E-Learning in China

The success of any open and distance learning course depends on how well it is designed, executed, and evaluated. Evaluation of a course not only demonstrates its strengths, but also points out any inherent shortcomings in the course. This is why course evaluation constitutes an important function in an open and distance learning system. The present paper aims to evaluate a distance education course ‘Instruction in higher education’ from the Postgraduate Diploma in Higher Education (PGDHE) offered by the Indira Gandhi National Open University (IGNOU), India. Feedback on this course was obtained from 230 respondents with the help of a structured questionnaire. The data collected from students were analysed using percentages. Findings from the study provide an understanding of the operation of the different components of the course. While the majority of the respondents were satisfied with self‐instructional materials, assignments, the extended contact programme, and delivery mechanisms, a sizeable number of respondents were dissatisfied with academic counselling, and the use of audio‐video programmes. Generally, the respondents provided useful feedback and suggestions which will help the faculty in course revision.