While many historically contingent barriers to individual liberty have been deconstructed, I argue that current education policy continues to maintain a discriminatory educational milieu that constitutes individuals as dis/abled. I describe this current government formulation of educational spaces as Closed Policy. Various contingent environmental…

The terms 'open' and 'distance' are no longer helpful for advancing approaches to education traditionally served by open institutions. A proposal to reframe the terms 'open' and 'distance' is made: 'open', it is suggested, needs to be linked more explicitly to education that is increasingly available, inclusive, scalable, and sustainable.…

This article suggests to reflect on the philosophical foundations of Open Education. It reaches out to Bergson's and Popper's respective understandings of Open Society; ontology of immanence, not-yetness; and post-inquiry. It invites to revisit "ethos," "eidos" and "praxis" in Open Education to move away from a…

Since COVID-19 pandemic hit the world at the beginning of 2020s, various efforts were made to keep the education process running while still enforcing protocols to prevent the spread of COVID-19. Online learning then becomes an option and inevitability for educational institutions to break the chain of spreading the virus. Furthermore, distance…

There may be many kinds of e-learning material presented to learners. However, learners may not have the consciousness or not want to spend time to examine to select the most appropriate one. Recommendation systems seem to be a feasible solution for an efficient learning process both for learners and the service provider. In this study, we propose…

This paper showcases relevant initiatives to address inclusive and sustainable development through the objectives of UNESCO's Sustainable Development Goal 4 (SDG4) towards ensuring inclusive and equitable quality education and to promote lifelong learning opportunities for all. These research projects have been possible thanks to initiatives such…

In this article, ambassadors of the International Council for Open and Distance Education (ICDE) Open Educational Resources (OER) Advocacy Committee (OERAC) provide a snapshot of regional and global Open Educational Resources (OER)initiatives. This committee has been active since 2017 with membership renewed biannually. The ambassadors work to…

In this article, a teaching artist shares their understandings about designing a large-scale interactive intermedial arts experience for children aged five to eight years, and articulates findings about the conditions that promote quality experiences of this kind. When designing interactive arts experiences, a tension exists between providing…

Models of education that we find in city museums in Austria bear the danger of avoiding discussing the Nazi past. But on the other hand, there is potential in the freedom of being about to skirt it. The lack of pressure to address the topic can lead to a more open approach in discussions, but the ease with which the topic can be avoided is…

In 2023, China leads the world in the number of Open Online Courses (OOC, over 64500) and learners (over 1.88 billion). In this article, we provide a brief review of the development of OOCs in China and outline the current situation of Chinese OOC focusing on learning platforms, course size and structure, and micro-credential courses. We also…

This multinational authored article presents the findings and recommendations of a three-year, European-funded project 'OpenMed: Opening up education in South Mediterranean countries', which brought together five higher education partners from Europe and nine from the South Mediterranean region. This was the first cross-European initiative to…

The purpose of this paper is to share insights gained from the discovery, design, and delivery phases of creating a three-tiered model of non-academic learning support in open, distance, and flexible learning (ODFL): "Learner Engagement and Success Services (LESS)", at Open Polytechnic | Te Pukenga, New Zealand. Presented as a case…

The Australian Council for Educational Research (ACER) has created an open-access classroom observation tool based on research conducted for the Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade's (DFAT) Teacher Development Multi-Year Study Series, which studied teaching practices in Timor-Leste, Vanuatu and Lao PDR (see…

New Zealand's Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade has funded the Commonwealth of Learning (COL) to implement a project to contribute to enhanced capacity and efficiency of Pacific education sectors through greater use of innovative delivery mechanisms and technology. This report provides an improved mentorship model for the capacity development…

This reflective paper describes insights gained in the process of seeking to enhance disability and access services for adult disabled learners in Open Distance and Flexible Learning (ODFL) in Aotearoa New Zealand. This paper explores the question: What would make the biggest difference to disabled learners' experience in ODFL? It presents brief…