Defining open and distance learning
In recent years the definition and application of open
and distance learning have been evolving in parallel with the arrival of newer
and intelligent technologies. Today, and in the foreseeable future, open and
distance education embraces any or all of the following:
Open learning - policies and practices that permit entry
to learning with no or minimum barriers with respect to age, gender, or time
constraints and with recognition of prior learning. These policies need not be
part of a distance education system but are complementary to it.
Distance education - the delivery of learning or
training to those who are separated mostly by time and space from those who
are teaching or training. The teaching is done with a variety of "mediating
processes"* used to transmit content, to provide tuition and to conduct
assessment or measure outcomes.
Flexible learning - the provision of learning
opportunities that can be accessed at any place and time. Flexible learning
relates more to the scheduling of activities than to any particular delivery
mode.*
Online learning and e-learning - terms that have emerged
to describe the application of information and communication technologies (ICTs)
to enhance distance education, implement open learning policies, make learning
activities more flexible and enable those learning activities to be
distributed among many learning venues.*
Virtual education - includes aspects of both online and
e-learning but goes somewhat further. While it is largely web-centric it does
not necessarily limit itself to learners outside a conventional classroom. It
uses multimedia and, besides delivering content, also enables a high level of
interaction among learners, content, teachers, peers and administration both
synchronously and asynchronously
*Farrell, Glen (ed.). 2003.
A Virtual
University for Small States of the Commonwealth. Vancouver: The
Commonwealth of Learning.