This book is based on training sessions conducted by the author that focused on key issues in the design of self-instructional materials, including an awareness of the distinctive features of self-instructional materials, characteristics of the target audience, and coming to grips with the resources and constraints within which one must work.…

Begun as an experimental channel of the European Institute for the Media within the DELTA research program of the European Community, Channel e is Europe's first educational, training, and informative programming service. Programs are broadcast by communications satellite to a potential mass audience of 320 million people. Designed for use on the…

This study examined the student characteristics of Athabasca University (AU), Alberta, Canada, a distance and open university, and asked whether AU serves the student clientele that its mission proposes and to what the AU graduates attribute success. Established to make it possible for people to earn a university education regardless of where they…

The design issues involved in the effective use of computer-mediated communication in a multimedia distance education environment are examined, with particular reference to recent and current initiatives at the Open University in Great Britain. A description of the components of the Open University's electronic campus (the conferencing system and…

A questionnaire developed in six languages--English, French, German, Polish, Russian, and Spanish--was mailed to more than 1,500 organizations known by the FernUniversitat in West Germany to be connected in some way to distance education, correspondence education, or home study. The study was undertaken as a response to the lack of systematic…

Several approaches being used to support students in distance education programs in the United Kingdom, the United States, and other countries are described. Britain's Open University support services are offered through tutor-counselors in about 260 local study centres throughout the United Kingdom. Students are assigned to specialist tutors who…

Costa Rica's Universidad Estatal a Distancia (UNED), the education system in the country, and information on Costa Rica are considered. UNED is helping to equalize geographical inequalities of access to higher education. Overall, UNED's academic programs have been aimed at those who want to obtain professional qualifications. In the first semester…

The University Without Walls (UWW) programs at seven colleges were examined to identify common programmatic features and to determine both student and faculty/staff views of this educational endeavor. Attention was focused on the degree-granting process at the institutions. A total of 513 student questionnaires and 190 faculty/staff questionnaires…

Methods, their rationale, and exercises for Open University tutors are presented. The book is divided into two parts, the first concerning practical issues of how to actually teach students to learn and the second dealing with theoretical issues and the rationale for the teaching methods described in Part I. Part I, "A Student-Centered…

This conference paper consists of a sketch of the British Open University at work as well as a brief commentary on current developments in the fields of communication technology, course design, instruction, and current trends in distance education. Provided first are statistics pertaining to current enrollment and enrollment projections, student…

The Open University of Great Britain relies heavily on broadcasting as a mode of instruction. Because increased course offerings have made program scheduling a problem and because production costs have risen sharply, a survey was conducted to determine the use patterns of students so that the system's resources could be allocated in the most…

The Open University of Great Britain is an open-enrollment, home-based institution in which the majority of the instruction is conducted via broadcasts and correspondence. The student is required to interact with printed materials, broadcasts, tutors, counselors, assignments, cassette recordings, experiment kits, etc. The choice of media is…

The Planning Committee, appointed by the British Secretary of State for Education and Science to work out a comprehensive plan for an Open University, reports on the objectives, general approach, charter and statues, administrative structure and appointments, degree structure and courses, academic staffing, relationships with the British…

The paper starts with a general description of the Open University's teaching system as it operated in 1976, and student progress through the system. It then analyzes the University's cost structures on the basis of the University's 1976 Recurrent Estimates, and by indicating, on the basis of the information given, estimated average, marginal, and…

This report presents findings from the second national survey of distance education undertaken by the National Center for Education Statistics. The survey covers the 12-month 1997-98 academic year and includes data for higher education institutions as well as all 2-year and 4-year postsecondary institutions. Highlights of the report include the…