Keynote speech by Judith McKeon

At the first international virtual conference at Zawia University in Libya on Sunday, Judith gave a speech on the importance of digital solutions in education.

Due to the interest in online solutions for education, especially given the COVID-19 pandemic, the Libyan University of Zawia decided to host a conference that would bring together academics to provide the latest research and information available.

They had numerous papers submitted from across the Arab world. MKLC already had a link with this university through Mohamed Abushafa, who had presented a teacher training course there in January and they requested Judith as a keynote speaker, due to her expertise in delivering online teacher training.

The main points Judith made in her speech were that teachers have a responsibility to prepare young people for a digital future and they must therefore be trained to accommodate different modes of teaching and learning in their practice. This was endorsed by the representative from the Libyan Ministry of Labour, the following speaker.

The whole conference was carried out on Zoom and was evidence that attendance at such meetings can be just as successfully accommodated using technology as being there in person.