Online learning has attracted a large number of participants and is increasingly becoming very popular. However, the completion rates for online learning are notoriously low. Further, unlike traditional education systems, teachers, if any, are unable to comprehensively evaluate the learning gain of each student through the online learning…

Open Education Resources (OER) are educational materials that are free and posted on-line for use by teachers and students. The materials can be used as they are posted or mixed and matched with other materials from other on line sources, with the impetus behind the OER movement being the increasing price of textbooks. The purpose of this study…

UK higher education data has shown persistent differences in degree outcomes for specific student groups. Consequently, the Office for Students (the UK government's higher education regulator) are funding 17 projects to address these inequalities. Building on its expertise, our institution is leading the IncSTEM project alongside colleagues from…

The OpenLearn platform was launched in 2006 with the aim of delivering excerpts of the Open University's (UK) (OU) curriculum as open educational resources (OER). Now reaching over 9m learners a year, the platform delivers free courses, educational interactives, videos and articles across a broad range of subjects reflecting what is delivered…

The purpose of this study is to provide an overview of how open universities depict their current institutional engagement in open educational practices. In view of the growth of programming for nontraditional students by conventional universities, particularly through online learning and increasing interest in open educational practices, the…

Open and distance education has been playing an important role in China's development of higher education and lifelong learning. In 2012, the Chinese government approved six large-scale radio and television universities (RTVUs) to become open universities (OUs), including the Open University of China (OUC), Beijing Open University (BJOU), Shanghai…

The Open University has provided distance learning opportunities for 50 years and succeeds in offering its students many of the attributes of flexible learning. This article is a case study of the development of a highly successful partnership model of academic and pastoral support in mathematics and statistics at The Open University, and its…

Students registering for distance education degree-level study frequently cite flexibility as a factor influencing their choice for this mode of study, but little is known about how students manage simultaneous and/or potentially conflicting roles. This study used a self-report open-ended online survey, completed by 348 tertiary-level final-year…

Purpose: The Open University of Sri Lanka (OUSL) is the only institution to deliver legal education through Open and Distance Learning (ODL) in Sri Lanka. This study aims to analyze technology usage in learning and teaching law in the ODL under OUSL to evaluate the accessibility and also challenges. Design/methodology/approach: A combination of…

Despite the worldwide interest on transforming curricula, a case study examination of what really happens within an ODeL South African university context, has been much limited. By using psycho-social and social identity theory, we highlight the complexities involved in the process of transforming decades of teaching and learning practices. The…

In this paper, we argue for a new synthesis of two pedagogic theories: feminist pedagogy and transactional distance, which explain why and how distance education has been such a positive system for women in a national distance learning university. We illustrate this with examples of positive action initiatives for women. The concept of…

Study of four-year broad access institutions (BAIs) is important given their influence on postsecondary educational opportunities and the continued importance of the bachelor's degree in earnings premiums and critical social and civic outcomes. Descriptive results add to current understanding regarding heterogeneity of four-year BAIs by…

Zimbabwe Open University (ZOU) has come up with the technology platform known as MyVista which can be used to fulfil teaching and learning activities online. However, it appeared that when the MyVista platform became fully operational from 2017, both students and staff members faced a lot of challenges. To investigate these challenges, this study…

Policies and programmes of higher education play an important role to make accomplishment of the higher education objectives. If the policies and schemes of government for higher education has a good strategy to implement them, then only they will accomplish the objectives of higher education which in turn will bring progress and quality…

This study evaluates comparative effectiveness of teaching modes i.e. video programmes, tutorial, textbook, and online web being used in Distance Education system of Chinese Open University, Beijing. Special emphasis has been given to video programmes. Population of the study was graduate students enrolled in different courses having online and…