Call for articles for the forthcoming special issue

The accelerated development of advanced digital technologies is creating new opportunities and challenges for open and distance-learning leaders who must effectively navigate their institutions and organizations within a highly competitive and rapidly changing market. Moreover, the field has lacked a substantive body of literature on leadership for open and distance learning.

Conversely, despite a prolific body of research and practice on innovation, the conceptual basis has been focused on innovation concepts being synonymous with technology rather than a broader framework that builds a community of innovation across institutions, communities, and ODL units that encapsulate innovative thinking in policies, procedures, processes, partnerships, and leading change. This special issue on leadership and innovation will focus on expanding the frameworks for leadership and innovation for ODL and exploring how both can create synergistic strategies that help ODL organizations thrive, not just survive, in the 21st century.

Subject areas

We are interested in receiving research articles on the following topics covered by the special section, corresponding to any sector of education and from anywhere in the world.

Specifically, the special section's subject areas are as follows:

• Shared leadership models for ODL organizations, institutions, and multinational partnerships
• Visionary leadership approaches for managing and leading institutional and organizational change
• Policy and planning for development of open distance education
• Managing and developing the unique cultural dimensions of leadership in developing countries, particularly in Latin and South America, Africa, and Asia
• Application/realization of classical and contemporary theories of leadership and management specific to open and distance learning
• Institutional frameworks for creating “communities for innovation” in tertiary institutions in collaboration with schools, business, government, and community agencies.
• Re-conceptualizing a broader vision for innovation beyond technologies
• Critical leadership skills, attributes, and behaviours for the next generation of ODL leaders