Purpose: This research attempts to reveal ways of addressing challenges in open universities related to empowering lifelong learning; establishing policies and strategies in dropouts, student portfolio and support services for students with special needs; and implementing online instructional design and strategies. Two institutions were…

This article intends to launch discussion and reflection on two main themes: lifelong learning and digital literacy in nowadays societies. In looking for the intersections between these concepts to connote them with a more humanistic and holistic perspective, we explore the potentials of distance learning in the lives of adult learners. The…

In addition to the rapidly developed Internet information technology, the admission to secondary schools has changed from single entry to multiple entries, among which the performance of Basic Competence Test and at schools have replaced Joint University Programs Admissions System. Traditional instruction therefore could no longer cope with such…

This report forms part of an international project, led by UNESCO's International Institute for Educational Planning (IIEP), on higher education's role in supporting "flexible learning pathways." Flexible learning pathways in higher education provide routes to the acquisition of knowledge and skills at different life stages, to meet the…

This study investigated the relationship between self-directedness (as measured by the Adult Learner Self-Directedness Scale) and biographical factors such as age, race, and gender of adult learners enrolled at a South African open distance learning (ODL) higher education institution. Correlational and inferential statistical analyses were used. A…

The seventh issue of the "Interdisciplinary Journal of e-Skills and Lifelong Learning" (IJELL--formerly "Interdisciplinary Journal of E-Learning and Learning Objects"--IJELLO) special series includes a selection of best papers presented at the 10th Chais Conference for the Study of Innovation and Learning Technologies: Learning…

In a time of change, higher education is in the position of having to adapt to external conditions created by widespread adoption of popular technologies such as social media, social networking services and mobile devices. For faculty members, there must be opportunities for concrete experiences capable of generating a personal conviction that a…

The free and open publication of course materials (OpenCourseWare or OCW) was initially undertaken by Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and other universities primarily to share educational resources among educators (Abelson, 2007). OCW, however, and more in general open educational resources (OER), have also provided well-documented…

This book, written by authors representing 12 countries and five continents, is a collection of international perspectives on distance learning and distance learning implementations in higher education. The perspectives are presented in the form of practical case studies of distance learning implementations, research studies on teaching and…

Accompanying awareness of the potential for lifelong learning to secure social inclusion and economic survival, e-learning has grown in significance and a fragile consensus about its purposes has emerged among stakeholders. The University for Industry (Ufi) and its e-learning arm, learndirect, have focused efforts especially (but not entirely)…