The terms 'open' and 'distance' are no longer helpful for advancing approaches to education traditionally served by open institutions. A proposal to reframe the terms 'open' and 'distance' is made: 'open', it is suggested, needs to be linked more explicitly to education that is increasingly available, inclusive, scalable, and sustainable.…

In spite of its increasing popularity, distance education faces challenges -- levels of digital literacy, access to technology, workload and time management, students' feelings of isolation and disconnection -- that can have a significant impact on the experience of the learners. In addressing these issues, we propose a pedagogical model for…

During several panel presentations at the AECT Annual Convention in Indianapolis in November 2015, concerns with MOOCs were raised. In this paper the authors discuss a few of those concerns of extra interest, and explain the relatively new customizable dual-layer MOOC course design. This new paradigm of MOOC design holds promise to alleviate some…

Working from the perspective of open and online learning for widening participation in higher education, this article advances a new conceptual model to guide practitioners and researchers in maximising the enablers and minimising the constraints to foundation level online learning for equity students. The model is adapted from technology for…

Research into open education has identified a "high number of participants" and "unpredictable mixed abilities" as factors responsible for the relatively weak presence of language Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs). This contribution presents a model for open online language courses that aims to bridge this gap. The tangible…

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…

Value-based delivery of healthcare has been discussed in the literature for almost a decade. The concept focuses on the patient and defines value as the improvement of patient outcomes divided by healthcare costs. Further refinements, called the Triple Aim model, focus on improving patient outcomes, reducing treatment costs, and improving patient…

This study was conducted to designing a model of vocational training programs for disables. For this purpose desk review was carried out and the vocational training models/programs of Israel, U.K., Vietnam, Japan and Thailand were analyzed to form a conceptual framework of the model. Keeping in view the local conditions/requirements a model of…

E-learning has become an increasingly important teaching and learning mode in educational institutions and corporate training. The evaluation of E-learning, however, is essential for the quality assurance of E-learning courses. This paper constructs a three-phase evaluation model for E-learning courses, which includes development, process, and…

Technologically enhanced learning environments raise complex challenges for their designers, developers and users. Design patterns and pattern languages have recently emerged as a potential framework for addressing some of these challenges. However, the uptake of design patterns has been slow outside of the computer science community. We argue…

Two of the major challenges to international students' right of access to higher education are geographical/economic isolation and academic literacy in English (Carey, 1999; Hamel, 2007). The authors propose that adopting open course models in traditional universities, through blended or online delivery, can offer benefits to the institutions and…

The jagged study zone model helps designers to create educational environments which challenge the learner and make the learner to commit to the learning process. The characteristics of a jagged study zone can be explained by showing how its features are related to traditional closed and open learning environments. The requirements for a jagged…

Despite the criticisms which can be leveled at external and special degree programs, the fact remains that they provide a needed service to selected clientele and have the capability to provide valuable alternatives for institutions of higher education and their clients. (Author)

This paper presents an approach for developing flexible Hypermedia Learning Environments (HMLE) and applies this theoretical framework to the creation of a layered model of a hypermedia system, called HyperDisc, developed at the German Institute for Research on Distance Education. The first section introduces HMLE and suggests that existing…

Presents four models of distance education and associated delivery technologies (i.e., correspondence, multi-media, telelearning, and flexible learning), and briefly discusses instructional design technology. A global faculty-development program at the University of Southern Queensland (Australia) for teaching at a distance is described; the…