Mentoring works as a strategy for helping people and particularly disadvantaged groups of population such as the unemployed, young people or immigrants improve their professional opportunities and succeed in life. It helps give people the confidence, access to valuable resources, and skills they need to reach their potential. The article presents…

Professional development for distance tutors is traditionally delivered through texts or websites, supplemented by face to face workshops. However, one of the major challenges is to ensure that they engage with the materials and carry away something which is of value to their practice. At the Open University (UK) our 8000 tutors work from home,…

Since 2002 the "Zurich E-Learning Certificate" offers lecturers and academic staff from the three main universities in Zurich the possibility to take part in a professional development program which supports the acquirement of eCompetence. The program is the result of a cooperation between the University of Zurich (UZH), the Swiss Federal…

In this paper, we urge practitioners to consider the potential of podcasting for teaching, learning and assessment. Our perspective is drawn from research on IMPALA (Informal Mobile Podcasting And Learning Adaptation), which showed that there is a range of successful podcasting approaches for students on campus. After briefly surveying the…

Research into tutoring at a distance has a fairly long history and the functions of tutors in distance education institutions are well understood. Over the past 20 years research into online tutoring has advanced significantly as such institutions have "gone electronic": in this paper we cite published research from the UK Open University.…

This paper reports on an empirical research on the Interaction Equivalency Theorem posited by Anderson (2003a), consisting of the three elements of teacher-student-content interaction. Using an author-developed survey, the paper reports the priority order of interaction elements to assure learning quality with two parameters of learning modes and…

E-learning has constantly increased its importance in education. Both public and private organizations use it extensively. However, doubts have been expressed in regards to its effectiveness. These difficulties often have their origin in human-system interaction, thus there is the necessity to investigate interaction in e-learning. We approach…

The aim of this study is to characterize the current status of blended learning in Portugal, given that b-learning has grown exponentially in the Portuguese market over recent years. 38 organizations (representing 68% of all institutions certified to provide distance training by the Government Labour Office--DGERT-) participated in this study. The…

The paper is based on a recent report given to the Portuguese Ministry of Science, Technology and Higher Education on "Reforming Higher Education Distance Learning in Portugal" (Hasan et. al. 2009). The report was grounded on on-site visits of leading Portuguese Universities, Polytechnics and Business Schools as well as on written statements of…

Instruction in higher education has developed significantly over the past two decades, influenced by two trends: promotion of active learning methods and integration of web technology in e-Learning. Many studies found that active teaching improves students' success, involvement and thinking skills. Nevertheless, internationally, most instructors…

Two-way communication between students and tutors is one of the two key factors contributing to the success of a Distance Learning programme, the other being the complete and well-designed educational package. Both elements are essential to guide students' learning. By means of this communication the tutor can facilitate the interaction of…

The Open University, an open distance learning institution, is increasingly using a Virtual Learning Environment (VLE) that requires internet access. This paper investigates how the move to a VLE has affected one group of students who do not have internet access--offender learners studying in prison. Members of the armed forces and secure hospital…

So far, e-learning has primarily been used when there are many learners involved. The up-front investments related to e-learning are relatively high, and may be perceived as prohibitive for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). Some e-learning is, however, getting less expensive, and some e-learning models are more suited for small-scale…

The purpose of this article is to provide researchers and, in particular, practitioner-scholars of e-learning curricular designs and instructors with one conceptual model that supports more involvement and interaction within on-line courses. The "On-line Curriculum Interaction Model" posited by the author is informed by the foundational…

The purpose of the research was to get insights into the ways learning strategies typically used by adult learners can be taken into consideration when designing web-based courses to facilitate learning in teacher education. Teacher students wrote narratives in discussion forums by completing various types of group projects. The relevant…