Description of the implementation and operation of Howard University's "University Without Walls" within the context of current trends in higher education. (APM)

A free university is defined as a community learning center that connects people who want to teach or learn with resources to meet their needs. The free university for Man, located at Kansas State University in Manhattan, is described. (MLW)

Asserting that the traditional system of higher education is not capable of meeting the ever-increasing demands of a developing country such as India, this paper suggests possible alternative methods of higher education. In addition to in-depth descriptions of the United Kingdom's Open University at Walton Hall, Milton Keynes, and the Regional…

The way in which the University of South Florida (USF) developed its Open University is discussed in this report. Implemented in 1972, the Open University meets the needs of working students, many of whom live a considerable distance from one of the campuses. Annual enrollment today exceeds 7,000, and the pattern of growth indicates a need for…

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…

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…

Aspects of the development of the Open Learning Institute, a British Columbia program to accommodate the learning needs of adult and minority students, are described. Included are its early history and evaluation of its success according to four criteria: access, relevancy to needs and expectations, quality of program offerings, and learner…

This report presents a description of University College, Memphis State University (MSU). Created in 1975, this small, nontraditional college has prospered in the context of a large, state, urban university. It offers nontraditional students a way to create and finish individualized and interdisciplinary degree programs. Faculty can develop new…

A questionnaire developed in six languages--English, French, German, Polish, Russian, and Spanish--was mailed to more than 1,500 organizations known by the FernUniversitat in West Germany to be connected in some way to distance education, correspondence education, or home study. The study was undertaken as a response to the lack of systematic…

This conference paper consists of a sketch of the British Open University at work as well as a brief commentary on current developments in the fields of communication technology, course design, instruction, and current trends in distance education. Provided first are statistics pertaining to current enrollment and enrollment projections, student…

The expansion of higher education in the United States has resulted in a variety of outreach programs to bring postsecondary education off the campus and into the community. New systems and programs of nontraditional study have emerged. Issues of current concern in open learning include: quality and effectiveness, outreach and access, research and…

Independent study is recognized by many as a practical approach to learning, especially meaningful for individuals in isolated or remote areas. Compiled primarily for use by persons with highly diversified backgrounds and interested in Indian and Alaska Native health, the book describes educational opportunities available through independent…