Educational Technologies for DE in Developing Countries
(OMDE 626)

'Knowledge is critical for development'.
The term knowledge society not only points at the enhanced role of knowledge in contemporary society, it signals a shift in emphasis of where knowledge is located. This change is not least due to the development of Information and Communication Technologies (ICT) which facilitate improved information management and, most importantly, communication at a distance.
Distance education is about managing technologically mediated learning processes. That distance education plays an increasingly central role in knowledge societies with advanced ICT infrastructure is no wonder.

ICT and the emerging infrastructure for the knowledge society
The emerging global information infrastructure (satellites and cables, facilitating broadcasting, Internet-based or telephone communication) allows improved information management and communication at a distance. However, developments are uneven and characterized by a great 'digital divide' both, between industrialized and developing countries, and within developing countries.
ICT infrastructure leads to new places where knowledge is located and to new channels of knowledge distribution. Hence educational processes take increasingly place outside the realm of traditional (mostly formal) education and through other agencies. Nonetheless, if we deal with sustained processes of teaching and learning, methodologies of DE are applied. ICT can play an important role in professional support for the health service workers (e.g. Telemedicina, MARA), environmental management (using bespoke Environmental Information Systems (EIS)) and in agricultural extension. There is internationally funded experimentation with community based education in the form of Multipurpose Telecenters (e.g. Nakaseke MTC in Uganda). The role of commercial access points like cybercafés and i-kiosks is considered.

ICT and Distance Education I: Scope of application
Nearer to home, we look at the various audiences of distance education (cf. OMDE 625) and how educational technologies can help to reach them and to support teaching and learning. The analysis includes the use of broadcasting (especially radio) both, because it provides a useful backdrop against which more recent technologies can be analyzed, and because it is widely used, especially in basic education. We report on innovative approaches which combine radio and the Internet (Kothmale community radio, Sri Lanka) or develop an altogether new digital radio (Canal EF, France).
The various reasons for using computers will be examined and case studies of their various uses will be included. They include school linking (as in the Chilean ENLACES program) or support of schools with databases relevant for the school curriculum (e.g. the Pakistan EDUNET).
In higher education net-based university courses begin to play a role in newly industrializing countries, e.g. at the National Open University (NOU) of Taiwan. Moreover, the availability of ICT within distance education will greatly accelerate international cooperation and competition. There are a programs (like this MDE) offered completely online to students around the world who can afford the fees. While the majority of courses offered across borders is coming from the industrialized countries, some higher education institutions from the South market there courses regionally and, indeed, internationally.

ICT and Distance Education II: Outcomes
Outcomes can be evaluated according to various criteria, including access, quality and costs (cf. OMDE 601 and OMDE 606). The use of educational technologies influences all outcome criteria. The impact of ICT on distance education is examined including changes in cost structure, the impact on unit costs and the tendencies to devolve costs to learners which, in turn, may limit access. The evidence of the impact of ICT on quality is assessed. Educators and policy makers may have to make choices which will require them to examine the values they hold.

For the full syllabus of the course click the link below:
OMDE 626 Educational Technologies for DE in Developing Countries: The Syllabus