Purpose: The outbreak of COVID-19 in 2020 has had a profound impact on education institutions at all levels. Open universities, with their privileged delivery method, have been in an advantageous position. In the earlier stages of the pandemic, they made remarkable contributions to assuring learning continuity. However, with more and more…

This paper is based on a study that examined authorship and collaborative research among scholars in Open and Distance Learning (ODL) institutions with a focus on prospects for Africa. The study involved intensive documentary desk review of conference book of abstracts and conference proceedings to examine authorship and collaborative research.…

With the growing demand for tertiary education, especially in Africa, the transformation of contact universities to dual-mode institutions is critical. However, conventional universities have had limited success establishing the dual-mode delivery stream. This paper assesses barriers to adoption and implementation of open and distance learning…

People's Open Access Education Initiative (Peoples-uni, http://peoples-uni.org) aims to contribute to improvements in the health of populations in low- to middle-income countries by building public health capacity via e-learning at affordable cost. We describe experience over nine years of the initiative, including the development and delivery of…

This article is a literature review on open distance learnings (ODL) in Francophone Sub-Saharan Africa (FSSA). The state of research on this question highlights many topics, such as the supporting reasons for the creation of ODL systems and their potentials. Success, difficulties, and issues linked to their implementation also hold a crucial place…

Learning design approaches, such as those adopted by the Open University, provide a set of tools and resources for purposefully-designing modules with a focus on student experiences. However, many of the current learning design strategies have been situated within specific institutions in Europe and North America. This means that there are several…

Open and Distance Learning (ODL) has become an increasingly popular platform for delivering education the world over. The acceptance of ODL as a viable alternative to traditional brick and mortar educational institutes has been a topic of debate however. Furthermore, many questions have been raised about the different levels of interest…

YouTube now has more searches than Google, indicating that video is a motivating and, potentially, powerful learning tool. This paper investigates how we can embrace video to support improvements in teacher education. It will draw on innovative approaches to teacher education, developed by the Open University UK, in order to explore in more depth…

Open educational resources (OER) continue to support the needs of educators and learners globally. However, it is clear that to maximise their potential more focus is needed on reuse and repurposing. Accordingly, adapting OER for local contexts remains one of the greatest challenges of the open education movement, with little written about how to…

Success in open educational resources (OER) has been reported by the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the USA and the Open University in the UK, among others. It is unclear, however, how valuable OER are in learning and teaching. Approaches to OER policy and sustainability are just two other key aspects that remain unresolved across the…

E-learning has long been celebrated as the solution to access in education. There seems to be a belief worldwide that by including e-learning technologies in learning packages, learners' success and economies of scale will be ensured in ODL (open and distance learning). New innovations like the internet and mobile technologies provide a great…

This is a unique and groundbreaking collection of questions and answers coming from higher education institutions on diverse fields and across a wide spectrum of countries and cultures. It creates routes for further innovation, collaboration amidst the Sciences (both Natural and Social), the Humanities, and the private and public sectors of…

This book, written by authors representing 12 countries and five continents, is a collection of international perspectives on distance learning and distance learning implementations in higher education. The perspectives are presented in the form of practical case studies of distance learning implementations, research studies on teaching and…

Many educational institutions are developing or expanding open and distance learning (ODL) programs, and all face difficulties ensuring that teaching materials of the right quality are developed on time. This report examines solutions to the problem, focusing on training, policies, and management structures that encourage timely development of…

There is an urgent need to restructure universities in Africa; current problems include the loss of autonomy, a decaying infrastructure, inadequate salaries, an internal job market void of opportunities, brain drain, intellectual isolation, diminished research, and fossilized curricula. There is an equal need for a stabilized funding source and…