimmy Donal Wales, an American Internet entrepreneur and a co-founder and promoter of Wikipedia, will also speak on the occasion. An exhibition on e-learning will also be organized on the sidelines of the conference with 60 exhibitors displaying their latest in the field of e-learning and distance education. The conference has so far received about 10,000 entries from enthusiastic participants from within and outside the Kingdom expressing desire to attend the conference. The National Center for e-Learning and Distance Learning that operates under the Ministry of Higher Education is organizing the conference. A specialized website designed to mark the opening of conference has started reverse counting indicating the time of opening. The center established in 2005 is aimed at raising the level of awareness about e-learning and distance learning in the Kingdom.
