Aims:  The purpose of this study was to develop and implement a blended course (a combined face‐to‐face and online instruction) on undergraduate oral radiology and evaluate it by comparing its educational effectiveness (derived from students’ performance and answers to questionnaires) to a conventional course’s. Students’ attitudes concerning the blended methodology were also registered. Methodology:  An original course was developed and implemented, and its electronic version was uploaded to an e‐learning educational platform. The course was attended by two groups of final‐year students, who were taught by either the conventional face‐to‐face methodology or the blended learning methodology. Students answered a series of questionnaires, before and after following the course, regarding their perceptions, attitudes and evaluation of the course. Additionally, they completed knowledge assessment tests and their grades (before and after the course) were compared. Educational effectiveness of the course was determined by analysing the results of the questionnaires and the tests. Results:  Students in the blended group performed significantly better than their colleagues of the conventional group in the post‐course knowledge test, and female students of the blended group performed better than male students. Students evaluated high the course content, organisation, educational material, and the blended group students additionally appreciated the course design and clarity of instructions. Students’ attitudes towards elements of blended learning (effectiveness, motivation and active engagement) were very positive. Most of the blended group students, who attended the face‐to‐face meeting (approx. 91%), evaluated it as helpful for summarising the subject and clarifying difficult issues. Conclusions:  Blended learning is effective and well evaluated by dental students and can be implemented in undergraduate curriculum for teaching oral radiology.

In this study we recorded the views of the educators that use teleconference as an educational medium to support distance learning. The data were collected using the semi-structured interview and the results showed that teleconferencing could be a strong complementary tool to support flexible learning as well as distance education, by enhancing the interaction among learners. All the interviewees consider teleconference as a "helpful assistant" in the educational process and suggested that the educators should be well prepared before the tele-lecture, as well as prepare and guide the learners in order to conduct a smooth teleconferencing session. From the interviews, several advantages and disadvantages of the teleconference’s use as an educational tool emerged. The main advantages consist of the independence of spaceand time while conducting learning sessions, the easy access to and sharing of educational content, the interaction between educator and learners as well as among the learners and the reduced transportations along with time saving. On the other hand, some important disadvantages refer to the participants being unfamiliar with technology, lack of technological support, limited network resources causing disconnections and adding stress to participants, the uncertainty of the participantsregarding the effectiveness of teleconference in education and the lack of face-to-face communication.

The Pygmalion Effect is the positive form of self-fulfilling prophecy and shows how teacher expectations influence student performance. According to this phenomenon, higher expectations can lead to an increase in performance. In this research qualitative methodology was adopted both in data collection, and in analysis, in order to investigate the impact of the Pygmalion Effect in distance adult learning. Observation was held in two Contact Sessions of the Postgraduate Module for Open and Distance Education (EKP65) of the School of Humanities at the Hellenic Open University (HOU). Also, 22 interviews were conducted, 6 with Tutors/Advisors and 16 with students of the same Postgraduate Module. The data analysis indicates that both Tutors/Advisors and postgraduate students shape form their expectations based on the behaviour as reflected in their first contact (telephone contact, face-to-face contact, written contact through the CV). Expectations originally are positive, though this could change due to mismatched following behaviour. Tutor's expectations are expressed in verbal and non-verbal ways both in written and face-to-face communication. However, it is the non-verbal behaviourand mainly the encouragement and the support towards the students -that influences their positive mood and attitude towards the learning object and distance learning itself. In conclusion, not to reject the educational trend according to which the adult learner has developed selfmotivation, we accept that Tutor's expectations reflected in encouragement and support towards the student may influence the learning process. Abstract in GreekΤο φαινόμενο του Πυγμαλίωνα είναι η θετική έκφανση της αυτό-εκπληρούμενης προφητείας και περιγράφει πώς οι προσδοκίες του δασκάλου επηρεάζουν τη μαθητική επίδοση. Σύμφωνα με αυτό το φαινόμενο, οι υψηλές προσδοκίες του εκπαιδευτικού μπορούν να οδηγήσουν σε υψηλότερη επίδοση. Σε αυτή την έρευνα ποιοτική μεθοδολογία υιοθετήθηκε και στη συλλογή και στην ανάλυση των δεδομένων προκειμένου να διερευνηθεί η επίδραση του Φαινομένου του Πυγμαλίωνα στην εξ αποστάσεως εκπαίδευση ενηλίκων. Έγινε παρατήρηση σε δύο Ομαδικές Συμβουλευτικές Συναντήσεις στη Μεταπτυχιακή Θεματική Ενότητα για την Ανοικτή και εξ Αποστάσεως Εκπαίδευση (ΕΚΠ65) της Σχολής Ανθρωπιστικών Σπουδών στο Ελληνικό Ανοικτό Πανεπιστήμιο (ΕΑΠ). Επίσης, 22 συνεντεύξεις διεξήχθησαν, 6 με Καθηγητές-Συμβούλους και 16 με σπουδαστές από την ίδια μεταπτυχιακή θεματική ενότητα. Η ανάλυση των δεδομένων φανερώνει πως και οι Καθηγητές-Σύμβουλοι και οι μεταπτυχιακοί φοιτητές διαμορφώνουν τις προσδοκίες τους με βάση τη συμπεριφορά του άλλου στην πρώτη τους επαφή (τηλεφωνική, πρόσωπο-με-πρόσωπο, γραπτή επαφή μέσω βιογραφικού σημειώματος). Οι προσδοκίες γενικά είναι θετικές αν και αυτό μπορεί να αλλάξει εξαιτίας αναντίστοιχης ακόλουθης συμπεριφοράς. Οι προσδοκίες του Καθηγητή-Συμβούλου εκφράζονται με λεκτικούς και μη λεκτικούς τρόπους και στη γραπτή και στην πρόσωπο-με-πρόσωπο επικοινωνία. Ωστόσο, η μη λεκτική συμπεριφορά -και κυρίως η ενθάρρυνση και η υποστήριξη προς το φ...

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