Indonesian workers in Taiwan have been taking synchronous online courses to enhance their education for several years. Still, the most crucial part of a synchronous course, the interaction quality, in the past, in general, was highly disturbed by the workers' busy daily work and had room to improve. Therefore, improving online interaction quality…

Commencing its activities in 1980, the Open University of Sri Lanka (OUSL) has expanded over the years embracing emerging technologies periodically, undergoing a series of technological adoptions gradually through Generations of Distance Education (GDE). The aim of this study is to assess the current status of OUSL, based on Taylor's conceptual…

This qualitative case study examines the challenges that influence the effective teaching and learning of Geography and Environmental Studies through Open and Distance e-Learning (ODeL) at the Zimbabwe Open University (ZOU). Semi-structured interviews and documentary analysis were employed to solicit information from twenty students and four…

Nowadays, blended learning represents a combination of both e-learning and Face-to-Face learning approaches, which has been considered as an emerging concept of modern education. It has been regarded as a prominent alternative learning approach compared to the conventional e-learning approach. The degree of satisfaction of students with blended…

Flexibility is typical of open universities and their e-learning designs. While this constitutes their main attraction, promising learners will be able to study "anytime, anyplace," this also demands more self-regulation and engagement, a cause for student dropout. This case study explores professors' experiences of flexibility in…

The primary goal of this research was to investigate AOU students' conceptions of the quality of online experience through the learning management system in supporting their classroom tutorials. A 32-item questionnaire was administered to a randomly selected sample (205) of Elementary Education students at the AOU Jordan Branch. On one hand, the…

This study aimed at finding out the economic and social returns achieved by Arab Open University graduates of 2012-2014. The sample consisted of 251 out of 1565 BA male and female graduates who voluntarily identified the sort of returns they achieved by choosing any of 43 items included in a questionnaire posted on their emails, put on the…

UK higher education data has shown persistent differences in degree outcomes for specific student groups. Consequently, the Office for Students (the UK government's higher education regulator) are funding 17 projects to address these inequalities. Building on its expertise, our institution is leading the IncSTEM project alongside colleagues from…

This article examines the innovative past of the large-scale, single-mode open universities that follow the model of the UK Open University (UKOU), analyzes the main challenges which they are currently facing in the digital era, and concludes with highlighting leading prospects for their future operation. The establishment of the UKOU in 1969…

Instructional design in the field of education is a vital issue which needs to be discussed. Instructional design maximizes the value of the instructions for the learners. Instructional design include identifying instructional out-comes, developing instructional contents, delivery of material to learners and establishing how instructional…

A vast body of research has indicated the importance of distinguishing new vs. continuing students' learning experiences in blended and online environments. Continuing learners may have developed learning and coping mechanisms for "surviving" in such learning environments, while new learners might still need to adjust their learning…

This paper introduces a blended learning context that creates a community of practice. This community of practice presents a combination of face-to-face facilitated learning, e-learning, and self-study. A set of in-class and online linguistic activities was used in the implementation of this experiment to investigate the efficacy of performing…

A key concern for most institutions and instructors is whether students are satisfied with their learning experience. However, relatively few studies have unpacked what the key drivers for learner satisfaction are in blended and online courses. Using logistical regression modelling, learner satisfaction data of 62,986 learners in 401 undergraduate…

This article looks into the uses of digital and online tools in distance learning to improve literacy and numeracy of offenders in New Zealand prisons. Looking at the benefits and restrictions of digital education within the prison environment, this article discusses the solutions that Open Polytechnic, in partnership with the the New Zealand…

Learning experience has been one of the most debated aspects of Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs). Various perceptions on learning experience offered by MOOCs have led to many claims about the quality of these courses and their potential impact on higher education in both developed and developing countries. This paper discusses, from a learner's…