Information and Communication Technologies have a great potential to support learning. This is particularly true in instances where teachers and students do not face each other directly. It does therefore not come as a surprise that digital technologies are increasing applied in distance education. In this area, digital technologies facilitate the exchange of learning material and communication between teachers and students as well as among students. Web-based technologies also allow for the creation of communities of learners.

At the same time, self-regulation of learning seems to be more important in these environments than in face-to-face learning environments where learning processes can be guided more closely by the teacher.

In their presentation, Manuel Cebrían from Málaga University and his colleagues from the Association for the Development of National Distance Education (SINED) in Mexico explain how distance education is being introduced and implemented on a national scale in Mexico. The system is special in that it is a federated system which means that the participating institutions all have access to a core of learning objects and other common resources.

Maureen Snow Andrade from Utah Valley University in her presentation points out that self-regulated learning is a prerequisite for successful distance learning. She reports on a training program designed to improve teachers’ feedback strategies and  learner language proficiency as well as self-regulated learning among distance learners.

In her contribution, Patrícia Fidalgo from the Instituto Piaget in Portugal will present results of a social network analysis that was performed on the participants of four online courses taught at a private institution of higher education in Portugal.