Distance learning is well-known to students in South Africa. Previous studies have focused mainly on face-to-face tutorials. This study aimed to investigate student support and student performance in online tutorials using the theory of transactional distance. A census survey and quantitative approach were used to achieve the research objectives.…

Standard online tutorials at The Open University, based in the UK, are generally tutor-led with the tutor setting the agenda and content. This study investigated the inclusion of online student-led drop-in tutorials to support assessment on an OU level one module. The aims were to gauge the value to students of this style of tutorial, to…

The academic success of first-year students' learning in science faculties is by no means assured, especially in an Open Distance Learning setting with its limited number of face-to-face encounters between students and lecturers or tutors. Therefore, such encounters should be highly efficient in view of the considerable amount of knowledge…

This article is a narrative report of the findings from the analysis of multicultural facilitators' discourses on their e-readiness in the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) affordances in open and distance learning (ODL) mediation experiences. First, the findings revealed by qualitative deconstructive discourse analysis…

An outline is presented of Barnet College's flexistudy program, a system for providing a wider range of learning opportunities through a more flexible arrangement of course times and content to students who are unable to attend college regularly, who are too few in number to form a specialist class, or who wish to start school at some time other…

Since 1970, liaisons between the Open University and local providers of adult education have assisted in preparing adults for studying in the Open University. Two examples from joint work with the Workers' Educational Association are cited. (Author/AF)

Experience in Scotland shows that telephone tuition can be an effective means to bring remote students and tutors into direct contact. One-to-one tuition, conference call tuition, and loud-speaker tuition are discussed. Limitations and advantages of this medium are noted, and development across the United Kingdom is advocated. (AF)

The mathematics learning center at Tacoma Community College (Washington) has three programs: an independent-tutorial study system, a student tutorial system, and a basic arithmetic skills laboratory. Thirty independent-tutorial study mathematics courses, ranging from arithmetic to calculus, are available within the structure and control of the…

The choices involved in setting up an open learning system are discussed, and the case for the mixture of interaction and independence is established. Problems involved in effecting the synthesis between activities in which the student works alone and those which bring him into contact with others are detailed. (AF)

This guide, which is aimed primarily at those responsible for providing learning opportunities within further education in England and Wales, deals with managing open learning. Addressed in the individual chapters of the guide are the following topics: the nature of open learning; the production of learning materials; the impact of open learning…