In recent years, the proliferation of online and distance education has dramatically changed the landscape of education. With the growing demand for flexible and accessible learning opportunities, learners are increasingly turning to online and distance education programs to pursue their academic, personal, and professional goals. However, this…

This research explores how boundary-spanning efforts in higher education can be expanded through the digital space and contribute to sustainability in higher education. By employing a qualitative case study design, we examine the journey of a Turkish public university's open education faculty, focusing on how the university has leveraged its open…

Since COVID-19 pandemic hit the world at the beginning of 2020s, various efforts were made to keep the education process running while still enforcing protocols to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Online learning then becomes an option and inevitability for educational institutions to break the chain of spreading the virus. Furthermore, distance…

Predicting and improving the academic achievement of university students is a multifactorial problem. Considering the low success rates and high dropout rates, particularly in open education programs characterized by mass enrollment, academic success is an important research area with its causes and consequences. This study aimed to solve a…

The purpose of this study is to explore the current status of micro-credentialing policies and practices in Middle Eastern and North African universities. Using a quantitative approach and a comprehensive questionnaire based on recent work by the Australasian Council on Open, Distance, and e-Learning (as reported by ACODE, Survey of…

Open Networked Learning (ONL) is a collaborative open online course for higher education educators worldwide, focusing on open education, collaborative learning, and course design. The interorganizational course welcomes both institutional and open learners from around 30 nations. Delivered 17 times since 2014 with up to 120 participants in each…

University systems maintain prohibitive closures that constitute a closed-loop system: opaque academic practices, control of what counts as knowledge, financial and social exclusion, and the perpetuation of privilege. Yet this closed-loop system is also governed by adherence to values around education as a public good, openness, and authenticity,…

Student support is seen as a necessity to better students' progress. For students to succeed when studying at a distance, they need a great deal of support to adjust to the institution of higher learning. Independence theory was used as a lens to understand the role of student support staff in providing services to students. A qualitative case…

OER-enabled pedagogy, one form of open pedagogy, is gaining popularity as a method for increasing student engagement and motivation. Realising the potential of this approach, however, depends on faculty implementation and reducing resistance to change. This study explores the experience of instructors during their first and second courses when…

This collaborative self-study examines how five higher education institutions in British Columbia (BC), Canada, have achieved momentum with openness and are implementing and sustaining their efforts. A goal of this research was to see whether an institutional self-assessment tool--adapted from blended learning and institutional transformation…

The aim of this study is to evaluate the extent to which open, and distance education universities are fulfilling their stated purpose as higher education institutions in SubSaharan countries. The starting point of understanding the purpose of an institutions is to analyse the content of mission statements and the context in which the universities…

A major challenge for distance learning in higher education is supporting course completion. Counteracting completion risk factors requires investigating their significance across (non)completion stages. We tested the predictability of known risk factors at each completion stage. Not initiating was explained by available time, low motivation and…

In the Fall of 2014, several universities came together to offer a unique "dual-layer" open online course. This course was designed with two complete layers from two different course design modalities (instructivism and connectivism). Learners were granted the freedom to create an individualized pathway through the course involving…

This paper considers the widening access and participation agenda, its implications for higher education institutions (HEIs) and contends that it must be underpinned by strategic measurement and monitoring. Access is viewed through the following lenses: (i) supporting participation, and (ii) facilitating equity. Using mixed methods, the paper…

Over the past few years, we have witnessed immense advancements of technology which challenge conventional teaching methodologies. This paper analyses an open and distance learning university from two culturally distinct continents --Africa and Asia-- through an international staff exchange program that was attended over a two-week period. This…