The Arab Open University (AOU) has adopted the standard deviation method (SDM) as a grading system in replacement of a fixed scale. Adopting SDM was intended to remedy a problem that has resulted from discrepancies between AOU's graduation requirements and those of its partner, UK Open University. This paper aims mainly at investigating whether…

Access to education is not freely available to all. Open Educational Resources (OERs) have the potential to change the playing field in terms of an individual's right to education. The Open University in the United Kingdom was founded almost forty years ago on the principle of "open" access with no entry requirements necessary. The…

Distance education in Brazil has evolved more slowly than distance education offerings in other developing countries. This is because all aspects of Brazil's publicly-funded educational system are excessively regulated, highly bureaucratic, and tightly centralized. Such highly centralized bureaucracy and strict control has resulted in tremendous…

This study examines a) the methods used to structure the pedagogy necessary to underpin distance education delivery used by the Hellenic Open University (HOU); b) the adoption of pedagogical and epistemological conceptual systems HOU uses for the development of its pedagogical practices; and c) the role of information and communication technology…

Technologies offer tantalising possibilities for new forms of educational innovation, but we have argued that there is a gap between the potential of technologies to support learning and the reality of how they are actually used, and that this is due to a lack of understanding about how technologies can be used to afford specific learning…

The creation of quality e-learning material creates a cost dilemma for many institutions, since it has both high variable and high fixed costs. This cost dilemma means that economies of scale are difficult to achieve, which may result in a consequent reduction in the quality of the learning material. Based on the experience of creating a masters…

We propose that the design and implementation of effective "Social Learning Analytics (SLA)" present significant challenges and opportunities for both research and enterprise, in three important respects. The first is that the learning landscape is extraordinarily turbulent at present, in no small part due to technological drivers.…

Fully online courses are becoming progressively more popular because of their "anytime anywhere" learning flexibility. One of the ways students interact with each other and with the instructors within fully online learning environments is via asynchronous discussion forums. However, student engagement in online discussion forums does not…

Open educational resources (OER) raise many similar issues for education to those that have surrounded Learning Objects (LO). However the greater use and availability of digital technologies and open licensing seems to be enabling OER to have wider acceptance into individual and institutional teaching practice. While the need for appropriate…

Openness as a complex code word for a variety of digital trends and movements has emerged as an alternative mode of "social production" based on the growing and overlapping complexities of open source, open access, open archiving, open publishing, and open science. This paper argues that the openness movement with its reinforcing structure of…

Education in the twenty-first century is underpinned by theories of inclusion and practices of open and distance learning (Aldrich, 2003; Richards, 2004). New concerns are replacing the traditional views on the impossibility of integrating pedagogy and technology (Barab et al, 2004; Roblyer et al, 2000). Supporting learning in the digital age…

The Open University (OU) has a long and distinguished history of teaching biology at a distance by a supported open learning model. This article examines some of the challenges in delivering biology via distance teaching, explores some of the lessons learned, and discusses the opportunities and hazards of new teaching technologies that the OU has…

Success and failure in language learning are partly determined by the learners' ability to regulate their emotions. Negative feelings are more likely to frustrate progress, while positive ones make the task of learning a second language (L2) a more effective experience. To date no significant body of research has been carried out into the role of…

This article presents a method for computer-aided tutor evaluation: Bayesian Networks are used for organizing the collected data about tutors and for enabling accurate estimations and predictions about future tutor behavior. The model provides indications about each tutor's strengths and weaknesses, which enables the evaluator to exploit strengths…

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…