This volume of the Open University Reader for Supporting Lifelong Learning looks at policy development in lifelong learning at local, regional, national and supra-national levels. Using an international team of contributors, it explores and examines the policy context for lifelong learning, the policies themselves, and their effects when implemented.
The book focuses on the role of lifelong learning policy in relation to issues of competitiveness, technological change and social inclusion. The provision of a range of chapters from around the globe uniquely establishes a comparative basis for the reader. This volume also encourages the student to evaluate lifelong learning as a response to globalising trends and the globalising of educational policy.

This volume of essays from leading British, North American and Australasian contributors looks at the issues of the convergence of distance and conventional education. The term 'convergence' refers to the breaking down of barriers between open and distance learning and conventional institutions, and the creation of more and more institutions working across a range of modes. Such convergence has been driven by a number of factors, including the new technologies for teaching and learning, the impact of lifelong learning policies, the entry of larger than ever numbers of adult part-time students into tertiary education, and the demands of both employers and individuals for professional and work-related education throughout their working lives.
The fourteen chapters engage critically with a range of aspects of convergence, including:
* how well is open and distance learning carried out by conventional institutions for which it may continue for a lengthy period to be seen as of secondary importance?
* to what extent will open and distance learning be more effectively carried out by conventional institutions able to offer a variety of modes to a wide range of learners?
* how well will the variety of learners be served by systems that are converging?
* what are the managerial issues at institutional level where converging systems are being developed?

This volume of essays from leading British, North American and Australasian contributors looks at the issues of the convergence of distance and conventional education. The term 'convergence' refers to the breaking down of barriers between open and distance learning and conventional institutions, and the creation of more and more institutions working across a range of modes. Such convergence has been driven by a number of factors, including the new technologies for teaching and learning, the impact of lifelong learning policies, the entry of larger than ever numbers of adult part-time students into tertiary education, and the demands of both employers and individuals for professional and work-related education throughout their working lives.
The fourteen chapters engage critically with a range of aspects of convergence, including:
* how well is open and distance learning carried out by conventional institutions for which it may continue for a lengthy period to be seen as of secondary importance?
* to what extent will open and distance learning be more effectively carried out by conventional institutions able to offer a variety of modes to a wide range of learners?
* how well will the variety of learners be served by systems that are converging?
* what are the managerial issues at institutional level where converging systems are being developed?

Series Information:
OU course no: E839

Distance learning is becoming an increasingly popular way of studying, and most universities now provide courses using these methods. Today's students, though, are demanding high quality, consumer-focused and flexible courses and learning resources and active learner support. This means that providers of distance education need to reconsider key issues about their learner support systems, ensuring that this is delivered appropriately and effectively.
This book considers the changing needs and demands of distance education students. It draws together contributions from the UK, USA, Hong Kong, Australia, Japan, South Africa and Botswana, to offer an international perspective on:
*The challenges and opportunities of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT)
*Quality assurance, commercialisation and the learner as consumer
*The impact on learners of cultural differences on internationalised curricula
*The implications for learner support of a wider range of learners
This book should be read by all those involved in developing and delivering distance education courses.

Distance learning is becoming an increasingly popular way of studying, and most universities now provide courses using these methods. Today's students, though, are demanding high quality, consumer-focused and flexible courses and learning resources and active learner support. This means that providers of distance education need to reconsider key issues about their learner support systems, ensuring that this is delivered appropriately and effectively.
This book considers the changing needs and demands of distance education students. It draws together contributions from the UK, USA, Hong Kong, Australia, Japan, South Africa and Botswana, to offer an international perspective on:
*The challenges and opportunities of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT)
*Quality assurance, commercialisation and the learner as consumer
*The impact on learners of cultural differences on internationalised curricula
*The implications for learner support of a wider range of learners
This book should be read by all those involved in developing and delivering distance education courses.

Contents:
1. Themes and Questions for a Research Agenda on Lifelong Learning 2. On a Contradictory Way to the 'Learning Society': A Critical Approach 3. Lifelong Learning and Underemployment in the Knowledge Society: A North American Perspective 4. Social Capital, Human Capital and the Learning Society 5. The Comparative Dimension in Continious Vocational Training: A Preliminary Framework 6. Post School Education and Training Policy in Developmental States: The Cases of Taiwan and South Korea 7. Lifelong Learning and Welfare Reform 8. Change of Address? Educating Economies in Vocational Education and Training 9. Breaking the Concensus: Lifelong Learning as Social Control 10. Governing the Ungovernable: Why Lifelong Learning Policies Promise so Much Yet Deliver so Little