Open AccessSociety is transforming from the industrial era to an information based, network society. Thereis widespread consensus that due to this revolution in society, education needs to make aparadigm shift in order to stay relevant to the changing needs of society. Although thisparadigm shift is promoted widely in academic literature, it seems as if in practice there arestumbling blocks preventing higher education to make positive strides into a new directionwithin the South African context. This research highlights some of the hurdles that OpenDistance Learning higher education in South Africa is experiencing and also suggests apossible way forward to overcome these obstacles through the implementation of selfdeterminedlearning (heutagogy). In order for heutagogy to be implemented successfully,student support is of the upmost importance both in the curriculum design and the actualteaching and presenting of courses.