The pedagogic practical knowledge that teachers use in their lessons is very difficult to make visible and often remains tacit. This chapter draws on data from a recent study and closely analyses a number of Open Educational Resources used by three language teachers at the UK Open University in order to try to capture how their use of the…

Gender inequality has been a constant refrain among those that desire social justice. To this end, a global conference on gender equality was organized by the United Nations in 1995 in Beijing, China. However, a recent study questioned the effectiveness of the conference to solve this problem as it found that women themselves are giving hegemonic…

Assessment is an integral part of the learning process. The traditional practice of assessment has changed to meet the need of the contemporary society. In this paper assessment strategies used in Open and Distance Education are discussed and constructive suggestions are given to meet the challenges of assessment. Recently we experience a paradigm…

According to Christensen and Horn, Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) are serving non-consumers. Although they are limited in the services they provide compared with traditional colleges, they offer free and accessible education to a broader audience, who cannot afford the traditional provision. However, this is a characteristic of online…

The nature of openness in education has transformed from just relating to open access to encompass a wide range of interpretations. This paper explores the concept of an "open scholar" whose practice is shaped by digital and networked technologies. It is argued that openness represents an effective working method in this environment, and…

This case study considers students who achieved "borderline" (40-45%) grades in their first assignment on a module, but went on to markedly improve their grades over the course of the module. The students were studying nursing and social work at the UK Open University, and they were all sponsored by employers. Semi-structured telephone…

For students new to higher education, the task of developing their academic writing skills, and particularly the principles and practices of source-referencing, can be daunting. Although institutions and teachers can and do provide positive guidance on this score, all too often students veer into inadvertent plagiarism through lack of confidence…

A core goal for most learning analytic projects is to move from small-scale research towards broader institutional implementation, but this introduces a new set of challenges because institutions are stable systems, resistant to change. To avoid failure and maximize success, implementation of learning analytics at scale requires explicit and…

This paper discusses Latent Semantic Analysis (LSA) as a method for the assessment of prior learning. The Accreditation of Prior Learning (APL) is a procedure to offer learners an individualized curriculum based on their prior experiences and knowledge. The placement decisions in this process are based on the analysis of student material by domain…

The aim of this study is to investigate the present status of DCSA program focusing on student enrollment, dropout, and completion trends. The study tries to explore the factors that attract or pull students to enroll in the program and push them to dropout from the program. Secondary data analysis and interview are used to generate data of the…

Dr. B. R. Ambedkar Open University (BRAOU), the first distance teaching university in India, was a great educational event. It started a new chapter in the history of India's distance higher education. The general objects this research studies are: (1) to identify the information and communication technologies used in open distance education…

Continuing higher education has undergone a significant transformation in recent years, illustrated by such innovations as MOOCs, globalization, strategic collaborations with government and industry, and increased entrepreneurship. As a result, continuing education (CE) units have experienced a fundamental shift in the way they conduct business in…

Students with Hearing Impairment (HI) are experiencing learning problems in most institutions of Higher Learning in Zimbabwe. Access to colleges and universities is limited and where they are accepted, there are no facilities to cater for their needs, hence there is need to develop learning materials that enable these students to learn effectively…

In the developing country like India, the output of graduates from higher educational institutions is high. But, the major concern is that majority of graduates are not employable, especially from rural areas for want of skills expected by the employer. The soft skills, communication skills and multidisciplinary knowledge are essential to become…

UT (Universitas Terbuka), the open university in Indonesia, is one of the large universities in Indonesia that has more than 300,000 students. UT, as a distance learning education, has conducted online tutorial since 2001. The implementation of an effective and efficient online tutorial depends on three components: students, tutors, and supporting…