The widespread adoption of information and communications technologies (ICT) in higher education (HE) since the mid 1990s has failed to produce the radical changes in learning and teaching than many anticipated. Activity theory and Rogers' model of the adoption of innovations provide analytic frameworks that help develop our understanding of the…

The Open University has been working with the University of Fort Hare on its Distance Education Project since 1997, helping to develop its innovative distance education programme for primary teachers in the Eastern Cape. Recently the OU has been involved in researching the impact of this programme on teachers' perceptions of their practice and…

Empirical studies and theory suggest that educational dialogue can be used to support learners in the development of reasoning, critical thinking and argumentation. This paper presents an educational design for synchronous online peer discussion that guides student dialogue in ways that lead to improved argumentation and collaborative knowledge…

The Course Experience Questionnaire (CEQ) and an 'in-house' questionnaire, the Personal and Educational Development Inventory (PEDI), were administered in a postal survey of graduates who had been awarded the first BA/BSc (Hons) named degrees of the Open University and comparison samples of graduates awarded the pre-existing 'unnamed' degrees. The…

This paper presents a methodological approach based on Bayesian Networks for modelling the behaviour of the students of a bachelor course in computers in an Open University that deploys distance educational methods. It describes the structure of the model, its application for modelling the behaviour of student groups in the Informatics Course of…

This study investigated the kinds of dialogic behavior engaged in by students while studying a difficult physics course at the Open University, UK. Research objectives were twofold: (1) to document what dialogue types, mediated through which resources, were utilized by students to overcome conceptual difficulties that emerged while reading the…

The paper represents a study of students' experience of interactivity in distance education programmes at the National Open University of Nigeria (NOUN). Through surveys and focus groups with students, facilitators, and administrative support staff, we found out that interactivity is a key determinant of student success rate. Majority of the…

This study investigated the experience of learners enrolled on an Open University (UK) French course, and included personality factors, motivation, and tutor and student roles. The data gathered via multiple elicitation methods gave useful insights into issues of special relevance to distance language education, in particular the lack of fit…

This handbook discusses the role, structures, organization, and management of study centers as they operate in different postsecondary settings in the Asia Pacific region. Eight chapters and a postscript are included: (1) introduction; (2) what is a study center; (3) why might an institution want study centers--functions, architectural types,…

Presents the steps necessary for successful innovation, with emphasis on financing, selling the change to faculty, and evaluating the results. (Editor)

This report from the 1987 annual meeting of the Association for Educational Communications and Technology contains biographical data on the panelists in a session on selected international distance learning institutions and brief summaries of the following presentations: (1) "The Central Agricultural Broadcasting School of China"…

This report makes recommendations for the establishment of an active research and evaluation program for the Open Learning Institute (OLI) and the Knowledge Network (KN) of British Columbia (Canada). It is suggested that the OLI and KN programs develop a framework for evaluating their own performance, that the database be improved to provide…

This report describes the role of the Open University (OU) in providing technologically innovative opportunities in adult and continuing education in Britain. An introductory section explains the purpose of the Open University; its history and principles; its programs of study; its teaching methods and media; technology in its teaching system…

This report presents conclusions of a study of the feasibility of adapting Open University materials for use in student-centered learning in other institutions, especially polytechnics. It discusses the development of open learning in the polytechnics, drawing attention to the need for collaborative production of materials. Chapter 1 is an…

This collection of 219 ERIC "ED" (non-journal) abstracts was compiled through systematic, free-text computer searches of "all related" ERIC documents, which were conducted for the preparation of a 1983 research report entitled "Serving Learners at a Distance." The ERIC identifiers "distance education" (now a…