Despite the heavy emphasis on online learning in recent years, print is still an important medium for course delivery in distance education. Distance educators have argued that, with the incorporation of appropriate access structures, distance learning materials can be self-instructional and interactive. This study aims to explore the extent to…

There is a gulf between the rhetoric of those advocating the use of ICT in education in Africa and the reality of classroom practice. This paper explores some of the reasons for this, and outlines a possible framework for the successful implementation of teacher training programmes that make advantageous use of appropriate ICTs. It argues that six…

This study aims to compare the cost-effectiveness of an online teacher training method with a face-to-face training method in teaching "ICT integration in the school curriculum". In addition, the study explores the possibilities of a school-based voluntary training method in supporting other approaches to ICT teacher training. The analyses of…

Academic counsellors or tutors are engaged as a link between learners and distance teaching institutions. They perform various roles such as facilitating learning of subject matter content, assessing assignments, providing motivation and encouragement, and supervising research/term papers/project work. Each of these roles requires specific…

Many institutions regularly conduct surveys of students. In some cases these provide descriptive statistics about students' actual use of course components and the descriptive statistics are discussed using ordinary language. A number of refinements to these surveys are proposed. It is argued that mathematical modeling as used in the discipline of…

The increasing perception of students as customers of services puts a stronger focus on improving the quality of the student experience. Satisfaction with aspects of service, such as access, flexibility and fitness for purpose can be assessed through student feedback questionnaires. The results of these surveys may not immediately suggest…

The paper summarizes recent data on the retention and non-completion patterns of adult students, especially those over the age of 25 who have had a gap since completing full-time education. While data on further and higher education suggest that older learners are less likely than younger ones to complete longer, qualification-bearing programmes,…

This paper reviews the development of thinking about student dropout in general and also how this thinking has been adapted in the field of open and distance learning. It looks critically at the two basic research approaches: surveys of dropouts to ask them for their reasons, and studies that looked at progress in relation into likely predictive…

Attempts to improve retention in conventional college settings in the United States (see Barefoot article in this issue) have emphasized the importance of institutions having good information systems and appropriate interpretation of information as a means of identifying where retention is a problem and what might be causing student withdrawal,…

Open and distance learning provide particular (and sometimes overlapping) contexts for discussions of student retention. This paper argues that the environment for learning created by distance learning tutors is a key factor in student retention, whether retention is taken to refer to student completion of a single course or student persistence…

There is increasing interest in student retention in open and distance learning. This article looks at the role of proactive interventions from the institution to its students and discusses concepts such as the maximum possible increases in retention and issues such as who to target for intervention, the different types of retention possible and…

The high rate of student dropout between the first and second year of college is a major concern for the majority of US colleges and universities. But dropout (or stop out) from higher education affects students in different ways, depending upon a number of factors. Although for the last 30 years, educational researchers have studied the dropout…

Terms such as retention and persistence reflect the interests of different parties. Much of the empirical and theoretical literature deals with retention from a "supply-side" perspective. This article has three main sections. The first consists of a summary of recent empirical findings from surveys of students who left their on-campus programmes…

The success of any open and distance learning course depends on how well it is designed, executed, and evaluated. Evaluation of a course not only demonstrates its strengths, but also points out any inherent shortcomings in the course. This is why course evaluation constitutes an important function in an open and distance learning system. The…

The University of Paisley has been supporting distance learning students on online supported courses for nine years. Its largest programme in this form is the B.Sc. Health Studies degree for health professionals. The delivery of this programme is dependent on the use of information and communications technology. But the essential ingredient for…