Methodologies and Open Learning an Open University Perspective

Abstract

Before beginning a discussion of methodology and open learning, it might be wise to pause for a moment and define the terminology. My dictionary defines the term methodology when applied to education as a branch of pedagogics, dealing with analysis and evaluation of subjects to be taught, and the method of teaching them. There are also other somewhat synonymous terms that we should consider. The word system, for example, which isdefined as ' a coordinated body of methods or a complex scheme or plan of procedure. Both of these definitions are not at variance with the definition of instructional technology found in the 1970 report of the Commission on Instructional Technology, which describes instructional technology as a systematic way of designing, carrying out, and evaluating the total process of learning and teaching in terms of specific objectives, based on research in human learning and communication, and employing a combination of human and nonhuman resources to bring about more effective instruction.