Handbook of Open Universities Around the World

The Handbook of Open Universities Around the World is the first collection to provide a comprehensive and critical overview of open universities internationally. Over 80 open universities have been established across five continents to provide a distance-orientated, class-inclusive, and high-quality education for learners left behind by existing formal systems for higher and continuing education and lifelong learning. This mission has been continually reshaped by major developments in open education, learning technologies, and online social networking, as well as by the evolution of specific concerns such as the massification of education, employability, financial trends, artificial intelligence, and development agendas on the regional, national, and global levels.

This landmark volume analyzes and reflects on the planning, organization, management, pedagogic, skilling and employability, and accreditation dimensions of 47 open universities in relation to their national and institutional contexts, the internationalization of education, and the integration of advanced learning technologies. Featuring contributions by internationally recognized scholars, practitioners, and educational administrators, this authoritative resource provides insights into the business model―finances, operations, instructional systems, enrollment patterns, learner supports, quality assurance, professional development, and more―of today’s open universities. Through historical trajectories, institutional profiles, case studies, lessons learned, and best practices, this book provides rich analytical perspectives on the status and challenges of single-mode distance learning universities as an educational phenomenon while unpacking the premise of “openness” itself.

This Handbook is primarily written for

• planners, managers, administrators, instructional designers, and teaching faculty at single-mode distance teaching universities who are seeking to sustain their institutions in a period of rapid change;
• government policymakers, training organizations, technology providers, and education think tanks who are in need of authentic and research-based information on technology-enabled learning modeled by open universities around the world; and
• graduate students, teaching faculty, and scholars who are affiliated with online and distance education, learning design and technology, higher education planning and management, adult education and lifelong learning, and education policy and future studies.

Chapter 54 of this book is freely available as a downloadable Open Access PDF at http://www.taylorfrancis.com under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No Derivatives (CC BY-NC-ND) 4.0 license.

Watch a stimulating discussion between the book's volume editors and Sir John Daniel and Professor Stephen Murgatroyd on YouTube!

Sanjaya Mishra is one of the leading scholars in open, distance, and online learning, with extensive experience in teaching, staff development, research, policy development, innovation, and organizational development. With a multi-disciplinary background in education, information science, communication media, and learning and development, Dr. Mishra promotes the use of educational multimedia, e-learning, open educational resources, and open access to scientific information to increase access to quality education and lifelong learning for all. He has designed and developed award-winning online courses and platforms. Dr. Mishra has served the Indira Gandhi National Open University in New Delhi, India; the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization in Paris, France; the Commonwealth Educational Media Centre for Asia in New Delhi, India; and the Commonwealth of Learning in Vancouver, Canada.

Santosh Panda is a National Fellow at the National Institute of Educational Planning and Administration, Government of India. He recently retired as Director of the Staff Training and Research Institute of Distance Education (STRIDE) and the Malaviya Mission Teacher Training Centre at Indira Gandhi National Open University, India. Professor Panda has above 40 years of experience in university teaching, research, and administration, including 37 years in open and distance learning at IGNOU. He has been a Fulbright Scholar; Chairperson of the National Council for Teacher Education (national regulator) for the Government of India; Director of Policy and Research at the Association of Indian Universities; and Director of Distance & Flexible Learning at The University of the South Pacific, Fiji. As an internationally recognized leader of ODL from the Global South, he has presented keynotes and workshops in over 30 countries and has consulted for ADB, COL, DfID, IDRC, SADC, UNESCO, and the World Bank.