The article provides an account of the developing and changing perspectives of educational technology in the IET during its brief history, as well as its organizational structure, operations and publications.

The process of formative evaluation used at the British Open University for course improvement is described.

The author proposes a learner-centered approach to the design and formative evaluation of OU courses.

A consortial effort of nine state universities in six Midwestern states, the University of Mid-America develops mediated credit and non-credit courses for use off-campus in teaching-at-a-distance programs. (Author)

A descriptive paper which attempts to give a brief overview of the nature of the course materials used in Science teaching at the Open University and the procedures adopted for assessment and evaluation. (Author)

Despite the criticisms which can be leveled at external and special degree programs, the fact remains that they provide a needed service to selected clientele and have the capability to provide valuable alternatives for institutions of higher education and their clients. (Author)

It is argued that students find it difficult to reap the full potential of television case study programs, and find it particularly difficult to integrate this material with the material contained in correspondence texts. The difficulties could be explained by examining more closely the various dimensions of a television case study:…

This study examined students' experiences of external study at Gippsland Institute through the method of student self-report study diaries. Questions which were addressed include: (1) Why are external students taking courses at Gippsland? (2) What do they hope to gain? (3) How do they handle particular study guides and assignment materials? (4)…

A study was conducted to examine the relationships of four areas of textual design factors that are relevant to external students' learning as they use their course study guides: the micro and macro textual features, the linguistics, and the instructional design elements. Twelve external students from two units at the Gippsland Institute were…

The author comments on Barbara H. Mickey's article, Designing the External Degree Program. (PG)

The aspects of the team development style that were employed at the University of Mid-America (UMA) in developing multi-media instruction for a new and open university setting for adults are discussed in this paper. The experience of three team projects are drawn upon in defining some particular characteristics of internal team functioning and…

The Open University of Great Britain provides home-based instruction to nearly 50,000 predominantly-working students via broadcasts and correspondence. Each unit of instruction consists of a combination of text, broadcasts, cassette recordings, assignments, and experiment kits. The per student cost of this delivery system is impressively low,…