The National Universities Commission (NUC) was among participating institutions across the world and one of the 34 countries that submitted abstracts at the 20th Annual International Research in Distance Education (RIDE) 2026 Conference, held from 12th to 13th March, 2026, at the Senate House, University of London, (UoL) United Kingdom.
The Director, Open Distance and e-Learning (DODel), Dr. Funmilayo Morebise, and a Deputy Director, in Directorate of Open Distance and e-Learning, Dr. Hadu Gabriel Ligari, had the opportunity to represent the Commission at the event, held simultaneously at the UoL Campus.
The Research in Distance Education (RIDE) conference is an annual conference organised by the Centre for Online and Distance Education (CODE), University of London, usually held as an online and in-person summit that attracts international audience of practitioners, researchers, educational technologists and senior managers.
The CODE’s annual virtual and in-person conference, which took place for two days, focused on research and scholarly practices in online, distance, blended, hybrid and hyflex higher education.
The 2026 edition of the conference provided the opportunity to celebrate 20 years of engagement with research and practice in online, digitally delivered, distance and transnational education.
It also encouraged developing an innovative practice and research and was an opportunity for stakeholders to envision the future of education facilitated through technology.
The 2026 RIDE conference was aimed at providing international supportive platform for scholarly research and practice-informed engagement, showcasing people focused practices and innovations in Open, Distance and online learning.
Among other high profile participants included: the Deputy Vice-Chancellor, UoL, Professor David Latchman; Director of Academic Practice in Online and Distance Education, Professor Linda Amrane-Cooper, and Director, Centre for Online and Distance Education, who all welcomed guests warmly to the 2026 conference.
Meanwhile the main theme of the 2026 conference is: “Reflecting, Innovating, Developing and Envisioning the Future’.Some of the sub-themes which participants x-rayed were Reflections on the past 20 years of education facilitated through technology, Innovating to support learner success, Developing inclusive, accessible and empowering educational experiences as well as Envisioning the future of online, distance, blended and digital education.