The purpose of this scoping review is to synthesize knowledge of gamified online course design processes and practices extracted from the peer-reviewed research literature. The scoping review followed a systematic process involving five main stages: (a) identifying research questions, (b) identifying relevant studies, (c) study selection, (d)…

Course design influences online student performance and engagement. A total of 222 instructors and instructional designers responded to Martin et al.'s Online Course Design Elements instrument to examine the frequency of use of design elements. Among the five factors in the instrument, the interaction and communication subscale had the lowest mean…

Online distance-learning (ODL) programmes in higher education enable students to remain in their domicile country to study with institutions based in other countries. ODL students can find themselves studying with others from many different countries, adding greater heterogeneity of personal, environmental and cultural perspectives compared with…

Almost every higher education institution is challenged to develop increasing numbers of staff to teach online or blended modes of learning. The process needs to be rapid, cost-effective and lead directly to practical outcomes. From our experience, we had little time, opportunity or the need to start from scratch, and we chose to adopt and adapt a…

The principal contradiction of online distance education is the disparity that exists between economies of scale and the new interactive capabilities of digital technologies. This is particularly felt where mega-universities in developing countries seek to make better use of these affordances while at the same time protecting their economies of…

Academic workloads in online learning are influenced by many variables, the complexity of which makes it difficult to measure academic workloads in isolation. While researching issues associated with academic workloads, professional development stood out as having a substantive impact on academic workloads. Many academics in applied health degrees…

The University of South Africa (UNISA) has recently redesigned its honors degree in Gender Studies. The course design team members have been mindful of three key factors while redesigning this degree. First, we are aligning our course design with the demands of open and distance learning (ODL) and UNISA's institutional move to online delivery of…

Theatre and drama are areas of performance and inquiry which usually assume engagement and commitment to the ensemble or group process, supported by strong individual input. How can this "dynamic" be brought into a fully online distance course? In this article we analyse and reflect on the design and implementation of an online theatre…

Considers aims of masters degrees in education against background of controversy about distance teaching of such courses; examines components of masters course design via distance teaching experience in Australia and United Kingdom; considers design requirements of the advanced project and specifies necessary support facilities; and describes…