Effective postgraduate supervision is a concern at universities worldwide, even under optimal conditions where postgraduate students are studying full-time. Universities are being pressured by their governments to increase the throughput of postgraduates where there is a need for supervisory guidance in order to produce quality graduates within a…

Attention has been drawn to Open Distance Learning (ODL) as a mode for teaching and learning with the advancement in communication via the Internet. Education today has expanded the role of ICT in learning and knowledge generation, leveraging on Internet technology to transmit education across the country. Due to the advancement of technology and…

This paper is focused on creativity and innovation in open and distance education as a paradigm for human development in the twenty first century for nation-building in Nigeria. The paper looks at the open/distance education programme and its unconventional method of delivery in educating the educationally less privileged. The paper is of the…

Openness has a long genealogy in education. Whether through the use of post, radio, television and digital technologies, extending learning opportunities to more and a wider range of people has been a significant aspect of educational history. Transcending barriers to learning has been promoted as the means of opening educational opportunities in…

Mobile learning (mLearning) in the open and distance learning landscape, holds promise and provides exciting new opportunities. In order to understand and embrace these opportunities within various contexts and circumstances it is imperative to understand the essence of the phenomenon. In this regard, we first need to understand the core…

The central concept behind Open Educational Resources (OER) is opening up the access to educational resources for stakeholders who are not the usual target user group. This concept must be perceived as innovative because it describes a general economic and social paradigm shift: Education, which formerly was limited to a specific group of…

Just as genes propagate themselves in the gene pool by leaping from body to body, so memes (ideas, behaviours, and actions) transmit cultural ideas or practices from one mind to another through writing, speech, or other imitable phenomena. This paper considers the memes that influence the evolution of open and distance education. If the…

The purpose of this study is to develop, and test the validity and reliability of a scale for the use of researchers to determine the accreditation standards of open and distance education based on the views of administrators, teachers, staff and students. This research was designed according to the general descriptive survey model since it aims…

This study investigates what characterises teachers' pedagogical design of OER [Open Educational Resources], and potential affordances and constraints in pedagogical design in an open education practice, when contributing to a Swedish repository Lektion.se. The teachers' framing of the OER shared on the repository included the analyses of a…

This small-scale study focused on the experiences of student teachers towards teaching practice in an open and distance learning (ODL) institution in South Africa. The sample consisted of 65 fourth year students enrolled for Bachelor of Education, specializing in secondary school teaching. The mixed-method research design consisting of…

In India, Open and Distance Learning for secondary and higher secondary level is mainly provided by the National Institute of Open Schooling (NIOS). Secondary education in India pertains to class 9 and 10 catering to the age group of 15 to 16. Similarly, higher secondary education refers to class 11 and 12 catering to the age group of 17 to 18.…

Several movements have emerged related to the general idea of promoting "openness" in science. Research councils are key institutions in bringing about changes proposed by these movements, as sponsors and facilitators of research. In this paper we identify the approaches used in Canada, the US and the UK to advance open science, as a…

Technology is changing our world. The advancement in science and technology has propelled a drastic change in nature and structure of the modern world. Events that look weird or impossible years back are part of "normal" things in our contemporary world. Education has had its share of the paradigm shift in the anal of technological…

Bangladesh Open University (BOU) is the only public educational institution in Bangladesh, where, a dual-mode method of learning system has been introduced. Established in 21st October, 1992, the University now accommodates 174,459 learners in 2012. The wide range networking of this university provides it a great prospect to execute a broad…

The aim of the present study, within the frame of self-determination theory (SDT), was triple: a) to examine the structural validity of the "Situational Motivation Scale" (SIMS) in the field of distance education, b) to investigate the correlation between the subscales of the motivation and satisfaction of students who attend distance…