Supporting Students in Online Open and Distance Learning


Book Description

This new addition to the respected Open and Distance Learning Series is an up-to-the-minute guide for educators wanting to come to terms with their support role in open and distance learning. Covering all aspects of student support from tuition and counselling through to the broad range of delivery methods available, the book offers practical solutions that are set within a sound theoretical framework.




Modular Online Learning Design


Book Description

Does your online instruction program sometimes feel like a constant scramble to keep pace with requests and deadlines? Modular design is the answer. Approaching projects, whether large and small, with an eye towards future uses will put you on the path to accomplishing broader, organizational goals. And by intentionally building documentation and structure into your process, you will create content that can easily be scaled, modified, adapted, and transformed to meet different learner needs. Hess, experienced in online instruction in both K-12 and academic libraries, shows you how, using project examples of various sizes to illustrate each chapter’s concepts. Her resource guides you through such topics as the eight components of modular online learning design; key considerations for choosing the design model that best fits your organization and project; techniques for connecting your online learning goals with institutional strategy; using the IDEA process to align OER content with your instructional needs; documenting your planning with checklists, scaffolds, and templates; ensuring equity of access with all content formats using the Accessibility Inventory Index; principles for scaling up, down, or laterally; three models for more meaningful and functional collaboration with internal or external partners; and formative testing as a foundation for ongoing evaluation and assessment.




Open and Distance Learning Today


Book Description

This collection has pieces from all the key names in distance education worldwide




Flexible Learning in an Information Society


Book Description

"This book uses a flexible learning framework to explain the best ways of creating a meaningful learning environment. This framework consists of eight factors - institutional, management, technological, pedagogical, ethical, interface design, resource support, and evaluation;a systematic understanding of these factors creates successful flexible learning environments"--Provided by publisher.




Flexible Learning in a Digital World


Book Description

Betty Collis and Jef Moonen present a series of proven and practical guidelines, based on their balanced experience of using technology in education. Together, these give readers an overview of how technological applications in education can be developed and harnessed.




The Convergence of Distance and Conventional Education


Book Description

This volume of essays from leading British, North American and Australasian contributors looks at the issues of the convergence of distance and conventional education. The term 'convergence' refers to the breaking down of barriers between open and distance learning and conventional institutions, and the creation of more and more institutions working across a range of modes. Such convergence has been driven by a number of factors, including the new technologies for teaching and learning, the impact of lifelong learning policies, the entry of larger than ever numbers of adult part-time students into tertiary education, and the demands of both employers and individuals for professional and work-related education throughout their working lives. The fourteen chapters engage critically with a range of aspects of convergence, including: * how well is open and distance learning carried out by conventional institutions for which it may continue for a lengthy period to be seen as of secondary importance? * to what extent will open and distance learning be more effectively carried out by conventional institutions able to offer a variety of modes to a wide range of learners? * how well will the variety of learners be served by systems that are converging? * what are the managerial issues at institutional level where converging systems are being developed?




Student Retention in Online, Open and Distance Learning


Book Description

Ormond Simpson provides a clear, accessible analysis of strategies for increasing retention and, crucially, provides case studies and examples to illustrate how these strategies can change institutional policy and practice.




Flexible Pedagogy, Flexible Practice


Book Description

Flexibility has become a watchword in modern education, but its implementation is by no means a straightforward matter. Flexible and Distance Learning in Higher Education sheds light on the often taken-for-granted assumptions that inform daily practice and examines the institutional dynamics that help and hinder efforts toward flexibility. Contributors to the volume were asked to reflect critically on a series of questions, including: - What precisely is flexible learning? - Who or what is driving the flexibility agenda, and for whose benefit? And who or what is resisting it? - What challenges must be overcome in order to achieve flexibility, and what are some of the compromises it can entail? International in scope, with authors from North America, the United Kingdom, Australia and New Zealand, South Africa, Singapore, and Japan, Flexible and Distance Learning in Higher Education offers a wealth of theoretical insights and practical experience that will be invaluable to anyone seeking to extend the reach of higher education.




Preparing Materials for Open, Distance and Flexible Learning


Book Description

To a greater extent than other students, open learners depend on the quality of their learning materials. If you are the teacher or trainer responsible for providing them, this task may be one of the most important aspects of your job. So what forms might your materials take? How might they best be obtained and developed? What needs to be done? This practical book guides you through all the key phases of planning and developing materials for open, distance or flexible learners. Each phase takes you through a sequence of development tasks supported by appropriate information, examples and checklists that the author has refined in numerous workshops and consultancies. By the time you have worked through the book, you should have completed and piloted the first draft of your learning package. Topics covered in detail include profiling your learners, agreeing aims and objectives, deciding content and sequence developing examples and activities, and making materials user-friendly




Flexible Learning in Higher Education


Book Description

Analyzing the collective experiences of staff from a variety of departments within organizations of higher and further education, this study demonstrates how flexible learning strategies have been adopted to face new challenges.