Despite the recognition of the benefits that can be achieved through the use of Open Educational Resources (OER) and, more broadly, Open Educational Practices (OEP), there has been little research on the competences that are needed to enable educators to utilise such practices. To contribute to closing this gap, this paper presents a framework of…

Self-directed learning (SDL) is necessary for successful learning in MOOCs. Motivation is one of the critical elements of SDL. This mixed-method study examined the design and delivery of MOOCs to motivate learners for SDL. The data collection methods included semi-structured interviews with 22 MOOC instructors, a document review of 22 MOOCs, and…

This conceptual paper sets out the community-of-inquiry framework from a distributed perspective. It proposes that considering teaching presence, social presence and cognitive presence from a distributed perspective allows the broadening of the presences to consider the way in which participants, content and tools maintain and advance these…

Offering education by distance provides an important sociological tool for equalising opportunities in developed nations. However, for developing nations and more particularly some of the least-developed countries in the world, it has the potential to play a much larger role in providing both basic and advanced educational opportunities and,…

Higher education institutions are increasingly looking for the adoption of new ways to improve education quality, enhance student engagement, and manage knowledge resources. Technological developments have a significant impact on education, and technology-mediated learning is steadily progressing, with blended learning being implemented in…

This study aims: (1) to investigate the different motivations and perspectives for Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) that targeted attitudinal learning outcomes; and (2) to categorise learner profiles in regards to their perceived attitudinal learning gains. Seven hundred and ninety-six learners from three MOOCs participated in an…

Satisfaction with the use of Learning Management Systems (LMSs) to support online learning has been a concern for institutions. However, several factors such as personal innovativeness, student-material interaction, student-student interaction and student-teacher interaction have been suggested as enablers of satisfaction in online learning…

The context and tools used to create diagrams may hinder or help students in learning how to represent a situation and how to learn about diagramming and the situation at the same time. These equally provide opportunities and challenges to tutors in teaching, assessing and providing feedback on these diagrams, particularly for students studying at…

Different approaches exist in delivering courses. The traditional face-to-face, the blended approach that combines the strengths of face-to-face with the application of technologies, and the online approach, which is the form of learning that takes place over the Internet. This article reports on the impact of the forced transformation of a data…

Training and support will be vital in developing and maintaining a skilled disability workforce in the roll-out of individualised disability funding across Australia. Technology has the potential to deliver training and support that is more accessible and cost-efficient in geographically isolated regions. The current qualitative study explored…

The COVID-19 pandemic created many challenges for higher education institutions (HEI), one of the most important being forced e-learning -- the involuntary need to move all educational activities to an online environment. In this exploratory study, we aim to learn from students' feedback on demands created by COVID-19 forced e-learning to provide…

This paper describes an Open University eSTEeM project that gathered the experiences of computing and information technology tutors who teach an undergraduate module called "Web Technologies" with the intention of understanding more about how they and their students can be best supported. Twelve distance learning tutors were interviewed…

Massive open online courses (MOOCs) are one of the overarching topics of our times but have been subject to several controversial debates in recent years. Hitherto, the discussion has mainly focused either on some distinct success criteria for MOOCs, including technical features, enrolment numbers and dropout rates, or on the instructional…

With astounding developments in online systems and education came the need for e-assessments of various forms. Despite plenty of studies about attitude towards computer-based and online education, attitude towards online assessment needs more focus due to scant research carried out. For this end, an e-assessment scale was used with a sample of 853…

This paper proposes a design framework to support science education through blended learning, based on a participatory and interactive approach supported by ICT-based tools, called "Science Learning Activities Model" (SLAM). The development of this design framework started as a response to complex changes in society and education (e.g.…