Today we are seeing a new form of blended learning: not only is technology enhancing the learning environment but formal and informal learning are combining and there is self- and peer-assessment of results. Open learning cultures are challenging the old and long-practiced methods used by educators and transforming learning into a more student-driven and independent activity , which uses online tools such as blogs, wikis or podcasts to connect resources, students and teachers in a novel way. While in higher education institutions most assessments are still tied to formal learning scenarios, teachers are more and more bound to recognize their students’ informal learning processes and networks. This book will help teachers, lecturers and students to better understand how open learning landscapes work, how to define quality and create assessments in such environments, and how to apply these new measures. To this end, Ehlers first elaborates the technological background for more collaborative, distributed, informal, and self-guided learning. He covers the rise of social media for learning and shows how an architecture of participation can change learning activities. These new paradigms are then applied to learning and education to outline what open learning landscapes look like. Here he highlights the shift from knowledge transfer to competence development, the increase in lifelong learning, and the importance of informal learning, user generated content, and open educational resources. He then shows how to manage quality by presenting a step by step guide to developing customized quality concepts for open learning landscapes. Finally, several methods dealing with assessment in these new environments are presented, including guidelines, templates and use cases to exemplify the approaches. Overall, Ehlers argues for assessment as an integral part of learning processes, with quality assurance as a method of stimulating a quality culture and continuous quality development rather than as a simple controlling exercise.

The growing interest in transnational cooperation in education across borders has different implications for developed and developing countries. It is true that globalization affects all societies, but not at the same speed and magnitude. Supporting Multiculturalism in Open and Distance Learning Spaces is a critical scholarly resource that examines cultural issues and challenges in distance education arising from the convergence of theoretical, administrative, instructional, communicational, and technological dimensions of global education. Featuring coverage on a broad range of topics such as cultural diversity, interaction in distance education, and culturally sensitive intuitional design, this book is geared towards school administrators, universities and colleges, policy makers, organizations, and researchers.

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In presented book the Intelligent Open Learning Systems (IOLS) are proposed, described, discussed, and evaluated. The IOLS is a system in which traditional methods of online teaching are enhanced through the use of artificial intelligence and cognitive science. This is the main topic of the book. It consists of ten chapters and is divided into three parts. The first part concentrates on the Open Learning System (OLS) analysis, in particular: the social and educational meanings of the OLS, the new role of the teacher and the new requirements regarding the structure of didactic material. Moreover, the cybernetic model of student, teacher and computer collaboration is presented, the teaching-learning process content and its main characteristics are discussed, and the system based approach to the OLS design is proposed. The second part is focused on the problem of knowledge modeling in the OLS based on the ontology and the competence approaches and leading to the learning object concept and competence management in open systems. The third part describes applications of the OLS in the virtual laboratory for competence transfer, the community-built system of distance learning network, and the AGH student city – the real-life application of the OLS concept. The authors’ research findings presented in the book should be useful in various applications related to knowledge management, e-learning systems and information systems.

This book encapsulates four sections about open and equal access for learning in school management. The first section is related to school management and leadership. Second section of the book gives insight on school culture. Third section of the book underlines the importance of open learning. Latest section of the book covers the importance of equal acess and learning in curriculum, environment, gender, youth. I have a firm belief that authors can find great insights on open and equal access for learning from different reflections and researches of chapters.

In 1996 the Graduate School of Library and Information Science at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign began an Internet-based teaching program, allowing students across the United States - and the world - to earn a Master's degree from a distance. The program, known as LEEP (Library Education Experimental Project), has been an outstanding success, and as an early innovation in Internet use, provides important lessons on how to flourish in an online environment. Learning, Culture and Community in Online Education brings together significant new research on online education, using the LEEP program as a model to reveal a wealth of information about innovative online practices. Contributions by administrators, philosophers, faculty, librarians, technical staff, and researchers in the traditions of education, computer science, folklore, information science, and sociology, reveal the many perspectives to be taken into account when creating and maintaining distance learning programs. More than an analysis of the LEEP program, this book is an essential introduction to the variety of social and educational phenomena that occur within the socio-technical environments that support online learners.

This unique and comprehensive overview of open and distance education is written by one of the best known names in the field. It integrates historical, contemporary and future aspects of distance education. Packed with international case studies, it goes beyond looking at the methods and technology of distance education, giving Otto Peters' renowned visions on the sociological and social impacts of distance education. Now published in paperback for the first time, this new edition includes a new section on virtual universities. A major contribution to thinking on open and distance education, this new edition will reach an even wider audience.