Tony Bates

Your Excellency Mr Gabriel Ferraté i Pascual, Mr Francisco Rubio Royo, Mr Toni Badia, Mr Albert Sangrà, distinguished guests, ladies and gentlemen,

First of all, I would like to say what a great honour it is for me to be awarded this title. I feel particularly grateful for the fact that you have honoured a foreigner and, even more so, for being such an unusual variety: a Canadian.

Likewise, it is a great honour for me given that the UOC is an exceptional university. Indeed, it is unique. The only publicly financed university in the world that works entirely online, offering diplomas to doctorates. It is unique because its programmes focus on the needs of the information society. The UOC continues to increase its student numbers, whilst the number of students at other Spanish universities decreases. In recent times, its programmes have only been on offer in Catalan. So, the UOC is not only successful for what it is, but also for where it is. This link between language, culture and quality distance education is what I want to look at.

The UOC has been able to get this far for a number of reasons. If the history of Catalonia begins with Wilfred the Hairy, then that of the UOC has to begin with Gabriel Ferraté, despite his not being at all hairy - he's a ferreter ('an ironmonger'). These two important figures share at least two qualities: a clear vision of what they want to achieve; and the political sense to ensure the proper implementation of their vision. Both have had to kill their dragons, the former maybe real, and the latter metaphorical.

The UOC is an institution created not only at the right time, but also in the right place. The UOC was created ten years ago, at the same time as the World Wide Web which made internet easier to manage and, thus, easier to access. The Web was important to online education as it allowed texts and graphics to be created, stored and delivered over the internet using common standards at a relatively low cost. The first university-level web-based courses started to appear in 1995. The UOC was also created in 1995. No other public higher education institution has focused all its operations exclusively in an online system. Thus, the fact that the UOC was created at such an early point in the history of the Web shows, on the one hand, the vision of the rector and, on the other, the incredible courage and confidence of the Catalan regional government.

Likewise, the UOC is also an example of the importance of what I would call the local culture in an increasingly globalised world. The Catalan regional government's decision to support the creation of the UOC must have been influenced by the fact that the UOC intended to offer its courses in Catalan. It represented the chance to not only be a world leader in technology, but also to reinforce the unique Catalan cultural identity in an increasingly globalised world.

In a society focusing on technology, there is the tendency to ignore the importance of cultural factors, which may even be subliminal. For example, the first open university, founded in England in 1969, is today closely linked to the use of radio and television, which were advanced technologies at the time. However, the university was created by the Labour party so as to offer wider access to higher education and to redress the elitism seen at the end of the 1960s. The UOC was also created to widen access. Thus, the adult learners studying at home with their family evoke an image of the family home and values rooted in autonomy and independence, values upheld by the Convergencia i Unio political party which helped create the UOC.

However, the UOC's strong cultural links could not have been enough to ensure its survival. It also had to face up to important economic needs in Catalonia. In developed countries, the economy changes very rapidly. Indeed, the best paid jobs are moving from industry to the knowledge-based sector. We are now part of a completely new economy based on information, unlike industry or agriculture. Work in buying and selling, financial services, biotechnology, computers, education and health not only depend on well trained personnel, but people who can continue to learn as the knowledge base for their work increases.

E-learning is the ideal mechanism for lifelong education, as it offers flexible opportunities to learn, with the aim of people in work being able to incorporate it into their lives. Obviously, one of the reasons for the UOC's current success is the flexibility that its online courses offer. However, the UOC has to develop quality teaching in order to help students gain the skills needed in a knowledge-based economy. The Conference Board of Canada (1991), Canada's most important business organisation, has clearly defined these skills:

• communication skills (reading, writing, speaking, listening)
• the ability to learn independently
• social skills (ethics, positive attitudes, responsibility)
• teamwork
• the ability to adapt to changing circumstances
• cognitive skills (problem solving; critical, logical, numerical skills)
• personal responsibility and initiative
• knowledge management (where to look for and how to process information)

It should be stressed that these skills are necessary alongside the specific skills and knowledge required in knowledge areas such as science, literature or law. The general skills defined by the Conference Board of Canada can also be taught, if the right teaching methods are used, but these methods differ from the traditional methods based on didactic teaching. Similarly, as in other knowledge-based areas, teaching methods are undergoing constant change. The UOC's challenge is to ensure that it can adapt and modify its teaching methods to meet the changing needs of the active population and society in general.

Knowledge-based economies may be locally based but are often global in scope. A critical skill is the ability to work in teams, in a multi-cultural environment, but also in virtual space and time. Knowledge-based industries are extremely entrepreneurial and volatile. Often small companies replace much larger ones, because in a knowledge-based economy it is the power of the concept and its implementation that matters, not the size of the corporation: think of Google.

However, for innovation to occur, people must be free to challenge existing practices and take risks. This requires the ability to seek information and test ideas on a global basis. The UOC itself of course is a knowledge-based organisation and therefore must continually adapt and re-invent itself. In other words, the UOC must create an organisation where innovation is encouraged and where established habits, technologies and methods of working are constantly reviewed and changed where necessary.

Because of the increasingly global nature of knowledge-based industries, the UOC must understand and accommodate the cultures and traditions of other countries, as well as remaining true to its own cultural heritage. It is interesting to note that despite early fears about cultural domination through the internet, English-speaking countries such as the USA and the United Kingdom have not been able to develop a 'global hegemony' in online learning, despite the advantage of being both technologically advanced and 'owning' the most important language of business. A recent study for instance showed that in Asia, imported courses from other countries were more likely to come from other Asian countries than from the USA or Britain. So although online learning can be globally disseminated through the internet, it needs to be modified and adapted to accommodate local cultures and language.

Thus Europe also presents major opportunities and challenges. The UOC is one of the most technically advanced universities in Europe, with ten years experience of e-learning, and over 500 online courses. However, the majority of courses are in Catalan or Spanish. Also, most of the UOC's existing degree programmes will need to change to fit the new European model of higher education agreed at Bologna. It would be nice if students from other European countries would choose to learn and study in Catalan, but the reality is that international programmes will need to be delivered in English and possibly other languages to attract students from other European countries. Thus, the UOC will also need to develop strong partnerships with other European institutions if its courses are to be acceptable in other parts of Europe. Therefore, the UOC must become an international leader in the design and delivery of multi-lingual and multi-cultural programmes if it is to succeed in Europe.

Thus, the factors that have led to the UOC's remarkable growth and success in the last ten years are also potential threats for the future. It has to take care to avoid becoming trapped in an increasingly obsolete and proprietary technology which is unable to adapt to the rapid changes in technology and education that take place outside the UOC. More importantly, the UOC has to ensure that it develops and supports teaching models that provide the skills needed in a knowledge-based economy. Finally, it has to remain loyal to the cultural, political and social roots of Catalonia, whilst also recognising and adapting to other cultures.

These are considerable challenges, but the UOC has shown that it has the ability, determination and means to adapt and grow. I feel extremely proud to be associated to such a dynamic, innovative and important organisation and I offer my sincerest thanks for this great honour.

"The eLearning initiative of the European Commission seeks to mobilise the educational and cultural communities, as well as the economic and social players in Europe, in order to speed up changes in the education and training systems for Europe's move to a knowledge-based society."
(Declaration that stands in the eLearning initiative's web page of the European Commission.)

"Globalisation, new technologies and demographic developments constitute an enormous challenge; one of the answers to this problem is access to lifelong learning."
(Quotation from Ján Figel, Commissioner for Education, Training, Culture and Multilingualism)

Rector, Dr Tony Bates, distinguished authorities, members of the university community, ladies and gentlemen,

Like any other organisation, even if still very young, the UOC is developing in stages. It is a university that has emerged from the knowledge society (I would go so far as to say the advanced knowledge society), in which internal changes are at all times faster than external changes. It is a university for a constantly-changing world and for an Internet world, which it manages with calm, courage and intelligence.

In its almost eleven years of existence, the UOC has become a reality that is continuously adapting to society's needs, and especially to those of its country. It is a University where the students are the centre of the learning process, which continues throughout their life, when they need it and are able to do it; a University that has undoubtedly made a firm commitment to research and innovation in methodology as its reason for being; and which has also addressed its internationalisation. A commitment which assumes and preserves its identity and the reason that determined its creation.

Right from the very start, Rector Ferraté, an academic with experience, vision and wisdom, opted for a university model with three basic axes: different levels of learning; research and innovation in methodology; and the social dissemination of the knowledge generated at the university itself. In light of the nature of this ceremony, we will be looking at the research axis. Rector Ferraté saw (at the opportune, possible moment) the need to promote research institutionally, which is the feature that characterises an excellent university above other institutions of higher education.

To achieve this goal, in 2003 the Governing Council created the IN3 (Internet Interdisciplinary Institute), and also fostered research and innovation by professors and managers, in both institutional strategic lines and personal initiative lines by teaching staff. Professor Manuel Castells was very quickly taken on to lead the research into the Internet Society. The most well-known and relevant project in this field to date is the Project Internet Catalonia (PIC). Professor M. Castells is also Chairman of the IN3 Scientific Commission; this Commission includes figures who are recognised worldwide in the strategic fields of interest to the UOC. Professor T. Bates has been part of this Commission from the start and until very recently. The task of the Scientific Commission is to focus the university's research lines from an external, world perspective.

This apart, as a consequence of this strategy, the UOC has started offering a PhD course that draws together all the University's research learning strands. The aim of this course is to teach students how to develop in-depth and systematic research regarding the use of ICTs in the different social environments, as well as studying global changes in an Internet society. An international, interdisciplinary PhD course that transversally integrates different theoretical perspectives and methodological tools for students in over 45 countries.

Today, we are celebrating the second Doctor Honoris Causa investiture of the UOC, which is awarded to an academic, researcher and innovator in the field of education (in other words, of teaching and learning processes, as well as those of their organisation), with the intensive use of ICTs. Professor Anthony (Tony) Bates has carried out his creative, innovative and analytical work in a field which coincides fully with the academic focus of the UOC. In this sense, the Governing Council took on board the proposal by Psychology Studies and Education Sciences made by its Director, Dr Toni Badia, for "his leadership in the systematic application of ICTs in higher education on a world level, changing students' learning model, as well as the organisational model of the institutions which, in different varieties, apply them". Dr Bates has created his own perspective and vision in this field, which is recognised all over the world. I am honoured to have been given the task of presenting the doctorate, on behalf of my University, and of introducing him as an honoured member of the UOC's research family, which welcomes him today.

For me, it also gives me great personal satisfaction to have been asked to do this. Between Tony Bates and myself there is a personal and affective relationship. He received me, in a scientific and human way, as Visiting Scholar to the Department of Distance Education and Technology of the Continuing Studies Division at the University of British Columbia (Vancouver, Canada), where he was the Director. It was in the autumn of 1998 (when I left my post as Rector of the University of Las Palmas de Gran Canaria) and it was "my professional reinvention, my cultural evolution and my commitment to a university at the service of a changing society, an Internet society, in a globalised world in which local identity played an increasingly important role".

Tony Bates is very well-known and recognised throughout the world, by those who are dedicated to non-face-to-face education with the intensive use of technologies. Tony Bates has had a long, varied and productive career in the different phases and eras through which Distance Learning has progressed, from the more conventional to the more recent uses of ICTs, in different types of universities and for different segments of students. He is open to change, innovative, creative, a critical thinker with a great deal of common sense and a sense of humour.

Tony Bates has developed a great deal in his perception and vision, from his initial time as Professor of Educational Media Research, a post he held for 20 years, at the British Open University, of which he was one of the academic founders. As of 1990, he was already in Canada and was working as Executive Director of Research, Strategic Planning and Information Technology at the Open Learning Agency of British Columbia, where he remained for 5 years. He was Director of Distance Education and Technology in the Continuing Studies Division at the University of British Columbia (Vancouver, Canada) from 1995 to 2003, and Research Team Leader of MAPLE, the Centre for Research into Managing and Planning Learning Environments in Education at the University of British Columbia.

Tony is the author of eight books, including: "Managing Technological Change: Strategies for College and University Leaders", and (with Gary Poole) "Effective Teaching with Technology in Higher Education". The research groups that he has led, both at the United Kingdom Open University and at the Open Learning Agency and the University of British Columbia, have published over 350 articles in the field of non-face-to-face education and the use of technology in the teaching and learning processes. He is a member of six editorial committees for magazines with a worldwide readership, specialising in distance education and educational technology.

He has also worked as a consultant in over thirty countries on different continents (and I would like to recall his highly enriching experience, albeit in another era, in Afghanistan). The institutions that he has advised include the World Bank, the OECD, the UNESCO, education ministries in a number of countries, and several higher education commissions in a number of states in North America. He also has broad experience in the world of corporate training and is currently a member of the Academic Advisory Board of the Volkswagen Auto Uni (the Volkswagen University), which has its headquarters in Wolfsburg, in Germany.

As I was saying, from his initial time at the British Open University, he has had a long career over the different phases, models and eras through which non-face-to-face education has passed. He is someone who has grown, who has lived and who has fostered change; and who has found in the UOC his natural space and environment.

To complete this academic perspective of Professor Bates, I would like to recall a recent interview (December 2004) in elearningeuropa.info (an initiative of the European Commission), in which he responded to one of the questions that causes most anguish among academics at conventional universities:

What should be the role of ICT in the "traditional" universities?

T. Bates: Let me say what I would like to see happen. I would like to see e-learning focused on the areas where it brings the most benefit. It should be used strategically and not just as a tool that everybody uses. We should realize that e-learning is expensive and time consuming for the professor, particularly at the beginning. This means a lot of change if we are going to do it well.

Bates has a humanity as great, at least, as his qualifications and academic recognition. Esther and me had the opportunity of enjoying it, both in Vancouver and then in Barcelona and the Canary Islands. He is someone with a huge capacity for work, who does so conscientiously and with great responsibility and efficiency. With his intercultural vision and action, the product of his character and his experience of receiving researchers from all over the world at his department, whom he treats in an individual and personalised way. He is someone with seny (good sense and reason).

As his personal traits, I would highlight his British sense of humour, difficult to understand at first for we Latin people, both because of its linguistic expression and its cultural content. He loves golf, skiing (even though it seems that he will not be invited to be an athlete on the Canadian Winter Olympic team in Whistler-Vancouver 2010) and flying small aircraft (he flies himself to some academic conventions close to Vancouver, as David Stewart recently explained). These are just some of the traits that go to make up his personality. And let's not forget his passion for football (soccer), about which he has been and is a theoretical expert, with his beloved team: London's Tottenham Hotspur (founded in 1882), although I get the feeling that before long he will change to Barça, which has captured his heart as he has now seen them play at the Nou Camp. His passion for white water rafting is also well-known, both when he shares it with non-experts as was the case with us in the area around Vancouver, and when he goes rafting with Pat, at senior level, descending a stretch of the Colorado River on one of their summer holidays.

It is traditional, in the best of cases, that the persons nominated as Doctor Honoris Causa by a university have, apart from their own merits, some kind of relationship or commitment, be it real or potential, with the institution that is awarding them the degree. This is the case of Tony Bates in relation to the UOC. He is someone, as we have already seen, who is truly committed to the UOC and to the country, who has identified with our character and is assimilating it, starting with the challenge of learning the Catalan language and culture, in which he is making notable effort and progress.

Tony Bates' relationship with the UOC coincided with my joining in the 2001-2002 academic year. I had only been at the UOC for a few months when I received an e-mail from him telling me that he was on a sabbatical year and wanted to explore the possibility of spending a month at the UOC, and he asked me if I could give him the name of a contact. He also contacted Professor Albert Sangrà, whom he had met at a congress held in the United States. The UOC was delighted to receive this illustrious Visiting Scholar.

I would like to transcribe his proposal for his visit, just as he explained it to us:

"My reasons for coming to the UOC are entirely selfish. I wanted to learn from a very innovative institution. In particular, I was interested in the organizational structure of an institution designed from scratch as a virtual university, in its funding and business model, as well as in its pedagogy. If possible I wanted to identify and take back to the UBC best practice in the design, delivery, and management of online learning. From this perspective, my visit has been a great success."

During his time here, the UOC asked him to write a report on certain areas of the University's activity, such as: its teaching model, its technology model, its organisational model and its business model. We also asked him to give us his view of the state of research in e-learning at the UOC from an international perspective. He highlighted a lot of points and drew our attention to others, which could be done differently. All this was extremely useful to us and many of these points have now been contextualised in our model, and others are in the process of being so. I would like to highlight a paragraph from his report, which I consider relevant to this act:

"I believe that UOC's location and context, as a regional, Catalan university serving Catalan students in the Catalan language, is very important. It is a serious and genuine attempt to respect and maintain cultural identity within an increasingly globalised world. For this reason alone, it deserves success and support. At the same time as serving regional needs, it is also exploiting the potential of the Internet for global reach and influence."

Subsequently, in this initial contact, an ever more intense, focalised academic relationship was born between Tony Bates and the UOC. His part-time association with the University has been centred on the planning, management and development of an e-learning research programme, with three main areas, based on the initiatives of the UOC's own professors from the different Studies at the University. Our aim, and his, is for the UOC to become a European Centre of Excellence for research in e-learning within two years.

However, the commitment is not just academic, but also personal. Pat and Tony have learnt how to know and love our country, to enjoy its towns, cities and streets, its people, our customs and traditions; and they have made an effort to integrate into our culture and language, as I said before. Also, our country offers them the opportunity to enjoy their hobbies and to have a high standard of living. They already know the benefits of this country in terms of golf courses, ski resorts and slopes, rivers for white water rafting, havens of traditional and imaginative cuisine, etc. They already know that they will feel just like in Vancouver, and that's why they have chosen our country as their regular home, not so cold and, above all, not so much rain as in the beautiful city in the British Columbia.

For all of this, the UOC is honoured to receive Professor Tony Bates as an honourable member of its research and innovation environment. This nomination and its formal reception links him and binds him permanently to our University. In a moment of renewed and exciting drive by the UOC, it is appropriate and necessary. The UOC is recognised throughout the world for its excellent learning and the innovation that it offers through its teaching model (CV, materials, services and support to students, etc.), and also for research in e-learning. With his inclusion into this research environment, our capacity, efforts and quality will be boosted and developed; bringing individual interests into line with institutional ones, and projecting them on to the international scientific community. The UOC's national and international positioning will be strengthened and enhanced, as a relevant and benchmark core in the morphology of the e-learning network to which we are committed.

Because of all this, I would like to thank Tony Bates, on behalf of the UOC and myself, for having accepted this nomination. I would also like to thank all of you, as your presence has given prominence to this solemn academic ceremony.

Thank you very much.

Dr Bates, Vice-Rector, Director, Councillors of Castelldefels Town Council, Members of the Board of Trustees and Councils of the Fundació per a la Universitat Oberta de Catalunya, Members of the University Community, Friends,

Having listened to the laudatio from Dr Rubio and heard Dr Bates, you surely understand why the university welcomes him with not just satisfaction, but with enthusiasm.

The UOC celebrates then, as I said, this solemn act of investiture with great enthusiasm and for, at least, three reasons:

Firstly, because of Tony Bates's extraordinarily valuable academic and scientific contributions: the reason why he is being awarded the title of Doctor Honoris Causa. I shall not dwell on these, as Dr Rubio has already detailed them excellently, but I would like to highlight them as, in speaking on behalf of the university, is my obligation.

Tony Bates is, currently, the professor and researcher who has best known how to appreciate the value of ICT in university education: the positive effect of new technologies on the quality of that taught and in terms of knowledge dissemination. He is the point of reference in his field. Dr Bates has studied the relationships between the channel and learning, and between the channel, function and organisation in depth, leading to extraordinarily valuable contributions. Valuable to us, who have been the focus of his research, through his analysis of the UOC as a paradigm for distance education, throughout our life, but also, if you will allow me a solemn reflection, valuable for a world which needs this learning, and, thanks to Tony Bates, a world that can increasingly access this learning with much sounder skills.

Dr Bates's merits are due, then, to his ability, but what makes him truly worthy of our highest regard is that this ability has directly benefited many academic institutions and, thus, many individuals. Being able to reward this is a source of great satisfaction for us all.

The second reason for our pleasure at being able to celebrate this ceremony today is based on the fact that, with this Doctorate Honoris Causa, we are able to express our gratitude to Tony Bates, the scientist and the person. We have always seen in him not only his teaching, but also three points that have formed the basis for the relations, the fruitful relations, between Tony Bates and the UOC:

• His interest in our activities.
• The enriching advice he has given us when we have asked him.
• His commitment to what we do.

And we are very grateful for his support for the UOC, which inevitably is of great benefit to the University and, thus, its students and everyone who works here. Being able to thank him here today, at this solemn ceremony, in the presence of the representatives of civil society who are accompanying us, gives us great pleasure and, as we have said, is a source of great satisfaction for the whole of the university community.

The third reason is closely connected to what I have just mentioned. We are extraordinarily pleased to be able to hold this ceremony as it solemnly marks Tony Bates's belonging to the UOC; not as much as we would like, perhaps, but we are still very pleased.

That is why we have chosen this venue, the IN3, which is the standard bearer for our research. The UOC and the Catalan government are looking to focus on what is the fundamental tool for our teaching methodology and to ensure it progresses, becoming a worldwide centre for excellence in research and innovation in e-learning. Tony Bates is to lead this project. This is not collaboration or advice, but a commitment that provides guarantees for our project and for which we feel honoured.

Today then, we are, in a way, solemnly recognising Dr Bates's belonging to the UOC and I would like to stress the consequences of this: it enhances the self-esteem of our university community, reinforces the UOC's leadership in the field, and offers guarantees for the effectiveness of the training we offer: the aim and point of reference for our academic activities.

For all these reasons, Dr Bates, my friend Tony Bates, on my own behalf and on behalf of the UOC, I would like to offer you our most sincere and enthusiastic thanks and congratulations.

Thank you very much.