This report provides an overview of the nature of open universities derived from the responses from 28 open universities in the Commonwealth. The data not only provide a snapshot of the nature of OUs, but also show some evidence of the influence of the COVID-19 pandemic on open universities where institutions had to move all their learning and…

The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the education sector locally and globally especially in teaching and learning delivery methods as most universities have adopted online platforms. The present situation is not only challenging but also tests the flexibility of the existing education system. With the help of technology, the existing traditional…

Walk a Day in My Shoes is a curricular project designed to provide a starting point for teachers to cultivate cross-cultural understanding among elementary-age students. In this curricular project, students created their own digital stories about a day spent in their shoes. Through photography, writing, and digital storytelling, each student…

Twenty-six years after the 1994 founding of The Kalsom Movement, an independent and voluntary student-led charity specializing in tackling education inequality in Malaysia, much has changed in the world. Yet despite the rise of societal and governmental awareness on the importance of education--especially primary education--and the advancements in…

Blogs are commonly used for online interaction because of their ease of use and access, which allow people to gather in a virtual space to share knowledge, experiences and practices. Teachers can also use blogs as an avenue to think, reflect and respond to views and comments regarding pedagogical practices and difficulties, thereby developing…

The real potential of ICT is the way it changes learners to become autonomous in their learning process. E-learning also plays a crucial role in today's life and in modern education. Its importance lies in the fact that people are finding that e-learning can make a remarkable change in teaching/ or learning: to how quickly they master a skill; how…

This article describes Open University Malaysia's efforts at enhancing the blended learning approach for undergraduate distance learners with the successful implementation of the Mobile Learning via SMS initiative. The pilot project was implemented in the May 2009 semester, and this coming January 2011 semester will be in its sixth consecutive…

The Southeast Asian Ministers of Education Organization (SEAMEO) maintains a Regional Center for Educational Innovation and Technology (INNOTECH). INNOTECH's major responsibility is to assist member nations by determining common educational problems and solutions thereto, by offering training to key personnel, and by providing a clearinghouse for…

Despite the huge potential of information and communication technology (ICT) to assist communities to increase their overall well-being through community development, there are relatively few examples of sustained community networks built around ICT when compared to commercial applications, even in the developed countries where the technology has…

Assuring the quality of education provision is a fundamental aspect of gaining and maintaining credibility for programmes, institutions and national systems of higher education worldwide. Despite a long and generally successful track record, open and distance learning (ODL) is still required to prove that the quality of student learning is at…

This is a report on the quality review of distance learning in a sample of five countries. The report was commissioned by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation's (CHEA's) International Commission in order to understand better the nature of existing regulatory arrangements in the context of growth in electronically supported learning and…