Universities have a key role to play in the progress and development of the Knowledge Society. They should lead the way in the design of teaching strategies that promote knowledge building. Personal learning environments (PLE) represent a groundbreaking new development in educational practices through the incorporation of Information and…

Literature indicates that there is limited research on the national and organizational level decision processes to develop and deliver e-learning programs. In this paper, existing e-learning literature is analyzed in terms of national level factors (national culture, readiness for new technology, and infrastructure), organizational level factors…

The use of digital technologies is now widespread and increasing, but is not always optimized for effective learning. Teachers in higher education have little time or support to work on innovation and improvement of their teaching, which often means they simply replicate their current practice in a digital medium. This paper makes the case for a…

In an increasingly networked and technologically mediated world, people need to continuously update their knowledge and skill base, so as to be able to self-direct their intentional learning projects. In addition to teaching domain-specific knowledge and skills, the role of higher education should be reorganizing current teaching and studying…

Four cases relating to the efforts of e-learning teams in valuing adult learners in their e-learning solutions were examined to better understand how e-learning teams value their adult learners within corporate settings. Two questions guided the analysis of the cases, they are: (1) What is the nature of the e-learning solutions in these cases? (2)…

Learners are active actors in learning environments and not mere consumers of instructional designers' products. In line with mediating paradigm instructional conceptions of students are analysed. These conceptions act as cognitive filters that affect students' use of both instructional interventions and support in learning environments. To gain…

Purpose: Today's technology supports the design of more and more sophisticated interactive learning environments. This paper aims to argue that such design should develop from first principles. Design/methodology/approach: In the paper by first principles is meant: learning theory and principles of course design. These principles are briefly…

This article outlines a learning intervention which the authors call Learning by Design. The goal of this intervention is classroom and curriculum transformation, and the professional learning of teachers. The experiment involves the practical application of the learning theory to everyday classroom practice. Its ideas are grounded in pedagogical…

This paper presents a description of the Australian University Teaching Committee (AUTC) funded project titled: "Information and Communication Technologies (ICTs) and Their Role in Flexible Learning" that aims to provide opportunities for university teachers to create high quality flexible learning experiences for students. This is to be…

This digest reviews what instructional designers do, describes knowledge management, and indicates how knowledge management is influencing instructional design. The first section defines instructional design (ID) and briefly describes the ID process. The second section covers knowledge management (KM), including definitions of KM and systems,…

This paper discusses instructional design for distance education. The first section summarizes principles of instructional design systems, including the systematic process, considerations related to planning for instruction, and issues associated with the separation of the instructor and students. Issues to address in the planning process are…

This article is about how conversation becomes both instructional design process and reflexive narrative inquiry. The narrative is shaped around the story and restorying of a course redevelopment project in teacher education. Told in three parts, the Start of the Journey recalls the authors' individual beliefs and expectations about teaching and…

The term "design" is being understood more and more as a methodological process, together with its acceptance as the result of such a process. As a process, it is a stage in the courseware engineering life cycle which primarily focuses on rendering the development process more effective and on enhancing the qualities of the finished system,…

Provides an introduction to this special issue on distance education and e-learning. Several questions related to these topics are presented, and the articles contained in the issue are summarized. (MES)

A model curriculum, such as that developed by the ACM/SIGITE Curriculum Committee (2005), has two important functions. First, it provides a base structure for newly developing programs that can use it as a platform for articulating a curriculum. Second, it offers an existing curriculum framework that can be used for validation by existing…