Today, the classroom beyond the border through online Open University education in Nigeria has made it possible for many students to obtain university degrees. However, the reliability and legality of such degrees have become questionable. This paper is a descriptive exploratory case study regarding the public and private sector end-users, whose…

This study investigated the impact of face-to-face contact sessions and online discussion forums on the academic performance of students at an Open Distance Learning (ODL) university (N = 1,015). t-Tests for independent samples indicated that students who attended a written assignment preparation contact session performed significantly better in…

Online learning has an important place in widening access and participation in higher education for diverse student cohorts. One cohort taking up online study in increasing numbers is that of mature-age, first-in-family students. First-in-family is defined as those who are the first in their immediate family, including parents, siblings, partners…

This research aimed to evaluate of online tutorial program design by applying problem-based learning Research Methods currently implemented in the system of Open Distance Learning (ODL). The students must take a Research Methods course to prepare themselves for academic writing projects. Problem-based learning basically emphasizes the process of…

Rapid advances in information and communications technology in the digital age have brought about significant changes in the practice of distance education (DE) worldwide. DE practitioners in the Philippines' open university have coined the term "open and distance e-learning" (ODeL) to refer to the new forms of DE, which are…

Distance education system of Allama Iqbal Open University (AIOU), Pakistan mostly depends on the idea of learning through print material and other media such as television, radio, online CDs etc. For conducting this research study, emphasis was on the evaluation of the self-instructional print materials to be used in distance learning system of…

Distance universities excel in using digital media technologies for content delivery and collaborative interaction to compensate for limited face-to-face opportunities. Now that an ever-growing variety of media technologies, devices, and services are flooding the market, possession of expertise about the educational opportunities of these…

Staff development plays a crucial role in Open and Distance learning programmes because most of the staff working on these programmes are products of the conventional face to face system. Lack of proper training of staff in ODL can lead to high dropout rate among distance learners. The purpose of this study was to investigate staff development…

This research was aimed at developing printed teaching materials of Atomic Physics PEFI4421 Course using Research and Development (R & D) model; which consisted of three major set of activities. The first set consisted of seven stages, the second set consisted of one stage, and the third set consisted of seven stages. This research study was…

This study focuses on attitudes toward (teaching) science and the learning of science for primary school among pre-service teachers at the Open University of Indonesia. A three-year longitudinal survey was conducted, involving 379 students as pre-service teachers (PSTs) from the Open University in Surabaya regional office. Attitudes toward…

Much research has been conducted in the area of teacher professional identity in the past decades. Nonetheless, very little attention has been paid to the professional identity of tutors in distance education. Using interviews, this study set out to investigate distance tutors' claimed and assigned professional identities, their actual, ought and…

Learning a language through distance means is becoming increasingly widespread. The investigation reported in this paper was part of a large study (n = 590) carried out in 2011, which examined the experience of English-speaking students learning French pronunciation in a distance setting. This paper explores the hypothesis that there is a link…

This article presents a role-play game for software project management (SPM) in a three-dimensional online multiuser virtual world. The Opensimulator platform is used for the creation of an immersive virtual environment that facilitates students' collaboration and realistic interaction, in order to manage unexpected events occurring during the…

Recent research on student learning in higher education has identified clear associations between variations in students' perceptions of the academic environment and variations in their study behaviour. This study investigated a general theoretical model linking students' demographic characteristics, perceptions and study behaviour with measures…

Although collaboration skills are highly valued by employers, convincing students that collaborative learning activities are worthwhile, and ensuring that the experience is both useful and enjoyable, are significant challenges for educators. This paper addresses these challenges by exploring students' and tutors' experiences of a group project…