| What we see up-and-coming is a society of Open | | | | conventional correspondence approach based on |
| and Distance Learning Institutions with a strong | | | | text. |
| association among themselves. Sometimes this | | | | Online education saves the need to build university |
| collaboration involves the exchange of course | | | | campuses with teaching facilities, and for students to |
| materials, and some form of cross licensing and credit | | | | travel and to be accommodated centrally. IT and |
| transfer. The delivery is becoming increasingly | | | | networking further helps this, but requires access to |
| electronic, and we should now view these educational | | | | the technology - and as Zindi and Aucoin have |
| systems as information technology systems. | | | | pointed out for Tanzania, even something as basic as |
| Will these developments serve the interests of | | | | electricity may not be available within the community |
| developing countries? There is clearly much need for | | | | that you are wishing to serve. Such infrastructure |
| caution. We need to moderate the developments | | | | problems are not faced by developed countries, |
| reported above with concerns for access to the | | | | though sometimes, as in Russia which is also seeking |
| education both in terms of the students' own prior | | | | the use of online education to meet an educational |
| knowledge and cultural perspectives, and in terms of | | | | need, there can be infrastructure difficulties: thus in |
| access to the technology through which to access | | | | Russia conventional postal delivery can be problematic |
| the education. We also need to be concerned about | | | | while delivery electronically via satellite to the best of |
| the impact upon the local culture that may be matte | | | | current equipment could be perfectly feasible. |
| by imported materials and the developed world's | | | | Transnational Programs |
| culture that these embody. | | | | We have seen that a large provider of education like |
| National Distance Learning Programs | | | | the OU is already reaching out beyond its national |
| In developing countries there is a natural desire to | | | | borders, helped by IT and networking, to provide |
| extend educational provision to the whole population. | | | | education globally. Geography is no longer a barrier. |
| Online education at the schools' level began in both | | | | This means that local students could subscribe to |
| countries during the colonial era in the 1950s and | | | | courses that may be supplied purely on the |
| 1960s, partly through voluntary organizations and | | | | networks, and through this would obtain qualifications |
| partly through government support as `a palliative for | | | | from the suppliers in the developed world. |
| the colonial conscience'. The provision has taken | | | | Presumably these qualifications would be recognized |
| various forms -correspondence schools, radio | | | | locally, and could indeed have some special standing. |
| programs to supplement normal provision, radio and | | | | It is worth noting that one motivation for Zimbabwe |
| poster campaigns to promote literacy, health and | | | | to establish its own national programs was to reduce |
| other issues, as well as more formal online education | | | | the 163 million dollars flowing out of the country from |
| programs. These programs have continued in the | | | | the 40,000 students annually enrolled on online |
| post-colonial era, with 70,000 students involved in | | | | education courses. Developing countries may, just not |
| Tanzania, and 42,000 in Zimbabwe. There has been a | | | | be able to finance transnational educational programs. |
| major focus on teacher training. Programs in both | | | | The language of teaching is not the only concern. |
| countries have suffered from inadequate funding | | | | Teaching materials often draw upon case studies and |
| (10% and less than 5% of the educational budget, | | | | examples, and these may not make any sense in |
| respectively, in Tanzania and Zimbabwe). Neither | | | | other contexts. An example from the training |
| country has established their own open university. | | | | materials for a database tool was the use of |
| One was advocated in 1989 for Tanzania, with use | | | | baseball, which was, of course, incomprehensible |
| of radio and television broadcast, but not the full use | | | | outside the US - a translation into football made the |
| of IT. In 1993 the University of Zimbabwe | | | | training much more widely acceptable. |
| established its Online education Centre which now has | | | | The transnational and trans-cultural use of educational |
| some 1,500 students. We believe that this uses the | | | | materials must be viewed with caution. |