Traces the history of university correspondence and extension programs in Australia since 1900. Built on a combination of British and American models, Australian external study provides degree programs for external students virtually identical to on-campus programs. (JT)

Some causes for reliability problems in tutor-marked assignments are discussed: factors relating to the questions such as ambiguous, overloaded, hidden agenda, and unrealistic questions; variations caused by differing tutor notes; and students not answering the question, scales and standards, rounding and partial scores, and bonus marks. (JMF)

Essay assignments provide a major portion of students' grades in most Open University curricula. The main educational objectives of essay questions are relevance and the ability to argue a thesis in the light of the course material. (JMF)

In examining the current national debate in Australia concerning open tertiary education (involving ease of access to part-time and external studies, new curricula, and innovative teaching practices), the author compares Australia and aspects of distance teaching in Germany and advocates an international open tertiary education network to which…

The open university is taken to task for promulgating a passive curriculum and for obscuring the dynamic structuring of knowledge by teachers and learners that ought to be at the heart of university scholarship. The "package tour" approach to knowledge that characterizes introductory courses is blamed, in part. (MSE)

Since the 1870s, the rise of systematic correspondence teaching in Britain has been linked to the increasing popularity of the written examination as a selection method, the growth of professional bodies, and the spread of professional journals. This method of teaching has served teachers, civil servants, and accountants. (SW)

The use of audiotapes in an external degree program in psychology at Massey University, their effectiveness, and helpful study habits are examined. A model listening sequence using the tapes on different occasions for different learning tasks is outlined. (MSE)

Queens University, Ontario, has experience with supporting correspondence study by telephone links and seminars. Students could telephone instructors collect, and instructors could call individual students or arrange conference calls. More than one-third of the courses offered during each of three academic years (1972-1975) had at least one…

Observing that distance teaching so far conducted at Britain's Open University is based on an authoritarian model with teacher-developed multimedia programed courses, the author proposes a new approach to such correspondence-type courses in which a framework is provided for students to organize their own learning using their own methods. (JT)

The activities of Quebec's Tele-Universite are described and compared with those of Britain's Open University from which it differs in emphasis on cooparation with other organizations and on regional study groups. Now one of the ten units of the University of Quebec, it offers continuing education programs for teachers and an adult education…

The contributions distance teaching (education delivered to learners who study anywhere and in their own time) can make to work-oriented, family and community, professional and paraprofessional, and general basic education in developing rural areas are discussed briefly. Its use in professional education is illustrated with description of the Free…

Reports a 1974 survey of the 12,800 students taking courses in Britain's Open University to determine viewing and listening figures for each course and to compare the figures for different transmission times and the different faculties (disciplines). The average student watched about two-thirds of the TV and heard about half of the radio programs…

An Open University counselor wrote to disabled students to discover why they failed to continue their studies. Difficulties indicated by the replies include costs; physical impediments like toilets, stairs, desks and chairs; lack of understanding of deaf peoples' deprivation; illness; and meeting time requirements. (SW)

Seminars on curriculum development transmitted by satellite are operated by the University of the South Pacific, Suva. The satellite was launched in 1966 by NASA, which has permitted educational broadcasting. Ground stations have been set up in eight countries that support the university. Practical aspects of transmission are outlined. (SW)

Care must be taken to select technology appropriate to the teaching task in distance education. Five principles of media selection are: increasing student-system interaction, matching the medium with the materials, reducing duplication, choosing the most direct channel, and developing user-friendly systems. Interactiveness and efficiency of…