Describes how the Open University (Great Britain) has embraced the Internet as a medium for supporting its students, tutors, academics, and administrators throughout the education process. Discusses the holistic approach to integrating technology into the teaching process, and details Internet-based systems for student registration, assignment…

Discusses the history, principles, culture, and teaching approaches of the United Kingdom Open University and its Business School (OUBS). Focuses on management students and the OUBS's position in a dynamic and competitive MBA market place. Discusses computer-mediated conferencing (CMC) and the role of OUBS tutors. Reports key findings from a study…

This paper adopts an academic literacies perspective to argue for a critical approach to the writing practices of the online university classroom. It describes an on-going action research project in an online Masters in Online and Distance Education (MAODE) programme at the UK Open University, which aims to create an online writing resource to…

A distance education system may be viewed in terms of intrapersonal and interpersonal instructional dialogues that mediate the learning and instructional resources that enable such dialogues. Instructional resources include self-instruction texts, tutorial sessions, instructor availability, Web sites, and more. This study investigated the kinds of…

This article begins by examining the rationale for the recent policy changes in the criteria for funding teachers' continuing professional development. It illustrates how in the pursuit of greater national competitiveness, the "evaluative" state has increased central control of the provision of in-service education of teachers through a…

This paper describes the role of open universities in the developing world, particularly al-Quds Open University (QOU) in Jordan which serves Palestinians. An introduction notes the rapid expansion in higher education enrollment in the developing world and the demand for education due to changing labor conditions. The paper goes on to compare…

The intent of this study was to investigate how to maximize the chances of success of an educational innovation--specifically one based on the implementation of the educational modeling language called EML. This language is both technically and organizationally demanding. Two different implementation cases were investigated, one situated in an…

This study discusses benchmarking the use of information and communication technologies (ICT) in teaching and learning between two universities with different missions: one an Australian campus-based metropolitan university and the other a British distance-education provider. It argues that the differences notwithstanding, it is possible to…

This paper presents a report on students who decided to drop out of the BSc program offered by Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU). This study was designed to determine the reasons leading to students' decisions to withdraw from the program. Identified and reported in this study are nine major reasons leading to drop out. Results of…

This paper discusses the higher education sector's role in a knowledge-based economy though research training, that is, doctoral education. It also examines how a Faculty of Education supports its doctoral candidates in their endeavours to become "knowledge producers". Two themes are explored: one is Australia's limited investment in…

This research focused on the undergraduate learners' perceptions of blended learning at the Arab Open University--Bahrain Branch (AOU-BH). It also focused on factors that influence learners' perceptions and examined the relationships between learners' perceptions and their particular demographic characteristics (age, gender, educational level,…

A research project assessed the effect of Open College Network (OCN) accreditation on learner motivation and progression. It reviewed the effectiveness of OCNs in reaching the learners they seek to target--those who have benefited least from existing initial and continuing education. A postal survey was conducted of all learners registered with…

The Open Learning Institute of Hong Kong (OLI) provides first degree courses to local residents over the age of 18 by distance education. Distance education is characterized by its urban quality, where "distance" is more often social than geographic. Hong Kong is highly organized and compact with an efficient public transportation…

Compiled to make available details of reports which contain the record of work by the research groups of the Open University's Institute of Educational Technology, this list is divided into two sections: (1) Completed Series; and (2) Current Series. Within each section the lists are placed in alphabetical order by program and, where known, the…

This pamphlet is intended to assist the consumer in making informed decisions when choosing between distance learning programs. Distance education and distance learners are defined. Included is advice on beginning a program search; choosing a school; accreditation; evaluating quality of electronically offered programs; evaluate non-accredited…