(Written by Pamela) The Centre for Distance Education is part of the University of London External System - I go along to some of its lunch time seminars and an annual session reporting on its research activities. I learn a lot there about what is happening in the formal higher education sector.
I'm not sure how I first got involved - but for a while I did feel a bit like a gate crasher, then I got added to its invitation list again. more formally, after taking part in COL's Fifth Pan-Commonwealth Forum on Open Learning (PCF5) co-hosted by the Universtiy of London and COL (Commonwealth of Learning).