Nepali education culture is dominated by face-to-face tutoring. It has a long history starting from
the Gurukul culture to the present formal schooling. Emerging practices of using technology in
education have been promoting online learning as a form of distance education and gaining
popularity. This paper focuses on digging out the contextual reality of open and distance learning
(ODL) practices in Nepal beginning with an analysis and the author’s personal impression of the
context. Core focus is placed to explore and discuss different thematic issues such as modes of
learning associated education culture/tradition, flexible learning for Nepali students, ODL as a pedagogical tool
for teacher education and implementation of ODL in Nepal. The author’s personal reflection, literature
review, and insights from learning theories are meaningful to enrich the discourse. The paper
concludes showing the promising future of ODL in Nepal as an option to traditional mode of
education. In addition, attention is drawn on the need of Open University and role of existing
universities for the successful implementation of ODL in Nepal to adapt acculturation of online
learning by respecting the need of the new generation of learners at the age of Internet culture.