In Japan, environmental education partnerships among citizens, businesses and local government increased since new legislation was introduced in 2003, but there was little evidence of cross-sector collaboration until recently. Nagoya Open University of the Environment is a highly innovative, multi-sectoral citizen learning system founded in 2005…

The development of autonomous learners is an important goal for language teaching programmes. However, achievement of this goal depends on teachers creating an environment where learners can experience autonomy in order to become more autonomous, a process referred to by Little (2003) as "autonomization". In distance learning, course…

Quality assurance for distance higher education is one of the main concerns among institutions and stakeholders today. This paper examines the experiences of Universitas Terbuka (UT), which has initiated and implemented an innovative strategy of quality assurance (QA) for continuous improvement. The credo of the UT quality assurance system is…

The Open University has been undertaking an extended initiative to improve student retention through enhanced support for at-risk students. This initiative has evolved through a series of stages from ad hoc small scale local interventions relying largely on tutors and student self-referral, to an institution-wide pro-active system implemented by…

This article is based on research and development carried out at the Centre for Outcomes-Based Education at the Open University (OU). It explores the way in which higher education (HE) assessment could meet specific criteria in order to assess the unique qualities that underpin the relationship between practitioner-researchers and the workplace.…

Much Second Language Acquisition research focuses on young learners in the conventional classroom. Instructed adult learners, and in particular those who are learning at a distance, have attracted less attention. This group is substantial and growing: the Open University, the largest higher education language provider in the UK, alone recruits…

This paper examines the origin and implications of adult learners' emotions in the context of an online distance learning programme at the Open University of Cyprus. Various methods for gathering data about learners' emotions related to online learning are used, such as emotion diaries, semi-structured interviews, and email messages. The paper…

The study examined perceptions of the learning environment, coping strategies, and the subjective well-being of undergraduate female students taking on-line courses at the Open University of Israel. Fifty females with learning disabilities (LD) and 73 females without disabilities, 25-39 years old, completed three different questionnaires sent to…

Using newspaper as a support material in distance education is a method integrated in almost every education applications. Newspapers are broadcasted monthly, bimonthly, every three months or quarterly to create a positive opinion in public, announce students' problems, produce solutions to these problems, release news related with students,…

A re-examination of the role of educational technology in the Open University in Great Britain. (HB)

Evaluates Open University in Great Britain which has 40,000 students involved in correspondence courses. (DS)

A review of some of the considerations concerning the link between broadcasting and other modes of instruction that the teams preparing courses for the Open University will have to face. (AA)

The Open University in England will be geared primarily toward adult students and will occupy about 30 hours of broadcast time weekly. Courses will be revised at least every three years. Analysis of cost effectiveness cannot be phrased simply in terms of the number of graduates. (MF)