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…

Open education resources (OER) are taking centre-stage in many higher educational institutions globally, driven by the need to raise institutional profiles, improve the effectiveness of teaching and learning and achieve universal access to education. Many academics attracted to the idea of turning teaching materials into OER have, however, found…

This investigation compared outcomes in disabled and non-disabled students taking courses by distance learning with the Open University UK in 2003. Students with mental health difficulties showed poorer course completion than non-disabled students. Students with restricted mobility and students with other disabilities showed lower pass rates than…

The aim of this paper is to investigate the pedagogical suitability of using cell phones to enhance learning through social interaction in distance education. Social interaction was used as a conceptual framework to explore the potential for using "MXit"--a cell-phone instant messaging system--to support and enhance learning for distance education…

The process of developing innovative mobile approaches to informal and formal learning is challenging, not least in needing to satisfy stakeholders with diverse interests in the technology, the pedagogy and the overall system. Some approaches to evaluation may focus on examining the nature and quality of learning that occurs, while other methods…

This paper reviews the themes emerging from Bangladeshi teachers' experiences of taking part in the initial research and the development stage of a professional development programme they were involved with. The Secondary Teaching and Learning Programme is an information and communications technologies-enhanced supported open distance learning…

This paper presents and discusses the initial findings of a mobile language learning project undertaken in the context of an undergraduate distance-learning French language programme at The Open University (UK). The overall objective of the project was to investigate students' experiences when using their own portable devices for additional…

We explore how small-format laptops ("netbooks") have been used within evidence-based investigations undertaken by secondary school students, to what extent these are suitable for effectively supporting learners across different locations and contexts, and their implications for open learning. Over the course of seven trials with 300 students and…

Microblogging as a form of expression has gained momentum recently: a widely popular version is Twitter, which began by asking "What are you doing?" While posts responding to this question were often inane and ephemeral, microblogging can still be harnessed for research purposes. This paper reports on a case study with eight participants during a…

This case study involved 429 distance education diploma students at the University of Botswana. The aim of the study was to find out whether these students had access to MP3 players and other technologies essential in distance learning. Findings show that, contrary to expectations, learners did not have access to MP3 digital audio devices.…

This paper attempts to draw together current developments in e-learning tools and technologies with a view to extending distance language educators' (teachers, materials developers, programme leaders) awareness of the technical possibilities at their disposal for developing online distance learning resources. The paper briefly outlines the…

This paper presents our experiences and the challenges identified in transforming traditional lecture-based modules at a university into problem-based blended learning within a social constructivist approach. Our experiment was, among other factors, motivated by an urgent need to meet new curriculum requirements by reducing the lecturing time in a…

This study assessed learner preferences for using computer-based technology in a distance education course. A questionnaire was posted to students who had taken an undergraduate nutrition course at Athabasca University, Canada. The response rate was 57.1% (176 returned out of 308). Subjects were predominately female (93.7%) and nursing students…

The current study examines how a computerized learning environment assists students with learning disabilities (LD) enrolled in a distance learning course at the Open University of Israel. The technology provides computer display of the text, synchronized with auditory output and accompanied by additional computerized study skill tools which…

This article describes the learning objectives, the course activities, experiences and outcomes of a graduate level course on learning object design. The course was developed and taught at The Ohio State University by the author during the Spring Quarter of 2003. Students from the visual design and education disciplines partnered to work on a…