Video tutorials are a common form of library instruction used with distance learners. This paper combines professional experience and literature reviews from multiple disciplines to provide a contextual overview of recommendations and findings for effective and engaging videos. The tools for tutorials appear in five main categories: screencasts,…

Universitas Terbuka (UT), the Indonesia Open University and the 45th state university in the country, is the only one that uses distance learning as its sole mode of delivery and instruction. Although UT has operated for 28 years, unlike face-to-face classroom-based education, distance education has not been considered as a fully legitimate…

Wawasan Open University (WOU) was established in 2007 with the sole aim of providing affordable and accessible higher education opportunities to working adults in the fields of business, technology, education and liberal studies. As part of its Open Distance Learning (ODL) delivery, WOU provides tutorial support for students every semester through…

This paper describes a development project aimed at reducing the large number of dropouts in online degree project courses. The idea was that the introduction of group tutorials in virtual seminars, combined with extensive support materials, would reduce dropout rates. Among the students who participated, the dropout rate was reduced by 50%…

In 2007, a Virtual Education Center for Biorenewable Resources was initiated (Raman, Brown, Brumm, Anex, Euken, Nokes, Crofcheck, Van Gerpen, and He, 2006). The Center offered three courses through distance education, including Biorenewable Resources and Technology (BRT) 501--Fundamentals of Biorenewable Resources and Technology. The main…

The "ILIAS" learning management system (LMS) was evaluated, following its favourable rating in an independent evaluation study of open source software (OSS) products. The current review found "ILIAS" to have numerous features of value to distance education (DE) students and teachers, as well as problems for consideration in the…

Reviews the major successes and failures of Athabasca University's efforts to extend access to a credible and academically sound university education to adult Canadians, largely through home-study packages. Discusses issues including rural/urban student differences, the role of tutors, adult student needs, student preparedness, and organizational…

Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University (STOU) is one of Thailand's two official open universities. STOU has no on-campus classes. Instead, it offers self-instructional packages in a distance education format and conducts optional tutorials in local study centers throughout Thailand. STOU's curriculum, which is designed to provide educational…

This paper reports on a research study that draws on the perceptions of students, tutors, field centre coordinators and central management to evaluate the support services provided to students in the National Teachers' Institute's distance teacher training programme. Within a conceptual framework that built upon models of teaching and learning…

A pilot project at the University of Ulster (Northern Ireland) used the CAUCUS computer conferencing system on the CAMPUS 2000 education network to train teachers to assess young adults with severe learning difficulties. Despite problems with student attrition and system failure, computer conferencing was felt to be a useful medium for providing…

The Queensland Primary Itinerant Teacher Service assists home tutors with the education of primary school children on correspondence education, supplementing the efforts of the Primary Correspondence School (PCS) and the Schools of the Air (SOTA). Primary means of service delivery is the home visit. The role of the itinerant teacher encompasses…

Different forms of peer tutoring within college and universities are described and compared for effectiveness, including cross-year and same-year small-group, individualized, supplemental, diadic, reciprocal, fixed-role, writing process, and distance tutoring. Three methods are found to be widely used, demonstrated effective, and meriting expanded…