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…

An Open University program to develop software for a microcomputer/speech synthesizer is described that could provide broad access to university programming, computer-assisted instruction, and data processing. The state of the art of speech synthesis and the problems encountered in program construction and trial are outlined. (MSE)

Microcomputers are advocated as a primary teaching tool for independent and correspondence study, provided suitable software is available and consideration is given to initial student attitudes, peculiarities in computer communication, and the low predictive power of psychological tests in computer-based learning. (Author/MSE)

Since its inception in 1984, the CADET (Computer-Assisted Distance Education Telecommunications), a micro to mainframe computer program developed by the University of Oklahoma but modified for use at the University of Alberta in Canada, has achieved major results. Its successful use in delivering a distance education graduate course in which both…

Purpose: Aims to investigate reactions to online delivery, student perceptions of the rates and depth of participation, and levels of engagement with the learning process in a Western Australian University. Design/methodology/approach: The sample for this study comprised 108 students who were enrolled in both undergraduate and postgraduate…

This book explores the essentials of distance education and reviews issues facing large open universities (mega-universities) worldwide. It uses examples from industry and the knowledge media, to show how technology-based learning can be made attractive both to students and to institutions. The book's eight chapters, including 10 figures and 5…

This book contains 14 case studies, written by those involved in the teaching and training initiatives, that illustrate the use of open and distance learning strategies. The case studies, drawn from many parts of the world (but mostly British based), feature efforts in large and small companies in a variety of industries. The first part of the…

This report on technology in learning at the University of Alberta (Canada) presents a vision for the year 2005 and outlines the measures and leadership needed to achieve these goals. In the introductory chapter the report examines the university's current telecommunications infrastructure, looks at the need to integrate technology and teaching,…