We live in a society with ever-changing needs and expectations. Education practitioners and policy makers need therefore to face the challenges of new economic, social and technological conditions in their work.

There is a global concern to develop forms of education and training which are open to the demands of needs of learners, and which are accessible at times and places suitable to those learners. Governments, institutions and practitioners are developing and implementing policies which reflect these trends.

The overall theme of this book is the relationship between government and organizational policies and the work of practitioners in open and distance learning. The book does this by exploring a selection of international examples.

The authors, many of them recognized experts, write from a wide range of international and organizational perspectives. Each one draws on significant experience within his or her field.

Terry Evans is Head of the Graduate School of Education at Deakin University. He was the foundation director of the Master of Distance Education course there and has extensive experience teaching undergraduate and postgraduate students.

Daryl Nation is Deputy Head of the School of Humanities and Social Sciences at Monash University. He is Associate Professor in the School and divides his time between policy development, research and teaching.