Universities Ireland held a symposium entitled ‘E-learning as a Strategic Imperative for Irish Universities’ in Dublin City University (DCU) on Thursday 4 November 2004. The symposium addressed the lessons of the recent international experience of e-learning in higher education and identified strategic opportunities for Irish higher education institutions, North and South, in the use of e-learning.

The attendees, from the higher education, government and business sectors, heared from two leading international authorities in this area - Dr Andy DiPaolo, Executive Director of Stanford University’s Centre for Professional Development, and Professor Diana Laurillard, Head of the E-Learning Strategy Unit in the UK’s Department for Employment and Skills. The symposium also included two policy workshops and a panel of current e-learning practitioners in Irish universities, North and South. It was opened by the President of DCU, Professor Ferdinand von Prondzynski, and closed by the chair of Universities Ireland, Professor Gerry McKenna of the University of Ulster.

Universities Ireland is the new body which links the nine universities on the island of Ireland with the Centre for Cross Border Studies acting as its secretariat.