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…

Relevance of the research problem stems from the need to meet the challenges of personal growth of each participant of the educational process, a productive exchange of information and personalized contribution to the overall result of the conducted educational research. The aim of this paper is to improve joint training activities as the basis…

Open education resources (OER) and accompanying open education practices (OEP), are changing the education landscape. For educators to take full advantage of the opportunities OER offer they must engage in learning activities to facilitate the extension and adaption of their practice. This paper forms part of a larger study exploring how adult…

The present work describes an original associative model of pattern classification and its application to align different ontologies containing Learning Objects (LOs), which are in turn related to Open and Distance Learning (ODL) educative content. The problem of aligning ontologies is known as Ontology Matching Problem (OMP), whose solution is…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper was to analyse the research trends on the Indian Open and Distance Education (ODE) system as reflected in the articles published in the prominent journals of distance education across the world. Design/methodology/approach: A study was undertaken to review the research articles on ODE in India published in 11…

Purpose: The purpose of this paper is to make an assessment of the challenges in disseminating higher education to the learners in tribal communities, and problems solving capacity of Open and Distance Learning (ODL) by strategically making use of Information and Communication Technology (ICT) taking a case of Madhya Pradesh (MP), which is the…

Aspects of open science and scholarly practices are often discussed with a focus on research and research dissemination processes. There is currently less discussion on open science and its influence on learning and teaching in higher education, and reversely. This paper discusses open science in relation to educational practices and resources and…

MOOCs for learning the basics of programming have become popular among people with a diverse range of backgrounds, interests and learning contexts. Studies show that learners who enrol in MOOCs tend to have different motivation from learners in traditional courses, but it is not known how motivation differs for people with different backgrounds.…

Tertiary teaching is going through transformations as a result of web affordances, open access, and online learning platforms, such as Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs). Some academics are taking advantage of MOOCs by integrating them into their teaching practice. This study investigates why some UK lecturers are blending MOOCs into their…

This study explores the dynamics of ChatGPT on perceptions and challenges encountered by students and lecturers in a South African open distance e-learning [ODeL] university. It investigates whether ChatGPT disrupts traditional perceptions of online distance education held by students and lecturers and identifies specific functions and features of…

The digital age has opened up new and exciting opportunities for Open and Distance Learning (ODL) in universities. But, is going digital reinforcing the existing social inequalities? This qualitative research examines the three levels of digital divide and digital inequality among learners at India's National Open University, IGNOU. The findings…

The aim of this study is to present a model proposal on determining the student participation rate in synchronous courses given in Learning Management Systems (LMS). Especially in situations where equal opportunities cannot be provided or opportunities are limited, distance education provides benefits for learning anytime and anywhere (ubiquitous…

Massive Open Online Course (MOOC) is a new trend in flexible education due to its flexibility to study anything, anywhere and anytime. It has the potential to attract a huge number of learners to study courses unlimitedly via the online platform. This is a design and development study where a Chemistry MOOC was developed in an OpenLearning…

Unisa has embraced the use of online learning and e-tutoring as a new approach to teaching and learning in an ODeL environment. According to the Community of Inquiry Theory, a learning community is important to enhance the social, cognitive and teaching presences for online learning to achieve student success. Online e-tutor and student…

Purpose: This paper aims to explore student teachers' views related to the online academic support e-tools used under the COVID-19 lockdown. Design/methodology/approach: Mapping a pragmatic research approach, an explanatory mixed methods design was used for the study. Findings: Empirical evidence revealed that student teachers were satisfied and…