The philosophy of distance education is that it removes barriers to learning. Individuals learn what they want, when they want, and where they want. All this freedom is accomplished by a variety of technologies. Hence technologies in printed and non-printed formats can be used. This study focused on the challenges that students encountered on the E-learning Platform at the Zimbabwe Open University (ZOU). The study used a qualitative approach using a case study design. Structured interviews and document analysis were used to collect the data. According to Flick (2009) these enables the generation of appropriate descriptive information on the phenomenon under study. Purposive sampling was used identify the students; lecturers from the four faculties of the ZOU who have used the e-platform Key informants from the Information, Communication Technology (ICT) department of ZOU were also interviewed. The findings of the study show that ODL students face challenges when accessing the e-platform. Students, lecturers and even most ICT personnel do not have the capacity to use the myVista internet based programme. This is an e-tutoring programme which allows learning to occur between the student and the tutor on line. The study recommended as a priority that all students, lecturers and key ICT personnel be trained in the use of the e-platform especially the myVista programme. ZOU should put in place a policy on how e-tutoring should be conducted. This would help to make the e-platform materials student friendly. Furthermore there is need to improve students' computer literacy skills.

This study is on graduates' perceived feelings on how Distance Education (DE) offering institutions in Zimbabwe have empowered them. We asked the question: Is DE an empowering discipline or a passing rage which is being used by most institutions as a raison d'être. The development of Open and Distance Learning (ODL) institutions in the world has largely been done by conventional Universities. Distance educators agree that distance education includes both distance learning and teaching. With the advent of changes in industry's demand for more qualified personnel that may need to be trained whilst on the job, conventional universities and colleges have failed to cope. The economies of scale of this approach saw many people getting qualifications whilst they were on the job. Governments who are the recipients of most of the graduates get concerned when most of their people are not educated. This has resulted in the development of the single and dual mode institutions of distance education to a large extent with the latter preceding. In this study which was carried out in the beginning of 2013. A qualitative research paradigm was used focusing on the graduates of DE from both conventional and ODL institutions. This was a phenomenological design because it dwelt on a careful description and analysis of the participants' life world and the meaning extracted thereof. Participants who included graduates, employers and lecturers were conveniently selected from the different institutions in Zimbabwe. The sample consisted of ten graduates from eight institutions. We used an on line open ended interview schedule, personal accounts and document analysis to collect data. This provided us with an opportunity to look at different worldviews of the empowerment phenomenon. The findings show mixed reactions from graduates on their empowerment status. Fierce competition is rife between institutions raising ethical, business and quality issues. We recommend that policy be put in place to fine tune this DE to empower all graduates regardless of their institution.