Positioning in learning networks is a process that assists learners in finding a starting point and an efficient route through the network that will foster competence building. In the past we have explored computational approaches to positioning based on the contents of the learning network and the behaviour of those participating in it, more or…

Essentially concerned with distance education as innovation in higher education, this paper identifies specific aspects of this innovation through references to three Canadian institutions offering university level courses for credit. It is primarily concerned with Athabasca University in Alberta, a distance education university which originally…

This examination of educational institutions and their acceptance of the design and implementation of technologically based instruction considers instructional technology as a subset of technology. Methods of institutional analysis from other disciplines are presented to stimulate research that uses aspects of educational institutions themselves…

Describes design and production of the award-winning software used to control Great Britain's Open University Materials Science videodisc, the Teddy Bear Disc, which is used to teach undergraduate students about materials engineering. The disc is designed for use in one-week sessions, which students attend in July or August. (MBR)

This nine-paper collection from a June 1983 Open University (OU) campus workshop in Milton Keynes, England, describes an interactive video project developed for an OU undergraduate course, T252, Introduction to Engineering Materials, and discusses varied aspects of interactive videodisc program development. The following papers are included:…

This position paper explores the potential of new technology to radically alter both distance education and conventional higher education. It hypothesizes that technological developments could even lead to the demise of the conventional campus-based higher education institution by the year 2000. Instead, people of all ages would be able to study…

Describes philosophy behind development of British Open University's course "Education for Adults," which emphasizes adult learner independence and autonomy and implements an andragogical approach within a distance teaching system. Significance of evaluation data from the course and the challenge presented to designers of courses are…

The 23 papers presented at this conference deal with the information needs of institutionally-based part-time students in United Kingdom universities, polytechnics, and further education colleges, and with library and information services for the adult learner. Keith Percy and John Simpson provide overviews on the number and types of part-time…

This paper describes how audiovisual media have influenced the way students have learned--or failed to learn--at the Open University at Walton Hall. The paper is based in part on results from a large body of research that has repeatedly demonstrated the interrelatedness of a wide range of factors in determining how or what students learn from…

Describes a project-based distance learning course design in an open university course. Discusses approaches to course design in distance learning and suggests that students are not as easily manipulated by instructional devices as course designers may think. (CFR)