Open and Distance Learning Terms and Definitions

Basic.Education: The provision of teaching and learning opportunities that enable learners to obtain primary-level skills in reading, writing, and numeracy.

Cable.Feed: Broadcast material sent via a fixed cable or a community antenna.

Computer-Assisted.Learning: A learning method that uses a computer system to present individualized instructional materials.

Computer-Based. Learning: A generic term for the various kinds of standalone (that is, non-networked) learning applications that involve computer software.

Computer-Mediated.Learning: In the context of teaching and learning, the use of electronic mail, computer conferencing and the World Wide Web to deliver learning material and provide learners and teachers with opportunities for interaction. Also called networked learning.

Continuing.Education: Education that is usually not for credit, but which can be delivered on campus or at a distance.

Correspondence.Education: Education that relies on print-based, self-study materials with communication through postal services.

Deep.Learning: An intention on the part of the learner to develop his or her understanding and to challenge ideas; contrast surface learning.

Digital: Information stored in the form of 0s and 1s; digital information may include video, audio, graphics and text.

Distance.Teaching: A term that emphasizes the teacher's role in the distance education system

Distributed.Learning: A term that emphasizes learning rather than the technology used or the separation between teacher and learner; distributed learning makes learning possible beyond the classroom and, when combined with classroom modes, becomes flexible learning.

Electronic.Mail.(e-mail): the exchange of information from one computer to another using software that is designed to store and forward messages received or sent.

External.Studies: Instruction that takes place somewhere other than a central campus, such as a classroom remote from campus, and that includes a variety of delivery options, including home-study and telecommunications.

Flexible.Learning: A term that emphasizes the creation of environments for learning that have the following characteristics: convergence of open and distance learning methods, media and classroom strategies; learner-centered philosophy; recognition of diversity in learning styles and in learners' needs; recognition of the importance of equity in curriculum and pedagogy; use of a variety of learning resources and media; fostering of lifelong learning habits and skills in learners and staff.

Hypertext.Mark-Up.Language: The protocol used to create documents for publication and distribution on the World Wide Web; html consists of tags, added to text documents, which format and create links to other www resources.

Independent.Study: A mode of learning in which learners work through their study materials independently of other learners.

Information.Highway: A term developed as a way of describing the joining together of once-separate telephone and television technologies and computing systems into a single global network of networks.

Interactive.Television: Television broadcasts that are combined with some form of telecommunications link to enable viewers to respond to what they are watching.

Internet: The worldwide collection of computer networks that use a common communications protocol and addressing scheme to share resources with one another; owned by no one, it is maintained collectively by the individual national, regional, commercial and institutional networks that make up the Internet; it is a learning, information and business tool.

Learner-Centered.Education: An educational philosophy in which the integrity and freedom of the individual is primary; therefore, the teaching and learning process provides flexible sequences of study, negotiated objectives and content, negotiated learning methods, negotiated methods of assessment and a choice of support mechanisms.

Lifelong.Learning: A philosophical concept in which learning is viewed as a long-term process beginning at birth and lasting throughout life; a conceptual framework within which the learning needs of people of all ages and educational and occupational levels may be met, regardless of their circumstances.

Listserv: An e-mail system that automatically sends messages to all subscribers on specific mailing lists, especially interest groups.

Media.Designer: Sometimes called the visual designer; the person on the course team who bears responsibility for the illustrations, page layout, formatting and integration of print with other media.

Multimedia: Learning technologies that involve the whole range of audio, visual, text, and graphics media available, integrated into a package that has been effectively designed from an instructional point of view.

Networked.Learning: A type of learning in which learners and instructors use computers to exchange messages, engage in dialogue and access resources; the interaction can occur in real-time (synchronously) when learners and instructors are communicating at the same time from different places or in delayed-time (asynchronously) when they are not linked at the same time.

Networking: The process of creating, expanding and maintaining relationships with other agencies.

Open.and.Distance.Learning: A way of providing learning opportunities that is characterized by the separation of teacher and learner in time or place, or both time and place; learning that is certified in some way by an institution or agency; the use of a variety of media, including print and electronic; two-way communications that allow learners and tutors to interact; the possibility of occasional face-to-face meetings; and a specialized division of labor in the production and delivery of courses.

Open.Learning: An educational philosophy that also emphasizes giving learners choices about media, place of study, pace of study, support mechanisms, and entry and exit points.

Self-Instruction: A process in which materials take learners step-by-step through an instructional process; self-assessment exercises are a central feature and instruction can be paper-based or computer-based.

Single-Mode. Institution: An institution that has been set up solely to offer programs of study at a distance.

Technical.or.Vocational.Training: Training that is designed to prepare technicians, middle management, and other skilled personnel for one or a group of occupations, trades, or jobs.

Technology-Based.Education: In the context of teaching and learning, a system in which a media other than print has a major role.

Video.Conference: A technological arrangement in which television monitors, cameras, and microphones are linked so that people in three or more sites can all see, hear, and speak to one another.

Video.Disc: A disc on which video and audio signals are recorded for television use; a video disc requires a video player compatible with the video disc.

World.Wide.Web.(WWW.or.Web): A communication protocol of the Internet that deals with text, audio, video, animation, graphics, and color-anything that a computer program can produce.