This volume draws together experiences in the application of technology to distributed learning. It offers an appraisal of the strategies and processes for managing change in open and distance learning and presents a progressive vision for all those involved in this widespread discipline.

The past 30 years have witnessed an amazing revolution in teaching and training around the world. Whilst forms of correspondence teaching have been practised for thousands of years, and refined during the last century in various correspondence courses, it was the creation of the Open University in 1969 that signalled a major change in the way teaching and learning was organized and practised (Perry, 1976). Since the creation of the Open University, Open, Distance, Flexible, Resource Based – and now Distributed Learning (DL) – have expanded dramatically around the world. Today 11 mega-universities currently enrol about 3 million undergraduates with hundreds of thousands following other, nondegree courses (Daniel, 2000). However, this number is dwarfed by those in industry, commerce and the public services who study using self-instructional material in the workplace and at home.

1-Innovation in distributed learning: creating the environment

2-Innovation in open and distance learning: some lessons from experience and research

3-The influence of teacher beliefs on flexible learning innovation in traditional university settings

4-Promoting innovation and change in a 'traditional' university setting

5-Making a virtue of necessity - a low-cost, comprehensive online teaching and learning environment

6-Experimenting in Lotus LearningSpace

7-Generic structures for online teaching and learning

8-Selecting an integrated electronic learning environment

9-Flexible toolboxes: a solution for developing online resources?

10-Lifelong learning: generating new learning opportunities

11-Campus re-engineering

12-Student recruitment and retention in a self-financing university

13-Using networking tools to support online learning

14-Mentoring in open and distance learning

15-Changing the pattern: towards flexible learning, learner support and mentoring

16-Innovations in online assessment

17-VESOL: cost-effective video production to support distance learners

18-Supporting effective reading of pictorial materials in visually oriented learning environments

19-Professional development in distance education - a successful experiment and future directions

Cite: Gooley, A., & Lockwood, F. (2012). Innovation in open and distance learning: Successful development of online and web-based learning. Routledge.