The term "open education" has been in use at least since the 1920s, when it emerged as an educational experiment in the Soviet Union. But since the spread of the internet in the late 20th century, open education has come to be inextricably associated with information technology. The William and Flora Hewlett Foundation Open Educational Resources…

This paper presents a case study where twelve graduate students undertook the demanding role of the adaptive e-course developer and worked collaboratively on an authentic and complex design task in the context of open and distance tertiary education. The students had to work in groups in order to conceptualise and design a learning scenario for…

Transformation of public education requires the reawakening of the sleeping giant in the room: the learners. Students, teachers, and principals must develop a learner-centric, standards-driven school. "Reawakening the Learner" is a guide to creating just such an environment. Continua describe the journey of teachers, teacher leaders, and…

The program entitled "English in Action (EIA)", 9 year period DFID funded project in Bangladesh, was launched in 2008, for the desire to bring a change in the learning of English language. EIA works to reach a total of 25 million primary and secondary students and adult learners through communicative language learning techniques and the…

This paper documents the experience and lessons from implementing an e-learning program aimed at creating multidisciplinary research capacity. It presents a case study of bringing together a multidisciplinary group of professionals on-line to learn the skills needed to be a successful researcher in the context of HIV/AIDS and food security…

Today, photography and visual arts are very important in our modern life. Especially for the mass communication, the visual images and visual arts have very big importance. In modern societies, people must have knowledge about the visual things, such as photographs, cartoons, drawings, typography, etc. Briefly, the people need education on visual…

Teaching mathematics through Open Distance Learning (ODL) has been a challenge to educators due to the nature of communication with learners and material delivery during instruction. In this paper, as a case study, we look at one mathematics module offered through ODL and the performance in the course for the past four years. A sample of 50…

The increased demand and need for continuous learning have led to the introduction of open, distance, and e-learning (ODeL) in Kenya. Provision of this mode of education has, however, been faced with various challenges, among them infrastructural ones. This study was a survey conducted in two public universities offering major components of ODeL,…

Over the recent years, there has been a growing interest in Open Educational Resources (OER). A similar trend was observed about a decade ago in the concept of Learning Objects, which inevitably faded without really making an impact in real-world educational contexts. A number of repositories were created that contain thousands of learning…

This paper explores some new challenges facing universities in a global multimediated Internet-based environment, as they seek alternative paradigms and options to remain true to their core business. At a time of rapid technological change, and contested, complex concepts associated with globalisation, knowledge is becoming a primary factor of…

In an interview with James Morrison, "Innovate's" editor-in-chief, Vijay Kumar describes how rethinking distance learning as network-enabled open education can catalyze a whole new set of learning opportunities. The growing open-education movement has made an increasing number and variety of resources freely available online, including everything…

Educational provision in developing sub-Saharan Africa states has been severely hindered by the hydra-headed problems of access, cost and quality. Amidst these challenges is the pledge of regional and national education policymakers and development planners to ensure that there is maximum access equitable and qualitative education for all (EFA) in…

Open schools are not just concerned with increasing access to secondary schooling, but also with equalising educational opportunities for citizens regardless of their geographic location or socio-economic background. Through a well-articulated policy, broad consensus on the most appropriate direction for the future development of open schooling…

Recent years have seen a shift in educational institutions from the provision of traditional libraries to the creation of independent learning areas offering a greater diversity of facilities and services. This paper explores the essential characteristics of these places, especially in relation to student learning. The authors discuss six…

A call for change in nursing education has been issued in order to prepare the nurse of the future in a changing health care delivery system with increasing complexity. The learning environment is changing, including the faculty role. Innovative research-based pedagogies are suggested as a way to challenge traditional nursing education. The…