Provides a brief description of a distance education program applied to inservice teacher training in Portugal. Written materials, radio, television programs, and the self-assessment system are described; and statistics are provided. (EAM)

Suggests eight parameters as criteria for describing and comparing distance education/open learning institutions: target population, dimensions of openness, organizational structure, design and development of learning materials, use of advanced technology, teaching/tutoring system, student support systems, and interinstitutional collaboration. (35…

A study at the Open University of Israel found students who study in organized groups and get weekly tutorials have a higher persistence rate than those with tutorials every three weeks. More experienced students and those in liberal arts and social sciences have a higher course completion rate. Age, sex, and educational background have little…

Development of a national higher education market in Australia provides the opportunity for open-access universities to develop recruitment strategies based on the experience of North American institutions. Implications are drawn for focusing on student learning potential, reorganizing the curriculum, integrating recruitment and teaching/learning…

The success of Great Britain's Open University has become a model for distance education in the United States. The Open University is nonselective in admissions and designs its courses for part-time students and working adults. It plans to begin enrolling American students in a new sister institution, the United States Open University. (MSE)

Defines an open university, explains why Ghana needs an open university system, and describes how to establish one. Discusses the role of government, business, and expatriate Ghanaians and presents a model of an open university, including academic sections and research centers. (PEN)

The provision of a professional development programme for distance tutors can be problematic because of the need for flexibility to cater for a variety of working practices, or to overcome the hurdles imposed by geographical remoteness. At the UK Open University, online networks are widely in use for teaching and learning, and we are actively…

This paper reports an investigation of the impact of students cognitive style on their effective use of educational text-based computer-mediated conferences. The research centres on an empirical study involving students from three courses run by the British Open University. Statistical analysis of the data does not suggest that cognitive style has…

This paper presents an exploratory study that investigates the effects of online learning on distance education students in an open university context. Two hypotheses are posited: (1) a direct relationship exists between students involvement in online learning and distance learning outcomes, and (2) an indirect relationship exists between these…

The purpose of this study was to explore patterns of learning among adult learners in a Web-based learning environment over the study period of one year in the Open University in Tampere and Lohja in Finland. The learning environment varied from face-to-face small group sessions to Web-based online discussion sessions. During this study contextual…

This paper reports on a study which investigates the implementation of a synchronous e-learning system ("Interwise") for online tutorials on an information technology related course offered by the Open University of Hong Kong (OUHK). It examines a set of interview data related to students' and tutors' views on the use of the system.…

Throughout the world, policy-makers are demonstrating their commitment to widening participation in education by promoting alternative pathways to gaining academic qualifications. This paper reports a study which aimed to investigate the potential of online learning to overcome barriers to participating in education by socially disadvantaged…

In response to the government's push toward a "knowledge-based economy society", the development and applications of e-learning technologies have become more and more popular in Hong Kong. E-learning provides a student-centered learning environment and delivers knowledge on-demand with up-to-the-minute information. However, a high…

A project management design for modularizing higher education at open universities was developed and tested. Literature in the fields of project management and development of modular curriculum materials was reviewed and used as a basis for developing a project-based approach to the process of developing modules for self-instruction. According to…

One answer to the magnitude of the world education crisis is the provision of very large education systems, capable of enrolling 100,000 students or more. The largest distance system is the Dianda or Chinese Radio and Television University (CRTVU) system. Dianda is best described as a network of one central open university that does not enroll…