The present study was carried out to determine the motivating factors for enrolling in an engineering study programme in open and distance learning (ODL) and the factors that affect the students' performance. The study was conducted with two convenient samples of students following distance learning courses in engineering technology, conducted by…

An examination is an important component of any institution that educates people. It is a form of assessment used to measure the students' understanding of the concepts and principles they would have learnt. Zimbabwe Open University, an Open and Distance Learning institution has been setting its own examinations for the academic programmes…

Quality assurance (QA) and accreditation in higher education include the systematic management and assessment of procedures to monitor performance and to address areas of improvement. In the context of globalization, without assuring the quality of higher education programmes it is not possible to ensure credit transfer and student mobility, to…

In mid-2009, the NOUN (National Open University of Nigeria) reached the decision to shift from conventional (that is, pen-and-paper) examination to electronic examination in the conduct of the end of semester examinations. One of the major factors prompting this decision is the inability of the university to release the results of past…

Recent changes in information and communication technologies offer people unprecedented opportunities to generate and share knowledge. Currently, inclusion refers to equal opportunities for the 3.0 person and it is not limited to special physical needs or reducing the digital divide. Faced with this reality, universities, in general must transform…

The release of free resources by the education sector has led to reconsideration of how the open approach implied by Open Educational Resources (OER) impacts on the educator and the learner. However this work has tended to consider the replication of standard campus based approaches and the characteristics of content that will encourage other…

In the present era of information technology the system of education has undergone a lot of changes. Open and Distance Learning (ODL) around the world is perhaps the most important evidence to it. Despite the fact, ODL has not been popular in Bangladesh for a variety of reasons, though currently a few academics are either thinking about studying…

This article discusses the importance of measuring how students perceive quality of service in online higher education. The article also reviews the existing literature on measuring users' perceptions about quality in e-services. Even when there are a lot of articles on this matter, none of them focuses on e-learning services, so this paper tries…

The work of the Open University is situated historically in widening participation, both through its open access policy and the modular structure of the qualifications if offers. The process by which the Open University produces more British Psychological Society accredited graduates with GBC than any other HEI, and the contribution of…

The drive to improve the academic performance of students at an open and distance learning (ODL) institution has resulted in the incorporation of a blended learning component, namely satellite classes, in the learning strategy to enhance the academic performance of first year diploma students in Business Management and Management. Monitoring this…

This paper describes the internal motivations and external drivers that led The Open University UK to enter the field of Open Educational Resources through its institution-wide OpenLearn initiative (www.open.ac.uk/openlearn). It also describes some of the emerging evidence of the impacts inside and outside the university. Through the rapid…

Developing a model for effective large-scale continuous professional development (CPD) for teachers remains a significant obstacle for many governments worldwide. This article describes the development and evolution of Vital--a CPD program designed to enhance the teaching of information communication technology in state-funded primary and…

This article presents an interview with Sir John Daniel outgoing President and CEO of the Commonwealth of Learning. Sir John Daniel's term as President and Chief Executive Officer of the Commonwealth of Learning (COL) ended on May 31, 2012. Readers of "Distance Education" will know of Sir John's work at the Tele-universite (Directeur des…

National student feedback surveys are administered in a number of countries, and several of these encompass both campus-based and distance learning students. The UK Open University achieves a high ranking in the annual National Student Survey (NSS), but there are some anomalies in the results. The NSS questionnaire was administered to three…

For students with visual impairments, Information and Communication Technology (ICT) has become an important means through which they can learn and access learning materials at various levels of education. However, their learning experiences in using such form of technologies have been rarely documented, thus suggests society's lack of…