Open University vs. Distance Education
Key Differences
Comparison Chart
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Purpose
Nature
Colleges
Open University vs. Distance Education
Open University is a university which gives the policy of open admissions, distance, and online learning programs. It assists or helps the students to study, while they are on the job, as it does not require students to study at a specific time. And distance education is a mode of delivering education, in which the origin of information and the students are not physically present, as they are apart from either by time or distance or even by both. In an open university, there are no associated or affiliated colleges and composes of only study centers and institutes; on the other hand, in distance education; the university can either be an Open University or traditional university. Therefore, various colleges affiliated to the traditional university. Open University based on imparting higher education to those people who cannot take admissions in the traditional university, whereas Distance Education was founded with the purpose to allow access to education to those who are unable to attend the regular colleges.
What is the Open University?
An Open University is a university which provides the policy of open admissions, distance and online learning programs. The students provided with the study materials for various courses through the study centers and online. The Open University schemes the studies so that students can complete them as long as working. There are no basic educational demand or age of consent for Open University studies.
Purpose of Open University
- Maintaining professional skills
- Spending a gap year productively
- Launching a new career
- Learning about different disciplines
- Experiencing the joy of learning and gaining new insights
Open University Facilities
- The flexibility of choosing a program independent of your age
- The flexibility of not attending class
- The flexibility of on-demand exam
- The flexibility of time frame
What is Distance Education?
Distance education also called e-learning, and online learning, a form of education in which the main elements contain physical separation of teachers and students during instruction and the use of various technologies to help student-teacher and student-student communication. Distance learning traditionally has concentrated on nontraditional students, such as full-time workers, military personnel, and nonresidents or individuals in remote regions who are unable to attend classroom lectures. An increasing number of universities provide distance education opportunities. Distance education, like any education, sets out a learning group, sometimes called a learning community, which is composed of students, a teacher, and instructional resources.
Characteristics of Distance Education
- It is not a self-study or nonacademic learning environment. The institutions may or may not provide traditional classroom-based instruction as well, but they are eligible for accreditation by the same agencies as those employing traditional methods.
- Geographic separation is inherent in distance education, and time may also separate students and teachers. Accessibility and ease are important advantages of this mode of education.
- Interactive telecommunications connect individuals under a learning group and with the teacher. Most often, electronic communications, such as e-mail, are used, but traditional forms of communication, such as the postal system, may also play a role.
- Distance education establishes a learning group, sometimes called a learning community, which is composed of students, a teacher, and instructional resources i.e., the books, audio, video, and graphics.
