This document defines informal education and discusses some common misconceptions held about what constitutes informal education. The early development of informal education is traced from several theories of child development and learning through its period of trial and error implementation in Great Britain and in the United States. In an effort…

Arguing against the "bandwagon" approach to innovation and change, and pressing for careful consideration of the potentials inherent in "openness" in education, the author explores the interactions among the phenomena of open space, open structure, and open curriculum. In examining the nature of these interactions, he sets the…

This publication brings together some recent examples of what the Commission believes to be noteworthy open space schools. In addition, the Commission has drawn from its own experiences with the planning, design, and construction of open space schools. The material serves to call attention to the development of open space, to offer a few…

This appendix to the National Program on Early Childhood Education (NPECE) Survey contains materials intended to provide additional information about six of the nine programs described in the survey. The materials include: (1) narrative descriptions of cooking and reading experiences for the Tucson Early Education Model; (2) information on…

This paper illustrates practical situations in which librarians are beginning to have an impact on developments on the Internet and ultimately have an impact on lifelong learning by providing organized interfaces to resources. In the area of information skills training, it is argued that the librarian must contribute actively by developing these…

Describes the approach to environmental education courses at Open University. Includes broad course content, team teaching approach, and philosophy of reorienting education towards sustainable development. Course material for open learning includes self-contained study packs as well as course texts, video, audio, and computer software. Nonformal…

Describes the conceptual framework for an urban Montessori high school in Holland in 1945. Includes information on implementing fundamental Montessori principles, scheduling, materials, organization of subject matter, use of group mentors, and democracy in school. Focuses on how the school increases adolescents' moral strength with living and…

The aim of this article is to review the interaction in the Turkish distance education system, Open Education Faculty (OEF) of Anadolu University. The article examines the Turkish distance education system, according to the following four types of interactions; (a) learner content interaction, (b) learner-instructor interaction, (c)…

The restructuring of traditional schooling will not meet the needs for further learning. What is needed instead is immediate massive change in the form of transitional steps toward new learning systems based on the Wilson Campus school operated at Mankato State University from 1968-77. The public year-round school adopted 69 innovations…

The College of Social Studies, which existed in Kikuyu, Kenya, in the 1960s, operated in the British liberal tradition and had a 1-year course similar to those of British residential colleges. The career paths of approximately 130 mature students who took the course were examined in a case study that was conducted in 1995-96. The names of 104…

This volume presents the text of nine keynote addresses and an abstract of one other address presented at ITTE'91, an international forum and conference on Information Technology for Training and Education (ITTE). Each address is preceded by biographical information on the speaker and followed by a brief critique by a professional in information…

Following a foreword (Ross Paul) and an introduction (Robert Sweet), three sections on instituting postsecondary distance learning systems across Canada are presented: access and student support, educational technology, and institutional response. The first section contains the following: "Women in Distance Education: Towards a Feminist…

Part 1 extends a previous study of "fresh start" courses in adult education in England. It focuses on the particular needs of women for renewed educational opportunities in mature life. This part describes and analyzes the provision to meet those needs represented by seven years' further work in Fresh Horizons at London's City Literary…

This study compares an open space elementary school and a traditional school in Harford County, Maryland, in terms of cognitive and non-cognitive student outcomes. In order to assess whether there were differences in instructional climate (open vs. traditional) between the two schools, the Walberg and Thomas Teacher Questionnaire was administered…

In 1975, a national conference was held to discuss the current status of open learning and nontraditional studies, and to discuss plans for the future. This report contains some 75 essays classified into the following categories: (1) general issues, (2) management and financing patterns, (3) academic and curricular patterns, (4) communications…