Publications
Distance Education
Distance Education is a peer-reviewed journal of the Open and Distance Learning Association of Australia, Inc. The journal publishes research and scholarly material in the fields of open, flexible, online and distance education. One of the first journals published to focus exclusively on these areas of educational practice, it remains a primary source of original and scholarly work in the field.
The journal welcomes submissions addressing research, policy, and practice across higher education, K–12/school education, and vocational education and training (VET), workplace and professional learning. Distance Education seeks contributions from all world regions and encourages research with relevance to diverse geographic, cultural, linguistic, and economic contexts. Theoretical works should draw on and contribute to the growing knowledge and innovations in the field to examine the interplay and relationships between critical concepts for learning at a distance. Empirical works should incorporate theoretical frameworks to guide the design and analysis of the study. All submitted research must adhere to relevant ethical review processes, with ethical compliance clearly stated in the methodology section. Distance Education welcomes high-quality manuscripts that advance understanding, policy, and practice in open, flexible, online, and distance education across diverse contexts worldwide.
As a member of ODLAA, you receive printed copies of each edition of Distance Education with your membership.
Why publish your research with Distance Education journal?
Distance Education continues to go from strength to strength. Metrics recently released by our publisher Taylor & Francis.
151 402
articles downloaded in 2025
163 554
articles downloaded in 2024
3.0
Impact factor in 2024
4.7
5 year IF in
2024
7.7
CiteScore
(Scopus)
in 2024
Submission for Publication
Distance Education publishes four issues per year and welcomes unpublished manuscripts relating to distance, open and flexible education. Submissions for publication in the journal are considered throughout the year. For author guidelines see the Taylor & Francis web site.
Meet the Editors of Distance Education
Co-Executive Editor
Professor Sarah Prestridge
Griffith University, Australia
Sarah was a teacher, education adviser in technologies before moving to a longstanding academic position at Griffith University, Australia. She holds Adjunct positions at the Universitas Pendidikan Indonesia and University of Regensburg, Germany. Her principal research contributions are in the field of digital technologies in pedagogical beliefs, professional development and social learning. These areas synergise to focus on how teachers adopt, adapt and transform with technologies in K-12 schooling. Her research investigates transformative pedagogical processes; longitudinal use of computer games as pedagogical tools; pedagogical belief formation and reformation; pedagogies for online, virtual, and at a distance; defining pedagogies for three-dimensional virtual worlds and the adoption of distributed teaching models; and more recently, investigations of pedagogical beliefs about Generative AI
Co-Executive Editor
Associate Professor Shuai Wang
Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China
Shuai is Associate Professor at the School of Education, Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU), China. Prior to joining SJTU, he worked as an Education Researcher at SRI International (also known as the Stanford Research Institute) in the United States, a leading global research organisation. He also contributes to the scholarly community through service on the editorial boards of multiple leading international journals. His research focuses on the development and evaluation of innovative technology-supported approaches to teaching and learning, particularly in STEM education. Using data-driven, evidence-based research approaches, his work examines open educational resources, hybrid and distance learning models, artificial intelligence in education, and learning analytics. Across these areas, his scholarship explores how emerging technologies and open learning infrastructures can enhance learning outcomes, expand educational access, and strengthen the future development of open, online, and distance education.
associate Editor
Associate Professor Yang Wang
Nanjing Normal University, China
Yang obtained her PhD in Educational Technology from Central China Normal University in 2019 and completed her joint PhD training at The Ohio State University in the United States. She has been working at Nanjing Normal University since 2020 and has been selected for several talent programs, including the 2025 Jiangsu Young Science and Technology Talents Support Program, the 2023 Excellent Young Backbone Teacher of the “Qinglan Project” in Jiangsu Colleges and Universities.
Her main research focuses on intelligent technology-supported collaborative learning, learning analytics, and the theory and practice of online teaching. She has presided over more than ten related research projects.
associate Editor
Associate Professor Dianne Forbes
University of Waikato, Aotearoa New Zealand
Dianne is Deputy Head of School at the University of Waikato, Aotearoa New Zealand. Her work focuses on open, flexible, distance and online education, with interests in digital pedagogies, online learning leadership, and AI in Education. Her research explores the human, social and ethical dimensions of learning through digital technologies, with a particular focus on inclusive, engaging and high-quality learning across time and space.
Distance Education Editorial Board
Executive Editors
Sarah Prestridge – Griffith University, Australia
Shuai Wang – Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China
Associate Editors
Dianne Forbes – University of Waikato, Aotearoa New Zealand
Yang Wang – Nanjing Normal University, China
Executive Editors Emeriti
Som Naidu
Ian McD. Mitchell
Desmond J. Keegan
Editorial Board Members
Curtis J. Bonk – Indiana University, USA
Aras Bozkurt – Anadolu University, Turkey
Bo Chang – Ball State University, USA
Moon-Heum Cho – Syracuse University, USA
Jay Cohen – The University of Adelaide, Australia
Ana-Paula Correia – The Ohio State University, USA
Terry Evans – Deakin University, Australia
Diane Forbes – University of Waikato, New Zealand
Kemi Jona – Northeastern University, USA
Shironica Karunanayaka – Open University of Sri Lanka, Sri Lanka
Kyungmee Lee –Lancaster University, UK
Mimi Miyoung Lee –University of Houston, USA
Rob Moore – University of Florida, USA
Clarence Ng – Australian Catholic University, Australia
Mary Rice – University of New Mexico, USA
Feng-Ru Sheu – Kent State University, USA
Matt Smith – University of Wolverhampton, UK
Michael Spector – University of North Texas, USA
Hengtao Tang – University of South Carolina, USA
George Veletsianos – Royal Roads University, Canada
Yang Wang – Nanjing Normal University, China
Wanli Xing – University of Florida, USA
Min Young Doo – Kangwon National University, Korea
Jingjing Zhang – Beijing Normal University, China
Ke Zhang – Wayne State University, USA
Meina Zhu – Wayne State University, USA