You are here:

Part-Time Learners in Open and Distance Learning: Revisiting the Critical Importance of Choice, Flexibility and Employability
ARTICLE

,

Open Learning Volume 30, Number 2, ISSN 0268-0513

Abstract

In this article, we argue that, if open learning seeks to (re)assert a social justice mission, issues of openness and flexibility are more critical than ever. Drawing on qualitative data from a National Union of Students Wales/Open University study, which explored, in the voices of Welsh students, the identity, motivation and barriers faced by part-time distance learners, three key findings emerged. First, the chimaera of "choice"--for part-time distance learners whose personal circumstances prevent any other mode of study; second, the vacuity of policy assertions around "flexibility" in HE--what personalised learning means for part-time distance learners should be contested and re-examined; third, the mantra of "employability"--for part-time distance learners, employability is a conundrum which needs to be understood in a far more inclusively nuanced way. We conclude that the voices of part-time distance learners need to be heard by policy makers and should inform open universities' continuing efforts to enable vulnerable and marginalised learners to access HE.

Citation

Butcher, J. & Rose-Adams, J. (2015). Part-Time Learners in Open and Distance Learning: Revisiting the Critical Importance of Choice, Flexibility and Employability. Open Learning, 30(2), 127-137. Retrieved March 28, 2024 from .

This record was imported from ERIC on February 24, 2017. [Original Record]

ERIC is sponsored by the Institute of Education Sciences (IES) of the U.S. Department of Education.

Copyright for this record is held by the content creator. For more details see ERIC's copyright policy.

Keywords