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The purpose of this paper is to reveal how support services for open and distance students are designed, developed and implemented to ensure successful learning to take place, with specific references to the Open University of Sri Lanka (OUSL) and Universitas Terbuka (UT) Indonesia. Success in distance learning is one major challenge for open universities to respond to expectations of students and stakeholders. This study focuses on the strategies of student support services in OUSL and UT, investigating related factors including instructional design and development, learning engagement and motivation, policy and strategy in reducing dropouts, use of OER/MOOCs, and quality assurance.

A qualitative study was employed involving analyses of documents; interviews and focus group discussion with senior administrators, academic staff, students; and on-site observation in locations of teaching and learning.

This research is exploratory in nature. Findings of the study are expected to improve our understanding of student support in distance learning, in which analysis is based on good practices, challenges and rooms for improvement of both OUSL and UT.

Findings of this study reveal practices and lessons learnt that may be useful as reference to open universities, taking into considerations the fact that each open university has been established to address specific challenges in its own unique circumstances.

This research may be adopted as baseline framework for analysis of student support for open universities. Further in-depth study is needed to understand how various aspects of student support contribute to success in open and distance learning.

The purpose of this paper is to identify socio-economic/demographic characteristics and to evaluate the knowledge on different open distance learning (ODL) concepts of BSc undergraduates of The Open University of Sri Lanka (OUSL) at first registration.

The surveying technique was adapted with a piloted structured questionnaire consisting of two components. The structured component was used to evaluate personal, socio-economic and demographic data. The open ended component evaluated the student’s perception on ODL concepts. The questionnaire was randomly adapted to 456 (35 percent Colombo Regional Centre (CRC) registrants) prospective BSc undergraduates at first registration time at the CRC in 2014. Data collected from the structured component were frequency tabulated and cross-tabulated with the SPSS computer software. Responses of the open ended part were examined, categorized and the frequency percentages of each response category were calculated.

The structured component recognized that the majority of BSc undergraduates of the OUSL represent employed (53 percent), late adolescents (92 percent below age 27) who reside in rural or semi-urban areas (75 percent). They belong mostly to the lower middle class and 69 percent are from families which have a monthly family income below SLR30,000/(USD208). Answers of the open ended component on ODL concepts recognized that, prior knowledge on ODL concepts were developed by most BSc undergraduates. Approximately 50 percent of respondents perceived OUSL as an institute which facilitates working people by conducting part time-based or distance mode education with self-learning features. In total, 56.9 percent students perceived the role of an ODL teacher correctly as a facilitator or a guide. The educational process was perceived correctly as an ODL system by 52 percent, while the remainder also identified the system to be a more self-study and student centered flexible learning system. However, the role of a BSc student at OUSL was recognized as self-independent learners by only 36.7 percent and the majority had no clear perception of the role they have to play as an ODL student. Hence, more attention should be paid to make students recognize the role they have to play in an ODL system in order to succeed at OUSL.

Although research has been carried out periodically on the process of ODL education system at OUSL, on the graduate (output) and dropouts, etc., not many have focused on the nature of input such as characteristic features of first registrant and their prior knowledge on ODL. As the output invariably depends on the input and the process, this type of survey is timely and novel.

The Open University of Sri Lanka (OUSL) is the only institution to deliver legal education through Open and Distance Learning (ODL) in Sri Lanka. This study aims to analyze technology usage in learning and teaching law in the ODL under OUSL to evaluate the accessibility and also challenges.

A combination of qualitative and quantitative methodologies has been used for the study. This includes both interviews with teachers and surveying among students on the usage of technology in learning and teaching law at OUSL. Since the LL.B Degree Programme of OUSL delivered at six regional centres in Sri Lanka, this study also includes the comparative analysis of technology usage in teaching and learning at selected regional centres.

The findings indicate that the majority of students have access to technology through mobile phones and are aware of blended learning. Even though they prefer to integrate blended learning with learning law, they do not prefer learning entirely online. Social media and mobile applications are the most preferred modes of blended learning by students. It is also acknowledged that the internal staff has knowledge and access to the use of technology in teaching law while the external staff faces challenges and is in need of adequate training.

The original contribution of this article provides insightful guidelines not only to the OUSL of Sri Lanka but also to the institutions offering similar disciplines through ODL to understand lecturers, learners in the future integration of technology.

An exploratory study involving students enrolled in Law and Science degree programmers of The Open University of Sri Lanka (OUSL) was conducted to identify students' progression in the programmers, the perceived benefits in terms of occupational and social mobility, and economic returns, and any other non-pecuniary benefits. Especially developedquestionnaire was administered to a sample of students to get. their views on the benefits obtained. Results of this study unveiled crucial information of perceived and non-perceived benefits of the OUSL degree programmers. It could be observed that a substantial number of students have experienced a change in their employment and a huge increase in their income after completing the programs. Other interesting feature is that the number of students, who were in the lowest income level, had decreased substantially.

The purpose of this paper is to identify the factors affecting learners' perception of e-learning during the Coronavirus-2019 (Covid-19) pandemic. Furthermore, it investigates mechanisms that enhance students' engagement in e-learning, especially under the constraints created by the pandemic.

Quantitative research approach was used, and data were collected using a structured questionnaire. The sample consisted of 163 undergraduates registered at the Faculty of Management Studies of the Open University of Sri Lanka (OUSL). The structured questionnaire was designed taking into consideration learners attached to different regional centers and study centers of the OUSL.

As per the findings, performance expectancy, social influence, effort expectancy and service quality are the factors which have significant effects on students' “intention to use” e-learning as a method of pursuing education. Furthermore, it was observed that 65.6% of the students had access to technology through mobile phones, while 53.4% of the students had engaged in e-learning for the first time. This was mainly due to restrictions that were imposed during the Covid-19 pandemic.

The study will help in formulating policies and introducing procedures in relation to online teaching-learning models to be used by both teachers and learners, especially in similar pandemic situations in the future.

This study will assist to determine the effectiveness of the e-learning system used by the OUSL. The findings highlighted the importance of improving information technology (IT) facilities available at all the regional and study centers across Sri Lanka.

The purpose of this paper is to illustrate the development and testing of an innovative mobile application using design-based research.

This paper reports on the process of transformation of existing printed course material into digitized content through design-based research where design, research and practice were concurrently applied through several iterations of the mobile application. For this transformation, one session each from BSc in Nursing, Bachelor of Pharmacy and Bachelor of Medical Laboratory Sciences was selected. In the first phase of the design-based research, the main research question was formulated. In the second phase, a mobile learning application (OUSL MLearn) was designed and developed to address the research question. In the third phase, this application was evaluated by five groups of stakeholders: content experts to validate the content; educational technologists to check the alignment of technical and pedagogical features; novice users to check the overall effectiveness of the application; developer to develop the application, to check the ease of usage; and researchers to identify the impact of this innovation. These stakeholders were closely involved throughout the whole process which lasted over a period of four months. At the end of this development phase, the results were reflected upon and used for further enrichment.

It was observed that the developed mobile application was accessible, appealing and pedagogically constructive for users. However, optimization, development time, technical and organizational issues, workload of academics and production costs were identified as major challenges.

This study was based on the findings of a small sample of potential users.

The findings have implications for designing culturally adaptive interactive mobile applications.

This study will benefit practitioners to design culturally sensitive mobile learning courses and researchers to conduct design-based research.

The purpose of this paper is to introduce an integrated laboratory experiment setup (ILES) to overcome problems encountered in open distance learning (ODL) especially when offering engineering degree programmes.

Engineering laboratory experiments can be classified as experiments which are performed with the intention to inculcate theory, and second, to provide hands-on experience. The ILES integrates both types of experiments with face-to-face laboratory (FFL), online remote laboratory (ORL), and multimedia demonstrations, and it helps to reduce traditional FFL duration by 50 per cent. The first phase of the ILES provides an opportunity to refer multimedia demonstrations of the experiments. Thereafter, students attend the first FFL session, which covers about 25 per cent of the experiments. In the next step, 50 per cent of the experiments are offered using the ORL, via the internet while interacting with real equipment and making actual observations. The final step is used to accomplish the rest of the experiments (25 per cent) in FFL which facilitates the clarification of any problem that may occur in the ORL.

This blended laboratory system will help to achieve ODL objectives while utilising resources productively and cost effectively. Having implemented the idea and based on the information received from the stakeholders, this has proved to be a workable solution to one of the difficulties faced by ODL students.

The level of outcome of the students has to be observed and analysed in comparison with the traditional laboratory setup.

Some experiments (e.g. thermodynamics) which need more safety precautions are difficult to offer via ORL.

The ILES is a blended setup including FFL, ORL and multimedia demonstrations and it is a novel concept which is most applicable to engineering/science programmes offered in ODL mode.

This paper is based on a study that investigated a general conception that academics and students of engineering in ODL institutions conduct less research compared to those teaching and learning in conventional institutions of higher learning. The study first observed the level of research conducted by Sri Lankan researchers, and compared it to similar activities carried out in neighbouring countries. Subsequently, attention was focused on the Open University of Sri Lanka (OUSL), which is the pioneer ODL institution in Sri Lanka. It closely observed the research carried out at OUSL over the last few years and made comparisons between different disciplines.

A tracer study was carried out to identify the research activities at the Faculty of Engineering Technology over the years and compare them with the research done at other OUSL faculties. It was evident from this study that the number of research papers presented at conferences and journal articles generated by the Faculty of Engineering Technology was low compared to the number produced by the other three faculties in the university. The study revealed some interesting reasons for the low level of engineering-based research output when engineering is taught through ODL.

The purpose of this study is to identify the learner characteristics attributable to the likelihood and the duration of programme completion in the Bachelor of Science (BSc) and Bachelor of Technology Honours in Engineering (BTech) degree programmes of the Open University of Sri Lanka (OUSL).

Data were gathered from the re-registrants for the degree programmes in the academic year 2020/2021, using a questionnaire developed as a Google form. The sample consisted of 301 and 516 re-registrants from the BTech and BSc programmes respectively. Influential factors were identified using Kruskal Wallis test (for duration of completion), binary logistic regression (for likelihood of completion) and Chi-squared test (associations between presage and process factors).

Entry qualification, age and time management skills at entry had significant effects on duration of completion. Attendance at academic activities, organizing time for self-studies and the competency in English at enrolment had significant effects on the likelihood of completion. Prior open and distance learning (ODL) experience had no significant effect on any of the product factors considered.

Inaccessibility of dropouts and using only the responses from the first administration of the questionnaire are limitations. Active learners are more likely to respond, in the first administration and may bias the results.

Findings are useful for designing future studies to identify at-risk students and thereby enhance the programme completion and reduce prolonged time for completion.

Effective strategies to control the identified factors will uplift programme completion and reduce drop-out rates.

Decision making using inferential techniques makes the study distinct among studies undertaken on the same population. The study enriches the limited current research on factors affecting programme completion in ODL mode.

Legal education, like any other discipline in higher education, necessitates in use of various teaching and learning pedagogies in order to provide a sustainable teaching and learning experience. This article aims to examine the feasibility of implementing flipped learning method as a pedagogy on legal students at the Open University of Sri Lanka, as well as the perceptions of students and lecturer on the teaching and learning process in a flipped class in preparation for future implementation.

A mixed research method was used. A survey and a semi-structured interview were used to collect student perceptions, and observations of the lecturer were used to document the lecturer's perception.

According to the information gathered from both qualitative and quantitative data, the flipped learning pedagogy enhances the prior learning and student-centered learning of open and distance learning (ODL) and offers a new perspective on the existing pedagogies used in legal education. This article also emphasizes that an equitable implementation of designing and delivering a flipped class will ensure the effectiveness in teaching and learning law in Sri Lanka through ODL.

Despite the fact that there is substantial academic literature on flipped pedagogy, including in legal education, this article will create an original contribution by incorporating reflections from Sri Lankan legal education as well as ODL.