Open Educational Resources (OER) and their offspring, Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs), are becoming important factors in achieving the "Sustainable Development Goal 4: Quality Education" ("SDG4"). The OER movement is less than 15 years old and is growing rapidly as more and more nations and institutions adopt the view that…

The open educational resources initiative has been underway for over a decade now and higher education institutions are slowly adopting open educational resources (OER). The use and creation of OER are important aspects of adoption and both are needed for the benefits of OER to be fully realized. Based on the results of a survey developed to…

Athabasca University--Canada's Open University evaluated learning management systems (LMS) for use by the university. Evaluative criteria were developed in order to ensure that different platforms were tested against weighted criteria representing the needs of the university. Three LMSs (WebCt, LotusNotes, and Moodle) were selected for the…

The Internet environment is suitable for many types of learning activities and teaching and learning styles. Every World Wide Web-based course should provide: home page; introduction; course overview; course requirements, vital information; roles and responsibilities; assignments; schedule; resources; sample tests; teacher biography; course…

A principal characteristic of the Canadian experience with e-learning is the uniquely Canadian feature of provincial jurisdiction over education. Canada is the only country that does not have a national department or ministry of education. Therefore, any investigation of e-learning in Canada must focus more on specific provincial initiatives in…

In the past, small states and provinces were outclassed by big metropolitan regions in the quest for economic development. However, small outlying regions, such as New Brunswick, Canada, can now compete with big urban centers since information technology has made higher education a global enterprise through online courses. Various countries and…

TeleEducation NB through the Telecampus is creating a virtual environment that will support the development of multimedia courseware and the online delivery of courses throughout New Brunswick. This public-private initiative stimulates the growth of small educational and training companies interested in marketing courseware abroad. (Author/AEF)

A heterogeneous distributed database systems (HDDS) offers distance education networks feasible, simple, cost-effective, and efficient database access systems. An HDDS can be used to provide information on available courses, course design, registration procedures, hardware and software use and availability, and library resources. (Author/AEF)

Athabasca University--Canada's Open University (AU) made the commitment to put all of its courses online as part of its Strategic University Plan. In pursuit of this goal, AU participated in the eduSource project, a pan-Canadian effort to build the infrastructure for an interoperable network of learning object repositories. AU acted as a leader in…

The East-West project was designed to provide Canadian adult learners, particularly learning professionals, with the opportunity to complete a Web-based course. Four provinces participated in examining different approaches to implementing accredited programs for adults that would be accessible in the workplace, at home, in schools, and in…