Affordable access to higher education is a major challenge for small Pacific island nations. The University of the South Pacific which is owned and governed by twelve island nations in this region plays a special role in meeting this challenge. In its fiftieth year, a few recent developments at USP provide a useful case study for how this…

An exciting new avenue for establishing and expanding national commitments to open education has emerged through the Open Government Partnership (OGP), a multilateral initiative that aims to secure commitments from governments to make their governance more open, accountable and responsive to citizens. In the past, there has not been a strong link…

Management of time and workload is influenced by the quality of awareness of impacting factors. Faculty has to attend to many responsibilities, with technology in teaching a recent but game-changing impacting factor. This article is a case study which explores the metacognitive awareness of the impact of technology on teaching, learning and…

Emergency and conflict in countries such as Syria, the Philippines, Sri Lanka and Afghanistan have made us more aware of the long-term serial disruption and psychosocial damage faced by people caught up in emergency and conflict areas. Open, distance and flexible learning (ODFL) has sometimes been employed in these regions to maintain a degree of…

This paper reports in brief the pilot study, Distance Education Regulatory Frameworks, undertaken by the International Council for Open and Distance Education (ICDE) in 2010-2012 and the implications for openness for higher education in Southwest Pacific/South East Asia region nations. The project developed a methodological approach to…

This paper describes the development of education of students with special needs in vocational education. The paper is based on a case study research conducted in 2001-2005 in Jyvaskyla Municipal Federation of Vocational Education in Central Finland. The study consisted of two parts: firstly of the historical analysis of special educational…

The paper attempts to provide relevant data on the achievements, albeit quantitatively, of the National Correspondence Institute of Tanzania over the past 30 years as a case study in distance education innovation. The case-study data reveal reasons for the near collapse of the distance education programme during the 1990s, and the renewed policy…

A case study in the planning for a possible distance-study system in Germany. Three project areas are described (the Quadringa radio colleges, the German Institute of Distance Study, and multi-media study teams in universities). Efforts to establish a national system are analyzed and compared to the development of Britain's Open University. (JT)

Gender disparity in education has usually been experienced as disadvantaging girls. Although this continues to be the case in many places, the phenomenon of boys' underachievement--both in terms of participation and performance--has also become an issue in a number of countries. This book reviews the research on boys' underachievement and presents…

Routes of progression from formal to informal learning in community settings in Great Britain were examined in a study that included three research strands: literature review; consultation with relevant agencies and individuals; and visits to nine informal learning environments and organizations providing informal learning in the community. The…

Containing practical applications supported by pertinent theory and analysis, this book is designed for educators navigating the information highway. The 13 chapters are divided into three sections--emerging issues, case studies, and analysis--and are as follows: (1) "Distinctions in Distance: Is Distance Education an Obsolete Term?" (M.…

Ideological arguments are made for open learning, economic ones for distance education. If it can produce similar results to those of conventional education at a lower cost, then distance education has a powerful appeal. With increasing demand for access to educational opportunities at all levels, and often decreasing budgets in real terms for…

This book contains 10 chapters that analyze and synthesize the progress of open and distance education (ODE) in the developing world. Most chapters include case studies of programs in a variety of countries. "Introduction: Golden Goose or Ugly Duckling" briefly delineates the history of the field. "Nonformal Education: The Light…

The Workers' Educational Association (WEA) is a national voluntary organization dedicated to giving adults in the United Kingdom access to organized learning. In a response to the British government green paper "The Learning Age," the WEA outlined its positions regarding lifelong learning and its recommendations regarding increasing the…

Both of these "Surveys of policy and practice" were conducted on behalf of COL by the South African Institute for Distance Education (SAIDE) as part of COL's partnership agreement with the Association for the Development of Education in Africa (ADEA) Working Group on Distance Education and Open Learning. The first report identifies…