Managing Director, Astrid Jaeger, announced that, owing to the recent spike in COVID-19 cases across many countries in the world, including Germany, OEB Global will offer a fully virtual experience this year. And The OEB Global Virtual Experience, which will take place 30 November - 04 December 2020, promises to be as enriching and exciting as ever, offering delegates the chance to take part in an entire week of knowledge sharing and networking.

"Sometimes, setbacks are also opportunities", said Ms Jaeger. "OEB has always been exciting and innovative. This year's event will be no different. We've got a brilliant programme lined up, and I am confident that participants will get as much out of it as ever. In fact, they may even find that our new format offers even more opportunities in several areas."

Since 1995, the OEB Global conference has championed technology as the key to the future for quality education and training. Its experts and practitioners have been involved in developing, producing, and promoting every kind of technology-assisted learning. Never has the need for their experience, best practices, and solutions in online learning and training been more pressing than today, according to Ms Jaeger.

"Covid-19 has had a huge impact on education and training around the world", she said. "Many schools, colleges, universities, and workplaces are facing enormous challenges just to keep going. As many are forced to deliver their learning offer online; they have realised that they are not prepared and need to train their faculty and teachers."

Ms Jaeger continued, "Online learning is no longer just an opportunity; it's a necessity. The whole world now needs to embrace blended learning in one form or another, as we can no longer rely exclusively on the classroom. It's not just about preventing another crisis in the future; it's about ensuring that education and training don't just disappear altogether for millions of people. Technology and blended learning have to be made a part of every learner's experience as a matter of priority."

This year's OEB Global Virtual Experience will deliver the content and connections that its community has been accustomed to over the years, allowing conference participants to learn, be inspired, engage, share, collaborate, meet, and network. But it will also create new ways to connect, share, teach, and learn via an innovative online platform.

OEB Global's Co-Founder and Conference Chair, Rebecca Stromeyer, said that this year's OEB Global will focus on developing viable solutions and new partnerships to extend the reach of technology-assisted learning.

"At its heart", she said, "will be a focus on best practice and understanding what works. This affects every sector of education and training. In schools, in universities, and in the workplace, people know there has to be a big change. They are urgently looking for solutions. They are asking how to establish viable new forms of teaching, training, and learning. They need methods, systems, and technologies that work for them."

Ms Stromeyer emphasised that OEB Global's unique network provides not only access to an unrivalled pool of knowledge and expertise, but also access to some of the world's leading solutions providers. By bringing experts, practitioners, and investors together from around the world to focus on best practice and practical solutions at this year's conference, she hopes that OEB Global will help to bring about the "sea change" that is now necessary in global education.

A major focus of the conference will be on the experience of lockdown and how schools, colleges, institutions, and businesses have coped with the need to expand or develop their virtual learning environments and to engage students.

Big themes of the conference include "implementing and scaling up"; "design and delivery"; "data and learning"; "assessing skill and competence"; "supporting workforce performance"; "the new L&D"; "tech triggers"; and "education futures".