Prof Melinda dela Peña Bandalaria

Melinda dela Peña Bandalaria is a professor and former Chancellor at the University of the Philippines Open University (UPOU). She served as President of the Asian Association of Open Universities (AAOU) and has advanced regional efforts in massive open online courses (MOOCs), universal design for learning (UDL), and open educational resources (OER). Her #OPENFight initiative supported the transition to remote education during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Prof Insung Jung

Insung Jung is a Visiting Research Fellow at the Education Research Institute, Seoul National University, and was formerly a Professor of Education at the International Christian University in Japan. With over three decades of experience in open, distance, and digital education (ODDE), she has authored and edited several books with global collaborators, including Distance and Blended Learning in Asia, Quality Assurance and Accreditation in Distance Education and E-Learning, Open and Distance Theory Revisited, and the Handbook of Open, Distance and Digital Education. Jung has served as a consultant and advisor in ODDE and elearning to national and international bodies, including the Korean Ministry of Education, UNESCO, the World Bank, and APEC.

Emeritus Prof Paul Prinsloo

Paul Prinsloo is Emeritus Professor at the University of South Africa (Unisa), where he previously served as Research Professor in Open and Distance Learning (ODL). He is Visiting Professor at the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN), Research Associate at Contact North (Canada), and a member of the Center for Open Education Research in Oldenburg, Germany. A Fellow of the European Distance and E-learning Network (EDEN) and Executive Committee member of the Society of Learning Analytics Research (SoLAR), he also serves on several editorial boards. His research spans student success, learning analytics, and the ethics of data use in digital education.

Emeritus Prof Junhong Xiao

Junhong Xiao is Emeritus Professor at the Open University of Shantou, a branch of the Open University of China, and Visiting Professor at the Open University of Guangdong. He is a founding member of the Centre for Open Education Research (COER) at the University of Oldenburg, Germany. His earlier scholarship focused on English grammar, discourse analysis, and TESOL, before shifting in 2001 to open and distance learning. He has published extensively, including around 300 papers and 10 books. Xiao is Editor of the SpringerBriefs in Open and Distance Education series, co-founding Chief Editor of the Journal of Open, Distance, and Digital Education (JODDE), and serves on the editorial boards of several international journals.

Prof Olaf Zawacki-Richter

Olaf Zawacki-Richter is Professor of Educational Technology at the University of Oldenburg, Germany, where he serves as Dean of the Faculty of Education and Social Sciences, and Director of the Center for Open Education Research (COER). With over 25 years of experience in open, distance, and digital education, he has consulted for bodies such as the International Labor Organization, the German Bundestag, and the German Science and Humanities Council. He has authored over 150 journal articles and edited several open access books, including Online Distance Education: Towards a Research Agenda, Systematic Reviews in Educational Research, and the Handbook of Open, Distance and Digital Education. Zawacki-Richter is Executive Chief Editor of the Journal of Open, Distance, and Digital Education (JODDE), Associate Editor of the Online Learning Journal (OLJ), and serves on the editorial boards of several international journals.