Open and Distance Learning (ODL)

Open and Distance Learning (ODL) is the provision of distance education opportunities in ways that seek to mitigate or remove barriers to access, such as finances, prior learning, age, social, work or family commitments, disability, incarceration or other such barriers. “Open” refers to a commitment that removes any unnecessary barriers to access to learning. Distance education refers to teaching and learning that temporarily separates teacher and learner in time and/or place; uses multiple media for delivery of instruction; involves two-way communication and possibly occasional face-to-face meeting for tutorials and learner-learner interaction. Open learning is not the same as distance learning, but both are complementary and hence the two terms are often used together as open and distance learning.