Given the rapid rise of open educational resources (OER) for informal learning pursuits impacting countless millions of people each day around the world, this study investigated the impact of the initiative that spearheaded this movement; namely, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) open courseware (OCW). More specifically, it explored…

Students from many different subject areas are required to study statistics as part of their qualification. The Open University developed a statistics module which could simultaneously be studied by students from a variety of different disciplines, by engaging them with topics which are of interest to everyone, namely money, education and health,…

Commercial e-learning courseware for English education has been widely used in Japanese universities as an effective tool to assist students in improving their overall English skills. The courseware that is described in this paper is believed to be useful for teachers to assess students' progress and evaluate their dedication to English study.…

The open educational resource (OER) movement has reached a critical mass due to recent technology advancements. In Taiwan, to overcome the language barrier, the Opensource Opencourse Prototype System (OOPS) plays a significant role in enabling Chinese-speaking users to benefit from this global education movement. However, our understanding about…

This paper provides insights on the adoption or use of OpenCourseWare (OCW) to support broader research, training and institutional capacity development goals, based on the experience of the United Nations University. Specifically, it explains the strategic context for the use of OCW in the university through its related efforts in the area of…

The need for public health knowledge is ever increasing, but the educational options have been limited to coursework delivered by academics to individuals who can afford the cost of tuition at public health institutions. To overcome this disparity, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health (JHSPH) has joined the Massachusetts Institute of…

This article traces the development of the OpenCourseWare movement, including the origin of the concept at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), the implementation of the MIT OpenCourseWare project, and the idea's spread into the global educational community, ultimately resulting in the formation of the OpenCourseWare Consortium. The…

Free and Open Educational Resources at the University of the Western Cape (UWC) are deeply rooted in our institutional culture, stemming from the role we played in the struggle for political freedom in South Africa. The successful development of a strategy has been influenced by this history, as well as the role of a champion in the main…

The Virtual University for Small States of the Commonwealth (VUSSC) was conceived by ministers at their triennial Conference of Commonwealth Ministers of Education in 2000. The Commonwealth of Learning was asked to investigate possible models, and presented a proposal to ministers at their next conference in 2003. The concept of a virtual…

Discussion of the cultural complexities of distance learning (DL)programs focuses on collaboration between the Hellenic Open University and the University of Manchester on three distance learning programs. Highlights include courseware; writer mentoring; comparisons of methodological cultures; a conceptualization for the development of appropriate…

Describes the development, design, and implementation of study units for computer-assisted distance learning at the Open Learning Institute of Hong Kong that provides higher education opportunities to working adults. Discusses evaluation of the system, including questionnaire and interview results. (LRW)