Purpose: The challenges facing 21st-century society are becoming increasingly complex, requiring the development of new citizen competencies. This study aims to validate an educational model focused on developing complex thinking in higher education students. Current educational models lack future-ready competencies, necessitating the emergence of…

Although education policies in many African countries refer to the need for distance education to widen participation in universities, they have not articulated guidelines on how they plan to develop systems and structures that will support it. The purpose of this study was to develop a policy framework specific for distance education provision in…

Enthusiasts and evangelists of open educational resources (OER) see these resources as a panacea for all of the problems of education. However, despite its promises, their adoption in educational institutions is slow. There are many barriers to the adoption of OER, and many are from within the community of OER advocates. This commentary calls for…

This report prepared at the request of the Seychelles Ministry of Education presents a new model of schooling in Seychelles and makes a case for strengthening the Seychelles Institute of Distance and Open Learning. The new model proposes to leverage the best features of open schooling, e-learning, hybrid learning, and community tutoring to improve…

Barber, Donnelly & Rizvi (2013): "An avalanche is coming: Higher education and the revolution ahead" addresses some significant issues in higher education and poses some challenging questions to open and distance learning (ODL) administrators, policy makers, and of course to ODL faculty in general. Barber et al.'s paper does not…

In order to design learning solutions that effectively embed face-to-face and online dimensions, it is crucial to identify the key components underpinning hybrid solutions. Furthermore, once these components have been identified, there is the need to clarify how to recombine them to meet a specific learning objective. This article aims to…

This article examines the findings of the recent OPAL report "Beyond OER: Shifting Focus from Resources to Practices". In doing so, it defines current understanding of open educational resources and open educational practices, and highlights the shift from open content to open practice. The article includes a framework for supporting…

Three professors of education examine constructively the kinds of environments, relationships, concepts of content and curriculums, evaluations, and settings for learning that the struggle for humane educational change requires. They propose an alternative model of education that emphasizes values and processes consistent with a commitment to an…

Author discussed some important changes in educational thinking and educational practice associated with recent events on both sides of the Atlantic-changes that seem to be bringing us closer to "good education". (Author/RK)

Five short essays by the same author comprise this document on humanistic education. The essays deal with defining humanism, day care centers, the politics of educational change, learning facilities, and a parable about education. In the first essay, the author sets out to define humanistic education. Education should not be concerned as much with…

This document applies an anthropological framework to the explanation of group relations in an attempt to implement a community school. In a West Philadelphia area, black community groups joined to establish an alternative school, but tensions and conflicts developed over pedagogical practices. According to the anthropological framework, decisions…

The evaluation report addresses a two-year effort of an originally planned three-year project designed to plan, pilot test, and implement a K-14 career education program into the North Kingstown, Rhode Island public schools. During the two years of the project, administrative and community support diminished until funding for the third and final…

From June 1973 to June 1975 the development and implementation of a Model K-14 career education program was attempted in the North Kingstown Schools in Rhode Island. Project objectives included the development of career and self-awareness, provisions for exploratory and work experiences, provisions for job placement at graduation, and provisions…

The American educational system is based upon outmoded premises and should be revised in line with present trends and future needs. Our present system of education was created to serve an industrial society: to develop an elite cadre of well educated professionals, a mass of somewhat educated technical workers, and a solid base of laborers. It…

This book contains new and previously published translations of 11 essays and articles about the industrialization of teaching and learning in distance education that were originally published in German by Otto Peters between 1965 and 1993. A "Preface" (Desmond Keegan) and an introduction placing Peters' writings in their historical…