This analysis and guidelines aim to establish the key issues and considerations in describing the new or modified digital and professional skills TVET teachers require for blended delivery. The accompanying "Digital and Professional Teacher Competency Standards for Blended TVET" presents the draft competency standards. [For the…

Given what is known about the importance of productive struggle for supporting student learning of mathematics at all levels, the current study sought to examine teacher attitudes towards student struggle when students learn mathematics in remote learning settings compared with classroom settings. Eighty-two Australian early years primary teachers…

This paper explores the results of a survey that was conducted with 277 pre-service teachers studying at two regional university campuses in Victoria, Australia in 2014. Data showed that participants expressed high level of satisfaction with the quality of their undergraduate courses in education including the flexible teaching and learning…

In large continental landmasses such as Australia, forms of education, including correspondence schooling, emerged in the early twentieth century that allowed children in remote regions to access education. To make such schooling possible, other "technologies" of state provision were mobilised such as the postal system, rail network, and…

The Commission on International Adult Education (CIAE) of the American Association for Adult and Continuing Education (AAACE) provides a forum for the discussion of international issues related to adult education in general, as well as adult education in various countries around the globe. The following purposes summarize the work of the…

The principle of equality states that it is bad for some people to be worse off than others. In the context of distance education, this principle is violated on those occasions where on-campus students have access, not only to all the resources available to distance education students, but also to face-to-face tutorials. This is because the…

The University of Sydney is a large, research-intensive, campus-based Australian University. Since 2004 a strategic initiative of project-based eLearning support has been creating teams of non-academic and academic staff, who have worked together to develop online resources to meet identified needs. The University's aims in continuing to provide…

This guide is designed to provide a basis for the effective design of instructional materials for distance education. Organized around a model of instructional development which encompasses both external structural factors (factors that are largely outside the direct control of the individual instructor but which must be investigated) and internal…

Reports on an evaluation of the use of learning materials developed by the Open University for operational managers in the British Health Service by professionals in Australia, the Cayman Islands, Hong Kong and the United Kingdom. Discusses participant's views of the workbooks, the assessment process, and the development of competence. (LRW)

Open University learning materials for health service managers were evaluated in Australia (n=8), the Cayman Islands (n=12), Hong Kong (n=43), and the United Kingdom (n=68). Participants felt the 18 workbooks, assessment process, and tutorials were helpful. There were considerable cross-country differences in the extent to which they felt their…

This study investigates the application of voice recognition technology to online lectures focusing on the efficacy of the text component of a multimedia presentation. Specifically, participants were provided with online access to multimedia instructional packages comprising an image of the lecturer with accompanying computer slides, plus…

This paper reports the results of a research project investigating the use that Distance Education (DE) students at university make of the learning materials that are supplied to them. The research is based on a survey of 998 DE students enrolled in ten undergraduate subjects spread across all five Faculties at Charles Sturt University (CSU) in…

Discusses five fallacies that can arise in the design and analysis of student questionnaires regarding teaching materials used in Australian distance education courses, including student objectivity, student subject knowledge, notions of relevance, author responsibility for student learning, and faulty generalization in evaluating student…

This paper reports on a survey of how Australian undergraduate students perceive the benefits of broad study modes: face-to-face classes, web-based study, and print-based study. Two benefit types were identified through factor analysis: engagement and functionality. Respondents rated face-to-face classes highest on engagement and print-based study…

Describes Open Learning Australia (OLA), a national program that was developed to widen and facilitate access to undergraduate education by providing open admission. Highlights include other Australian distance education programs; services provided by OLA and those provided by participating universities; electronic support services; fees; and…