This book describes the history, structure and institutions of open and distance education in six countries: Australia, Brazil, Canada, Germany, the UK and the US. It discusses how open and distance education is evolving in a digital age to reflect the needs and circumstances of national higher education systems in these countries, and explores…

The policy environment for universities in England has changed significantly over the past few years. This can be seen most obviously in relation to the funding of undergraduate education, but other changes will come to be seen as equally influential in the long term. One example is the change to the policy on controlling student numbers, which is…

This paper reviews different perspectives of the changing nature of childhood, comparing these to state responses that seek to improve children's well-being. Unlike previous generations of children, children today spend much of their time under cover and under the watchful eyes of adults. It is likely that this change has had a negative impact on…

Offers a clarification of competitiveness within international trade, particularly its impact upon the mix of goods produced in the United States. Dispels some of the myths about competitiveness that emanate from the false correlation between specific businesses and their country-of-origin. Discusses high productivity as both a cause and an effect…

This case study provides information on the formal and informal technical and vocational education systems operating within the United Kingdom. It is intended to assist policymakers, planners, administrators, and experts in technical and vocational education. Part I provides basic information on the country and its economy with special emphasis on…

Four articles explore the concept of national security and its impact on freedom of information, historically and currently, in the United States (Harold C. Relyea, Steven L. Katz), Australia (Richard Alston), and the United Kingdom (David Goldberg). (CLB)

This paper presents a model of the approaches open to government to ensure that early childhood services are affordable to families. We derived the model from a comparative literature review of affordability approaches taken by government, both in Australia and internationally. The model adds significantly to the literature by proposing a means to…

This paper details the work of Demos and the Learning and Skills Development Agency to examine how new institutional structures for supporting lifelong learning can develop in ways that best support community-based learning activities in the United Kingdom. Three seminar background papers and notes are provided, each followed by seminar notes.…

U.S. research institutions are undergoing significant changes from patterns established in the decade following World War II. Declining undergraduate enrollments are predicted to lead to "steady-state" universities; federal policy is emphasizing industry-university research cooperation and calling for a decreased federal role in the…

This paper surveys European and United States approaches to public funding for post-compulsory education and offers an analytical framework describing how the funding is allocated, with a particular focus on identifying the principles that governments use to determine access to public funding for post-compulsory education. The study identifies two…

In 1997, a skills task force began a 2-year process of gathering input from English employers and post-16 education and training practitioners and formulating a national skills agenda. The agenda's goals included instilling a culture of lifelong learning in the United Kingdom, better anticipating the evolving skill requirements of employment, and…

The Learning and Skills Development Agency (LSDA), a national resource for policy and practice development in post-16 education and training, responds to a government White Paper on higher education's (HE's) future. LSDA believes that policy development across further education (FE) and HE sectors should be coordinated and that the government has…

This collection of essays, which is arranged in four sections, concerns flexibility in the Vocational Education and Training (VET) systems of Europe. The first section, "Introduction," includes the following chapter: "Shaping Conditions for a Flexible VET" (Nieuwenhuis et al.). The second section, "Institutional and…

This paper examines the development of policies designed to widen access to higher education policy in the United Kingdom. These policies have evolved in the context of the devolution of political authority to the Scottish Parliament and Assemblies in Wales and Northern Ireland, which has resulted in some policy variation. The paper examines the…

This document outlines how the government of the United Kingdom intends to achieve and sustain full employment and social justice across the country. Chapter 1 discusses the United Kingdom's economic, educational, and social problems and details plans to solve them through a policy based on the following principles: (1) building an economy with…