This report describes the role of the Open University (OU) in providing technologically innovative opportunities in adult and continuing education in Britain. An introductory section explains the purpose of the Open University; its history and principles; its programs of study; its teaching methods and media; technology in its teaching system…

This paper discusses challenges to the European Association of Distance Teaching Universities (EADTU) in using technology. The first section deals with external challenges to EADTU institutions, including competition from new services, new funding programs, pressure from national governments, and the Europeanization of education. Internal…

This paper begins with a short description of the British Open University which covers the programs of study (undergraduate, continuing education, and higher degrees); mediums of teaching (correspondence texts, broadcast television, audiocassettes, radio, face-to-face or telephone tutorials, audioconferencing, summer schools, home experiment kits,…

Designed to stimulate course planning teams to consider a wide range of technological options at the start of the course design process, this paper focuses on ways in which technology can be used to design, produce, and present European-wide distance education courses. The more detailed objectives of the paper are to look at how technology may…

This paper discusses four major developments in the use of media at the Open University: (1) the move from radio to audiocassettes; (2) use of broadcast television vs. videocassettes; (3) increased use of interactive video; and (4) CYCLOPS tutorials, which provide immediate two-way communication via the telephone together with visual pictures.…

This discussion of the usefulness of audiovisual technology for vocational training begins with a brief overview of changes in vocational training in Europe with the introduction of open learning and distance teaching methods and the increase in technologies available to trainers. Procedures for deciding on appropriate audiovisual media are then…

This paper provides an overview of new technologies likely to be widely available within the next 10 years for teaching in Europe. It begins by presenting a framework which draws distinctions between different technologies based on their educational applications, i.e., for teaching or operational purposes, for communicating within or between…

By the year 2000, European higher education institutions must achieve the following aims: resolve the conflict between the social demand for education and costs of higher education without lowering standards; provide continuing education to cope with rapid technological change and increased leisure and/or unemployment; build even closer links…

This review of the technical possibilities of audio, television, computing, and combination media addresses the main factors influencing decisions about each technology's suitability for distance teaching, including access, costs, symbolic representation, student control, teacher control, existing structures, learning skills to be developed, and…

The paper analyzes the impact of technology change on distance education, and the implications for training and distance education staff development. The paper suggests that one of the major areas for job training is in the selection of media and use of technology for instructional purposes, and in the procedures and processes of decision making.…

This paper argues that recent developments in technology hold considerable promise for distance education. Audiocassettes, audiographics (the combining of natural sound, via the telephone or audiocassettes, with computer-generated graphics), videocassettes, and computer conferencing are used as examples to identify factors that should be…

Two articles evaluate the impact of new transmission and information technologies on education: "Technology and Education--Friend or Foe?" (Pelton) and "Third Generation Distance Education: The Challenge of New Technology" (Bates). (SK)

The University of British Columbia and the Monterrey Institute of Technology set out to meet the challenging requirements of international information technology-based distance education in 1997 when they signed a collaborative agreement to develop a set of five courses in the area of technology-based distributed learning. This paper is an account…

This position paper explores the potential of new technology to radically alter both distance education and conventional higher education. It hypothesizes that technological developments could even lead to the demise of the conventional campus-based higher education institution by the year 2000. Instead, people of all ages would be able to study…

Multimedia is developing fast due to the convergence of different media (text, data. graphics, video, audio) into a common digital platform, and due to the convergence of telecommunications, television, and computing. Parallel to these technical convergencies is another set of developments in work and leisure that is opening up new markets for…