Background: The coronavirus pandemic has affected education worldwide. Estonian schools moved to distance learning on March 16. Objectives: This paper outlines the stages of unexpected and temporary changes affecting different stakeholders based on activity and content of the messages in the Facebook group 'Homeschooling with technology'. Also the…

Individual, unaided human abilities are constrained. Media have helped us to transcend boundaries in thinking, working, learning and collaborating by supporting "distributed intelligence". Wireless and mobile technologies provide new opportunities for creating novel socio-technical environments and thereby empowering humans, but not without…

Discusses issues involved in the evaluation of online courses, focusing on the peculiarities that distinguish such evaluation from that of traditional distance education. Proposes a methodological approach for monitoring and evaluating online courses that considers individual's characteristics, interpersonal communication, support from tutors and…

Examines the impact that new information technology has had on the rhetoric, theory, and practice of trans-national educational collaboration within Europe. Highlights include the role of electronic learning in the European Union; models for describing online courses within open and distance learning (ODL); and three examples of ODL projects.…

Discussion of the Just-in-Time Open Learning (JITOL) project supported by the European Commission in its DELTA Programme considers attributes of open learning and the main tasks of learners and tutors. Information technology-based tools for open learning are described and related to these tasks, and planned JITOL user trials are summarized. (17…

Describes a study of undergraduates in Israel that examined the relationship between two distance learning ICT (information and communication technology)-based configurations. Results indicate that psychological attitudes held by students differentially facilitate efficient use of distance learning approaches. Considers satisfaction with learning,…

Discussion of open learning and the use of computer-mediated communication systems (CMCS) focuses on Information Technology-based Open Learning (ITOL), a small-scale trial model of open learning developed at Lancaster University (United Kingdom). Application of ITOL to a master's program in management learning is described, and evaluation results…

Describes activities of the Economic and Social Research Council (ESRC) in the United Kingdom related to ways that information technology may contribute to learning. Topics discussed include cognitive science; evaluation of changes in learning; language skills; learner-machine interface; policy and management issues; teacher education; computer…