Marketing specialists have recently redefined the roles customers and enterprises play in the economy. Modern customers are connected, informed, mobile, educated and internationally oriented. They seek enterprises that empower them to co-construct personalised experiences. This view of the customer-enterprise relationship has a great impact on the…

This case study relates to distance learning students on open access courses. It demonstrates the use of predictive analytics to generate a model of the probabilities of success and retention at different points, or milestones, in a student journey. A core set of explanatory variables has been established and their varying relative importance at…

According to Christensen and Horn, Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) are serving non-consumers. Although they are limited in the services they provide compared with traditional colleges, they offer free and accessible education to a broader audience, who cannot afford the traditional provision. However, this is a characteristic of online…

In the title the author asked whether dual-mode institutions were a stable "final" model for higher education or a step on the way to something else. Only a few institutions seem able to function in dual mode (i.e. with distinct groups of distance and classroom students) in a successful and sustainable way. Some institutions now claim…

The economic proverb "There is no such thing such as a free lunch" applies also to open educational resources (OER). In recent years, several authors have used revenue models and business models to analyse the different sources of possible funding for OER. In this article the business models of Osterwalder and Chesbrough are combined…

Teacher education in India, including that offered by the open distance learning (ODL) system to thousands every year, imparts mainly pedagogic knowledge, although the need for integrated teacher education programmes has been underscored. As the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), an ODL institution, will develop an integrated Bachelor…

Describes the establishment of the Bangladesh Open University (BOU), a university offering tertiary level qualifications and non-formal and secondary-school equivalency programs. Examines academic programs, program development, target population, delivery media (print, radio, audio, human contact), credibility, and sustainability. Argues that BOU…

Terms such as retention and persistence reflect the interests of different parties. Much of the empirical and theoretical literature deals with retention from a "supply-side" perspective. This article has three main sections. The first consists of a summary of recent empirical findings from surveys of students who left their on-campus programmes…

Describes a study of eight universities in England that investigated the size and characteristics of their part-time degree programs. Highlights include government policy; cost; competition between universities; admissions policies; completion rate and drop-out rate; instructional design, including modularity; continuing education; and program…