The riddle of distance education- promise, problems and applications for development

Abstract

"The idea that teaching and learning can successfully take place through electronic communication between teachers and students widely separated by space and time is a concept that has inspired both hope and dismay, excitement and fear. In advanced industrial countries with high rates of literacy and school attendance, and abundant opportunities for post-secondary education, there is a burgeoning literature, most of which touts the unlimited possibilities of this revolution in education. At the same time, distance education has its passionate critics, even in societies in which universal access to computer technology is an attainable goal. Far less controversy has attended the projections of wide use of electronic means to bring educational materials to resource-deprived countries. Indeed, a general assumption that distance education represents an unquestionably positive step forward has framed almost all discussion of the use of this technology in education in the developing world. However, there is presently only a limited critical literature focused on the developing countries that would be comparable to the broad critique of distance education that has emerged in North America. Yet a careful analysis of the prospects for the application of electronic technology to education may show that many of the shortcomings of distance education already identified with respect to advanced industrial countries also apply or, indeed, are likely to appear in even more dramatic forms in developing countries. Moreover, there is a significant range of concerns about the impact and effectiveness of distance education in developing countries that would not be an issue in wealthier countries. Some of the potential benefits for distance learners in both developed and developing countries include the greater access to education that distance learning offers (above all to what is increasingly referred to as the non-traditional student ), the flexibility of scheduling, the possibility of proceeding at one s own pace, and the opportunity to study without having to travel (indeed, without leaving home). In addition, for institutions that manage to persuade or oblige instructors to bring their course online , the opportunity to reach distant students holds out the hope of great savings in the construction of classrooms, student housing, parking lots and other physical infrastructure, as well as substantial potential savings on the salaries of teachers. The advantages of distance education for developing countries are framed in terms of the ever-lower cost of computer technology, and the increasing speed and capacity of computers in relationship to their cost. In the face of the pressure on these countries to join the global information economy, distance education appears to provide the opportunity to train more people better and at lower cost."(pg iii)