The study sought to determine lecturers' and students' perceptions of factors contributing to students' failure to submit research projects on time in three departments of the Zimbabwe Open University. The study employed a descriptive survey design and was both quantitative and qualitative. The questionnaire used as a data-gathering instrument had…

Professional development for distance tutors is traditionally delivered through texts or websites, supplemented by face to face workshops. However, one of the major challenges is to ensure that they engage with the materials and carry away something which is of value to their practice. At the Open University (UK) our 8000 tutors work from home,…

There is little systematic evidence on the experience of disabled students in higher education. In this study, equal numbers of disabled and nondisabled students taking courses with the UK Open University were surveyed with regard to their approaches to studying and perceptions of the academic quality of their courses. Students with dyslexia or…

The main aim of this research is to better understand and draw perceptions of course writers and course coordinators towards the process of developing distance learning material. For developing good self-instructional material cooperative efforts among course development personnel are essential. The study indicates the areas where contradiction is…

A considerable number of research and reports attempted to tackle the different aspects of writing apprehension. The current research dealt with the topic quantitatively and qualitatively in an attempt to know why Palestinian university students majoring in English feel anxious and stressed when they are asked to write. The possible remedies for…

Upon completion of a graduate level course at the Open University of Israel, one instructor received very high student ratings while the other received very low ratings. We utilized this exceptional situation to perform ad hoc analyses of their course forums. The objective of this study was to map the dialogic behavior that occurred and to create…

This study explores the use of the virtual classroom which has been created in "myVLE", a learning management system used by the Open University Malaysia (OUM). The virtual classroom in "myVLE" is an asynchronous-based online learning environment that delivers course materials to learners and provides collaboration and…

The use of technology is particularly significant in today's distance learning scenario. It has maximized the opportunities for interaction between discussion groups separated by time and space. This article reports the responses to a survey carried out with distance learners at a selected institution of higher learning. The learners responded to…

Open and Distance Education if well organized, is an adequate alternative to conventional education. For acceptability of this assertion, the public, governments, employers of labour and other stakeholders need to be convinced that ODL institutions are not providing half-baked education. Also, for the public and other shareholders enthusiasm and…

With a revised protocol for interviewing new tutors, Wawasan Open University (WOU) has continued its tutor training program for the second semester of operations. Having experienced working with the first cohort of tutors for semester 1, year 2007 it is evident that we have more confidence and appreciation for tutor training to support WOU's…

This paper attempts to compare the availability, quality, similarities and differences in student support services offered by the Allama Iqbal Open University (AIOU) Pakistan and The Open University of Sri Lanka (OUSL). It also aims to identify and report the deficiencies that students of both the institutions face in the student support services.…

The study examined the ODL learners' perceptions of the quality of provision of research support services to the ODL learners by tutors. It focused on the Zimbabwe Open University's (ZOU) Bachelor of Education (Educational Management) research students' experiences. It was a qualitative multiple case study of four of the 10 Regional Centres of the…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to investigate the implications of usability and learnability in learning management systems (LMS) by considering the experiences of information and communications technology (ICT) experts and non-experts in using the LMS of an open-distance university. Design/methodology/approach: The paper uses task-based…

Based on recent research reports, the blended learning model, which combines face-to-face and online learning, is now the preferred model for online course design. Its superiority over online learning, which lacks face-to-face interaction, is evident from studies that examined both student achievement and satisfaction. Nevertheless, there is…

This study investigates how university students on distance learning courses experience interaction with their peers. Students on two distance learning courses at The Open University (UK) were interviewed, to investigate learners' experience of interaction on these courses. The analysis, using a grounded-theory approach, reveals disparities…