Learning at a distance and learning online are growing in scale and importance in higher education, presenting opportunities for large scale, inclusive, flexible and engaging learning. These modes of learning swept the world in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. The many challenges of providing effective education online and remotely have been…

This book focuses on the emerging phenomenon of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), which are changing the fundamental underpinning of educational systems worldwide and forcing educators and other stakeholders to re-think the way instruction is currently conducted. It examines the origins of MOOCs within the context of the open education…

Higher education today is a complex, demanding, and competitive reality. Its constituents--students, administrators, faculty, and public--are drawn from diverse sectors of society. Its 'arena' comprises institutions that receive decreased funding, are hounded with increased demands for accountability, and experience declining public support,…

Those responsible for coordinating flexible and open learning in colleges should consider whether the time may be right to seek common ground on the issues and principles shared by the many related initiatives in Great Britain during the last two decades. Two principles that are important to flexible learning are that education's effectiveness is…

To help in the exploration of developments in increasing learning flexibility in Great Britain's further education system, this paper suggests the development of learner flexibility profiles as devices for analyzing and recording the nature and extent of student choice or discretion. The introductory section reviews developments in open learning…

An outline is presented of Barnet College's flexistudy program, a system for providing a wider range of learning opportunities through a more flexible arrangement of course times and content to students who are unable to attend college regularly, who are too few in number to form a specialist class, or who wish to start school at some time other…

This book shows how project work can be used in open and flexible learning. It is divided into three sections. Section A provides background on the use of project work in education and training. Chapter 1 introduces the features that characterize project work and related activities. Chapter 2 examines the varieties of project work and provides…

Describes some of the learning experiences and events occuring in a British Infant School and argues that the teacher is the most important variable in the success of any classroom. (MS)

Suggestions are presented that are drawn from basic skills instruction at the English Learning Centre at Gloucestershire College of Arts and Technology (England), an open learning center geared specifically for ESOL students. Funded for 2 years as a special project by the Adult Literacy and Basic Skills Unit, the center examines procedures that…

A system was developed in the Open Learning Centres to make resources and instructional materials available to adult basic education (ABE) students. The materials were organized so that information could be provided to students to help them make choices among the items. Initially, a color coding system was devised, but it was found that it was not…

Reasons for the increased interest in "self-access" learning in language classrooms are explored, particularly the shift from teacher-centered to learner-centered learning. Ways that a Malaysian teachers college set up a self-access learning center are described. (Contains seven references.) (LB)

Traditionally, educational administration is a technology of administrative control that systematically ignores both educational issues and those social and cultural issues that lie at the heart of people's commitment to, or alienation from, educational institutions. These social and cultural inequalities are investigated in a series of essays on…

This guide offers suggestions for developing learning materials for self-instruction by adults. It is based on methods used in the Bristol (England) Open Learning Centre. The guide covers the following topics: (1) using open (self-instructional) materials with basic education students; (2) supplying support for instructional materials; (3)…

This booklet is the second of three sequels to "A Guide to the Selection of Instructional Methods." Following a brief introduction, the characteristics, strengths, and weaknesses of five individualized learning techniques are examined: (1) directed study of material in textbooks; (2) study of specially-prepared hand-out notes or…

This text gives an overview of distance education for students, administrators, and practitioners in distance education. Chapter 1 discusses the study of distance education. Chapter 2 analyzes forms of nonconventional education (open, nontraditional) that may have similarities to distance education but are not to be identified with it. Chapter 3…