Leveraging technology to break the iron triangle of access, cost, and quality is a legacy of open universities (OUs), becoming a source of inspiration for higher education in general. Today, OUs face increasing competition from conventional universities, no longer enjoying the first-mover advantages as they did in the earlier years. Can artificial…

Predicting and improving the academic achievement of university students is a multifactorial problem. Considering the low success rates and high dropout rates, particularly in open education programs characterized by mass enrollment, academic success is an important research area with its causes and consequences. This study aimed to solve a…

Organizational culture acts as the mortar that connects the bricks. Every institution has its own unique culture which has been adopted and shared by all employees over the years. As establishment stories, ways of doing business, and communication styles change, culture also adopts itself to these in a way that is specific to that organization.…

Universiti Teknologi MARA (UiTM) has taken an approach of Open and Distance Learning (ODL) system as a way to ensure the continuity of its education during the COVID-19 pandemic. This transformation leads to various challenges in teaching and learning. Hence, this study aimed to describe the ODL in terms of university students' learning…

Open Education Practices (OEP) have been proposed as a way to increase both engagement in learning, and lower costs. Broadly, Open Educational Practices involve learners in creating, evaluating, remixing, or otherwise modifying Open Education Resources (OER). Aspirational descriptions of OEP frame them both as liberatory by engaging learners…

This paper examines the pedagogical integration of Virtual Microscopes (VMs) in Virtual Learning Environments (VLEs), to identify best practice and improve online pedagogy. It has captured the perspectives of 12 Health and Earth Science university teachers, through in-depth interviews, about the current integration of the VM in online teaching,…

Can the open universities in the UK and Greece be seen as representing two ideologies of openness? That is the main question this article poses. I argue that these institutions, shaped by their unique social, political and historical contexts, embody different interpretations of openness. The Open University in the UK was founded with a commitment…

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…

Open remix, defined as the objects, processes, and mindsets developed through the act of combining or manipulating open educational resources to create something new (Hilton et al., 2010; Knobel & Lankshear, 2008; Lessig, 2004; Wiley, n.d.), serves as an effective teaching and learning practice for its propensity to expand technological…

This paper is a critical case study tracing the professional history of a self-professed open educator over more than two decades. It frames the narrative of an individual as a window on the broader arc of the field, from early open learning as a means of widening participation, through the rise of the participatory web at scale, to the current…

Without interrogation, educators may reproduce hegemonic materials and learning opportunities that are simply easier to access in open educational practices (OEP). Thus, we argue that to effectively engage in OEP, educators must not only possess knowledge, skills and dispositions related to their discipline, but also related to open education, CC…

The primary objective of this research is to ascertain the manner in which higher education institutions offering open and distance education incorporate the concept of openness into their vision, mission, core values, and tactics. This study employs a descriptive research design to ascertain the current state of affairs. The research methodology…

The launch of ChatGPT has been revolutionary. This AI chatbot can produce conversations which are indistinguishable from that of humans. This exploratory qualitative study is foregrounded in a constructivist-interpretative perspective. The principal objective of this paper is to explore the views of academics on ChatGPT as an AI-based learning…

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…

The article presents the narratives of two academics with mobility impairments who work in the largest open distance learning higher education institution in South Africa. We share our experiences as we navigate through the COVID-19 pandemic and reflect on this phase. For many people, life will never be the same after this pandemic; people have…