Video lectures are fast becoming an everyday educational resource in higher education. They are being incorporated into existing university curricula around the world, while also emerging as a key component of the open education movement. In 2007, the Universitat Politècnica de València (UPV) implemented its poliMedia lecture capture system for…

Distance learners often rely on written feedback for learning and for motivation. But feedback that is "given" to learners and that relies on praise to motivate does not engage learners in the process of self-development. We propose that an ipsative approach to assessment and feedback based on a comparison with a learner's previous…

The integration of technology in higher education has been swiftly changing since 2000. This study, which focused on issues related to technology integration in higher education, included 24 interviews done in 15 universities. The interviews documented an accelerated pace of change as well a wide range of innovations. Relying on the idea that…

This research explores manifestations of "diploma disease" in distance education (DE) upgrading programmes for basic school teachers in Ghana. A survey design which included document analysis was used to explore the emphasis in the contents of the DE programme and the experiences of teachers who took the programmes. The study involved a…

This is a critical examination of the claims that innovations such as massive open online courses (MOOCs) will disrupt the business models of the higher education sector. It describes what business models are, analyses the business model of free MOOCs offered by traditional universities and compares that model to that of paid online courses…

This article outlines a methodological approach to the creation, production and dissemination of online collaborative audio-visual projects, using new social learning technologies and open-source video tools, which can be applied to any e-learning environment in higher education. The methodology was developed and used to design a course in the…

Research into motivation in education mainly centres on students' learning motivation. This article reports on an interview study of teacher motivation with the aim of investigating the effects of student-related factors and tutors' personal factors on the motivation of language tutors in the distance learning context. Findings from the…

This case study relates to distance learning students on open access courses. It demonstrates the use of predictive analytics to generate a model of the probabilities of success and retention at different points, or milestones, in a student journey. A core set of explanatory variables has been established and their varying relative importance at…

Globalisation, the shift to a knowledge economy, and changing demographics are increasingly challenging higher education systems. The move from elite through mass to universal education, coupled with the internationalisation of higher education, has profoundly influenced the system, especially in terms of academic mobility. It has created new…

This paper explores the ways in which module and curriculum development in the context of a distance education (DE) programme play an important role in "constructing" a discipline's object of study, thus contributing to the ways in which knowledge is understood in society. The paper examines how the process of module production both…

The virtual learning environment (VLE) has grown to become a piece of complex infrastructure that is now deemed critical to higher educational provision. This paper looks at Moodle and its adoption in higher education. Moodle's origins, as an open source VLE, are investigated and its growth examined in the context of how higher educational…

First-year university students exhibit considerably different levels of proficiency, often lacking the necessary prerequisites to attend certain courses. This is especially true for mathematics courses. While motivation alone plays a role, by far the most significant challenge consists in harmonising the different (and often incompatible)…

This paper challenges traditional dichotomies that identify temporal and spatial restrains as relevant defining properties of learning environments. We present a critique of the current dominant computer-supported cooperative work (CSCW) taxonomy. Although we believe that the taxonomy does provide useful information, we question whether the axis…

Teacher education in India, including that offered by the open distance learning (ODL) system to thousands every year, imparts mainly pedagogic knowledge, although the need for integrated teacher education programmes has been underscored. As the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), an ODL institution, will develop an integrated Bachelor…

This paper brings together some data on student retention in distance education in the form of graduation rates at a sample of distance institutions. The paper suggests that there is a "distance education deficit" with many distance institutions having less than one-quarter of the graduation rates of conventional institutions. It looks…