Distance education and D Guide - Resources and Review

COL has a mandate to create and widen opportunities for learning, through Commonwealth cooperation, with particular emphasis on utilising the potential of distance education and the application of communication technologies to education. The overall aim of the organisation is to help strengthen the capacities of Commonwealth member countries to develop the human resources required for their economic and social development.
 
A selection of guides addressing different aspects of distance education, including a glossary of terms, evaluation for distance educators, computers in distance education, and interactive videoconferencing.
 
Examins the origin and objectives of the seminar held in December 1999 which analysed the status of online instruction, an overview of online teaching and learning, elements of good teaching, and teaching evaluation. Conclusions form two sets of practical guidelines, one for faculty members interested in developing online coursework, and one for administrators interested in formulating policy.
 
A log of activities which took place in a workshop (April 1998) to investigate the possible use of MUDs and MOOs for supporting distance learning. The term 'MUD' stands for 'Multi
User Dimension', and it is a tool typically used by games players to invent characters and play games with other Internet users. MOO means a MUD is based on an object oriented database that keeps track of the environment, and what people can do with it.
 
Article questioning why library services for distance learners have not kept pace with technological developments.
 
Topics include keeping up with rapidly changing technology, how other institutions are managing their distance education programs, deciding which courses to offer and how those courses should be taught, and overcoming institutional resistance.
 
Netquest is a project building upon the TML language to create searchable question banks for online delivery of tutorials and assessment. TML is an interchange format designed to separate the semantic content of a question from its screen layout or formatting.
 
Non
profit organisation providing free access to a wide range of educational lesson plans and resources aimed at primary school teachers, parents, and children. Includes subject-specific sections and general literacy and numeracy materials.
 
Article taking a critical and historical look at recent trends in distance education. It concludes that the dream of automating the educational process has failed so often in the past that there is little reason to take it seriously now, that politicians need to be realistic about the future costs of higher education, that the campus experience will remain in demand for the foreseeable future, that the overselling of technology should not be allowed to discredit the whole field of online education, and that educators need to look at specific designs with legitimate pedagogical objectives in mind.
 
Index of mailing lists covering distance education and general topics.
 
Support service for those involved in distance learning. Service provides a specialist support team, database searches/information enquiries, postal book loans and journal article supply. Also includes distance learning links for librarians, Internet resources relating to distance learning in general and the support of distance learners by librarians and information professionals in particular.
 
Set of links to courses, discussion forums, projects, organisations, journals, conferences, literature, and tools related to distance learning.
 
International research and teaching centre offering databases holding bibliographic references and abstracts to a range of literature on distance learning, and information on institutions worldwide offering distance learning courses.
 
Selection of journals covering distance education and related topics.
 
Refereed journal addressing philosophy, theories, and practices of distance education, open learning, and flexible delivery systems. Provides tables of contents and abstracts from 1980 to the present.
 
A refereed, interactive, online journal which aims to disseminate scholarly knowledge regarding theory, research, and best practice in open and distance learning. Provides access to full text PDF articles, and an archive of past issues. Free subscription is available.
 
Full bibliographic records of publications relating to audioconferencing, audiographics, computer assisted instruction, interactive television, and satellite business TV.
 
Selection of articles, reports, and papers addressing the use of technology in distance education.
 
A set of tutorials forms the core of this project which aims to demonstrate that the virtual seminar is more effective than the more traditional format which limits cross discussion between institutions. Material is presented on the subject of First World War poetry, including Isaac Rosenberg's 'Break of Day in the Trenches', manuscripts by Wilfred Owen, and an introduction to text analysis.
 
Paper describing two alternative approaches to delivering online staff development programmes. Discusses the suitability and potential role of commercial and freely available virtual learning environments in the delivery of such programmes.
 
Set of annotated links to distance learning institutions, and information about their courses.
 
Full text chapters from this 1989 publication.
 
The DERAL project aims to encourage public libraries to play an increasingly important role in the transfer of information, knowledge and education to users who have difficulty in following normal courses of study.
 
A peer
reviewed journal publishing refereed articles focusing on the issues and challenges of providing research/information services to students enrolled in formal post-secondary distance education.
 
Pan
European magazine designed to promote the results of EU library projects, including articles from the Telematics for Libraries programme. A keyword searchable archive of past issues is available.
 
Pan
 
List of European initiatives to improve delivery of library services to distance learners.
 
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