Benchmarking is an important tool to compare and make deliberate progress in any field of human endeavour. For integration of technology for teaching and learning, this is relatively a new field. The Commonwealth of Learning (COL) promotes the use of technology-enabled learning (TEL) -- also referred to as "digital learning" - for…

Ideological arguments are made for open learning, economic ones for distance education. If it can produce similar results to those of conventional education at a lower cost, then distance education has a powerful appeal. With increasing demand for access to educational opportunities at all levels, and often decreasing budgets in real terms for…

Reflecting a common objective of ensuring quality Education for All, this book is a joint initiative of UNESCO and COL and jointly published. Lifelong Learning in Distance Higher Education brings together a diverse group of experts from many countries. The book provides a clear picture of the challenges, problems and potential of distance higher…

A schoolnet program is an organized set of activities that expands the use of ICTs and promotes sharing of educational resources by teachers and students at schools. Schoolnet programmes may be located inside or outside government, may be large initiatives with substantial funding, or may be smaller innovative projects without big budgets. The…

Both of these "Surveys of policy and practice" were conducted on behalf of COL by the South African Institute for Distance Education (SAIDE) as part of COL's partnership agreement with the Association for the Development of Education in Africa (ADEA) Working Group on Distance Education and Open Learning. The first report identifies…