The Handbook of Open Universities Around the World is the first collection to provide a comprehensive and critical overview of open universities internationally. Over 80 open universities have been established across five continents to provide a distance-orientated, class-inclusive, and high-quality education for learners left behind by existing formal systems for higher and continuing education and lifelong learning. This mission has been continually reshaped by major developments in open education, learning technologies, and online social networking, as well as by the evolution of specific concerns such as the massification of education, employability, financial trends, artificial intelligence, and development agendas on the regional, national, and global levels. This landmark volume analyzes and reflects on the planning, organization, management, pedagogic, skilling and employability, and accreditation dimensions of 47 open universities in relation to their national and institutional contexts, the internationalization of education, and the integration of advanced learning technologies. Featuring contributions by internationally recognized scholars, practitioners, and educational administrators, this authoritative resource provides insights into the business model—finances, operations, instructional systems, enrollment patterns, learner supports, quality assurance, professional development, and more—of today’s open universities. Through historical trajectories, institutional profiles, case studies, lessons learned, and best practices, this book provides rich analytical perspectives on the status and challenges of single-mode distance learning universities as an educational phenomenon while unpacking the premise of “openness” itself. This Handbook is primarily written for planners, managers, administrators, instructional designers, and teaching faculty at single-mode distance teaching universities who are seeking to sustain their institutions in a period of rapid change; government policymakers, training organizations, technology providers, and education think tanks who are in need of authentic and research-based information on technology-enabled learning modeled by open universities around the world; and graduate students, teaching faculty, and scholars who are affiliated with online and distance education, learning design and technology, higher education planning and management, adult education and lifelong learning, and education policy and future studies.

Table of Contents:
Introduction Sanjaya Mishra and Santosh Panda SECTION I: General Overviews 1 Futures of Open Universities Sir John Daniel 2 Open Universities: An Uncertain Future? Alan Tait 3 Innovation for Survival: Are the “Four-Open” Principles Still Relevant to Open Universities in the Twenty-First Century? Junhong Xiao 4 Tracing the Legacy of Open Universities: The Evolution of Openness and the Continuous Transformation of Open Universities Aras Bozkurt, Frank Senyo Loglo, Berrin Cefa, Engin Kursun, John Y. H. Bai, and Olaf Zawacki-Richter SECTION II: Open Universities in the Africa and Arab Countries 5 Africa Regional Overview Paul Prinsloo 6 Botswana Open University Mmabaledi Seeletso and Bantu L. Morolong 7 National Open University of Nigeria Christine Ofulue 8 Open University of Kenya Ezra Maritim and Elijah Omwenga 9 Open University of Mauritius Kaviraj Sharma Sukon 10 The Open University of Tanzania Elifas Tozo Bisanda 11 University of South Africa 105 Moeketsi Letseka, Ramashego Mphahlele, and Morakinyo Akintolu 12 Zimbabwe Open University Gift Masengwe, Paul Henry Gundani, and Benson Gabi 13 The Open University of Israel Sarah Guri-Rosenblit and Amir Winer SECTION III: Open Universities in the Americas 14 Open Universities in the Americas Stephen Murgatroyd 15 Athabasca University Kathryn R. Johnson and Matthew L. Prineas 16 Universidade Aberta do Brasil Weslei Oki de Aguiar and Simone Guimarães Guerra Gama 17 Universidad Estatal a Distancia Diana Hernández Montoya and Ana María Sandoval Poveda 18 Université TÉLUQ Gustavo Adolfo Angulo Mendoza Patrick Plante, and Caroline Brassard SECTION IV: Open Universities in the Asian Countries 19 Open Universities in Asia: An Overview Insung Jung 20 Open Is Open as It Gets Som Naidu 21 Asia e University Dato’ Ansary Ahmed 22 Bangladesh Open University Mizanoor Rahman 23 Dr. B. R. Ambedkar Open University Ghanta Chakrapani 24 Guangdong Open University Chen Jingchun, Luo Hongwei, Chen Liangjun, Niu Liuwei, and Zhu Minghai 25 Hanoi Open University Dang Hai Dang 26 Ho Chi Minh City Open University Ha Minh Nguyen, Lan Thi Xuan Nguyen, and Quan Thai Thuong Le 27 Indira Gandhi National Open University Santosh Panda and Ved Prakash Rupam 28 Jiangsu Open University Wen Tang and Xiangyang Zhang 29 Korea National Open University Eun Kyung Lee 30 Krishna Kanta Handiqui State Open University Ritimoni Bordoloi and Prasenjit Das 31 Madhya Pradesh Bhoj (Open) University Sanjay Tiwari and Gopal Krishna Burra 32 Nepal Open University Jeevan Khanal 33 Netaji Subhas Open University Anirban Ghosh and Papiya Upadhyay 34 Open University Malaysia Nantha Kumar Subramaniam, Santhi Raghavan, and Ahmad Izanee Awang 35 The Open University of China Wang Xiangxu 36 The Open University of Japan Tsuneo Yamada and Masaya Iwanaga 37 The Open University of Sri Lanka Shironica P. Karunanayaka 38 Shanghai Open University Jun Xiao, Tingting Zhang, Juan Li, Xinkui Cheng, and Wei Chen 39 Sukhothai Thammathirat Open University Sumalee Sungsri, Sarisak Soontornchai, Niranart Sansa, and Darunee Jumpatong 40 Tamil Nadu Open University S. Balasubramanian and S. Savithri 41 Universitas Terbuka Ojat Darojat and Fauzy Rahman Kosasih 42 University of the Philippines Open University Melinda dela Peña Bandalaria 43 Uttarakhand Open University Jeetendra Pande and Sumit Prasad 44 Uttar Pradesh Rajarshi Tandon Open University Devesh Ranjan Tripathi and Ashutosh Gupta 45 Wawasan Open University Josephine Ie Lyn Chan, Dewi Amat Sapuan, and Lily Chan 46 Yashwantrao Chavan Maharashtra Open University Sanjeev A. Sonawane SECTION V: Open Universities in the Europe 47 Open Universities: New Roles and New Opportunities for Innovation and Market Differentiation in Europe Don Olcott, Jr. 48 Anadolu University Aras Bozkurt 49 Fernuniversität in Hagen Uwe Elsholz, Rahel Hutgens, and Desirée Kampmeier 50 Open University of Cyprus Antonios Kafa 51 Open University of the Netherlands Theo J. Bastiaens and Rob Martens 52 The Open University Daniel Weinbren 53 Universidad Internacional de La Rioja (UNIR) José María Vázquez García-Peñuela, Rafael Puyol Antolín, Rubén González-Crespo, Daniel Burgos, Teresa Santa María, Adela López, María Gómez-Espinosa, Ignacio Hierro, and Pablo Moreno-Ger 54 Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia (UNED) Inés Gil-Jaurena, Ángeles Sánchez-Elvira Paniagua, and Miguel Santamaría Lancho 55 Universidade Aberta Diogo Casanova and Isabel Huet 56 Universitat Oberta de Catalunya Àngels Fitó-Bertrán and Albert Sangrà SECTION VI: Concluding Overview 57 Open Universities: Quo Vadis? Sanjaya Mishra and Santosh Panda