The 1st issue of Journal of Distance Education and Research (JDER) from the platform of Virtual University of Pakistan has been published and it can be accessed at: http:// journal.vu.edu.pk. JDER is a peer reviewed, open access, multi-disciplinary journal which is published biannually. It aims at publishing outstanding theoretical and applied research in all academic disciplines with particular emphasis on distance education and e-lerning. JDER provides an instant open access to its content holding the belief that making free availability of research to the public supports a greater global exchange of knowledge.
The current edition includes six research papers: ‘Quality Assurance in Higher Education: A Framework for Distance Education’ by Mariam Tanweer & Mubashar Majeed Qadri, ‘Perceived Communal Benefits, Conceivable Risks and Potential Implications: Opinion of e-Educators’ by Sadia Jabeen, ‘Effectiveness of Online Discussions in Developing Higher Order Thinking Skills’ by Asma Zafar, ‘Motivational Goal Orientation and Learning Strategies of E-learners’ by Narjis Sherazi & Sadia Jabeen, ‘Virtual Socialization: A Step Towards Social Transformation’ by Nadia Saleem and ‘An Investigation of the Orthographic Errors in the Graded Discussion Board of Virtual University of Pakistan’ by Muhammad Asif.
JDER welcomes papers from researchers, academicians, practitioners, scholars as well as users and innovators of educational technologies and methods from all over the world based on theory or practice in the areas of Distance Education (DE) i.e. Open and Distance Learning (ODL), Distributed Learning (DL), Computer Based Learning/ Computer Mediated Communication (CMC), Virtual Learning (VL) / E- Learning, Blended/ Hybrid Learning and Mobile Learning. The submission for Volume II Issue I is open. To submit your research papers, please visit http:// journal.vu.edu.pk.