A history of the Open University of Great Britain, its role as a leader in nontraditional education, and its influence on programs in the United States and elsewhere. (LS)

Los Angeles' International College is a small, private, unaccredited college with 174 students and without classrooms, library or student center. Its chief assets are the intellects and worldwide reputations of many of its tutors who work closely with student apprentices. (LBH)

In the last decade, the questioning of traditional teaching and learning methods and instructional systems and the search for more effective alternatives have gained momentum. Recent trends are grouped and discussed, including individualized instruction, multimedia instruction, peer teaching, student evaluations of teachers, teacher training…

The directory presents comprehensive information on the availability of 22 external degree programs and other innovative educational programs and is aimed at drug abuse personnel. The programs presented are diverse, with many offering credit for life experience and incorporating a variety of independent learning programs. Programs are arranged…

Six selected nontraditional approaches to curriculum at the University of Minnesota, each leading to a baccalaureate degree, are described. The programs are designed to provide flexibility to students enrolled in the university or to extend a university education to people not otherwise served. Each involves individual student selection of work to…

Examined are open learning systems in Australia, Canada, France, Federal Republic of Germany, Iran, Israel, Japan, Kenya, Lebanon, Poland, Union of Soviet Socialist Republics, United Kingdom, and the United States. The implications of open-learning and its relation to nontraditional student and continuing education, educational and social…

This is the introduction and summary of a series of six papers discussing major issues about student assessment for the University of Wisconsin Extended Degree Program, a program designed to give academic credit for college level learning derived from experiences outside the scope of formal classes. A distinction is made between prior learning,…

The Union for Experimenting Colleges and Universities (UECU) was developed as an alternative form of postsecondary education, fostering the development of university without walls programs at a number of institutions and initiating its own undergraduate and graduate degree programs. Its commitment is to personalized, self-directed, lifelong…

Evaluation of prior learning for the External Degree Program at Florida International University is described. Efforts in the following areas are presented: (1) implementation and evaluation of the competency-based assessment tool, (2) integration of the assessment process with other processes of the External Degree Program and the entire…