This paper describes the design of an adaptive user model and its implementation in an advanced Web-based Virtual University environment that encompasses combined and synchronized adaptation between educational material and well-known communication facilities. The Virtual University environment has been implemented to support a postgraduate…

Data from 29 older adults in University of the Third Age Online in 1999 and 34 in 2001 indicated that women outnumbered men; more than 70% were from large urban areas; and 70% had professional, business, and managerial backgrounds. Many are unable to participate in mainstream adult education and derive purpose and enjoyment from virtual…

Describes the Western Governors University and the California Virtual University as examples illustrating the complex issues of distance education at the public-policy level. Explores whether these initiatives are the product of the commercialization of education or the result of a reform that may lead to increased learner-centered education. (SLD)

This study presents a model to explore the design of international virtual graduate programs, grounded in the theory of distance education. Results provide initial evidence suggesting that this new instrument can be useful to assess the quality of educational design in distance education. (Contains 67 references.) (Author/LRW)

In February 2003, RMIT University in Melbourne, Australia, commenced delivery of a Computer Science diploma and degree programme using mixed mode delivery to 250 university students in sub-Saharan Africa, through a World Bank funded project designed for the African Virtual University (AVU). The project is a unique experience made possible by…

On the basis of discussing the notion of virtual human resources and its structure, this paper analyzes the necessity of building up virtual university teaching staff and proposes a model for the structural makeup of virtual university teaching staff.

The demands made of employees are growing an at ever-faster rate, and so it is becoming increasingly important, especially for engineers, to keep abreast of the state of knowledge in the economy and the labor market. For people who work, this can be done only by means of e-learning that is independent of time and place. Learning content must be…

This article examines the relative perceived importance of 19 instructor actions in online courses according to both instructors and students. The instructor actions were culled from guidelines in the online learning literature base and then reviewed and rated by 14 experts. Thirty-two online instructors and 170 students from their classes at a…

This article describes WebCampus.Stevens, the online graduate education and corporate training unit of Stevens Institute of Technology, which delivers one of the largest and most effective asynchronous learning network (ALN) and blended programs of any college or university in the New York metropolitan region. Under a newly awarded Sloan…

The Eduventures survey examined next-generation demand for online postsecondary education, assessing online experience, delivery mode and marketing channels preferences, and perceptions of price, quality and location, identifying key takeaways in each area.

Since its unveiling in 2003, professors and college students have flocked to the virtual world of Second Life. Professors use Second Life to hold distance-education classes, saying that communication among students becomes livelier when they assume digital personae. Anthropologists and sociologists see the virtual world as a laboratory for…

One institution's attempts to implement an ambitious wholly online learning policy is examined in the Australian higher education setting. The conditions that led to a diversity of models of wholly online unit development are considered, along with teachers' design intents in establishing their online teaching and learning environments. The…

Encouraging continuous improvement in the quality, scale and breadth of online education, the Sloan Consortium invites practitioners to share effective practices. This report synthesizes effective practices submitted by Sloan-C members to the online collection at http://www.sloanconsortium.org/effective as of November 2010. The synthesis includes…

This study explores factors that predict learner satisfaction and transfer of learning in an online educational program at a multinational corporation, established to improve organizational learning by providing training in technical skills. A mixed-methods design was used, selecting both quantitative methods (utilizing survey research) and…

Much attention has been focused on the accountability, student learning outcomes, transfer of credit, and illegal file sharing provisions of the two related bills that have moved through the U.S. Senate and the House of Representatives to amend and extend the provisions of the 1965 Higher Education Act (S. 1642 and H.R. 4137). One of the…