PANdora’s box: distance learning technologies in Asia

Training for innovation in India: Cultural considerations and strategic Implications

“…One study shows that the Indira Gandhi National Open University, India's flagship open-learning institution, is primarily staffed by part-time adjunct faculty and lags behind others in instructional technology initiatives (Zhang & Shin, 2002). India still faces infrastructural barriers to affording access to instructional technology nationwide (Baggaley & Hoon, 2005;Dahlman & Utz, 2005). Since the majority of high-paying jobs in India are in technology-dependent industries, access to technology for all higher education institutions is another priority for India's policy makers (Dahlman & Utz, 2005).…”

IRRODL Volume 10, Number 4; Regional Focus Issue: Open and Distance Learning in Africa

“…Garber (2004), for example, described the natural process of development and decay of virtual communities; and Cleal (2009) reports the 3 frustrations of students required to use a graphic-based virtual environment (Second Life) for activities they regard as mere play. Meanwhile, online educational methodology is actively being encouraged in developing countries with little or no apparent concern for the lack of infrastructure and for problems of cultural and technological diversity (Baggaley & Ng, 2005). In these situations, the use of Internet methods may prove to be short-lived, and the uncritical transfer of Internet-based educational practices from developed to developing countries is likely to create a pandemic of problems, requiring urgent paradigm change.…”

The Global Internet Pandemic

“…Garber (2004), for example, described the natural process of development and decay of virtual communities; and Cleal (2009) reports the frustrations of students required to use a graphic-based virtual environment (Second Life) for activities they regard as mere play. Meanwhile, online educational methodology is actively being encouraged in developing countries with little or no apparent concern for the lack of infrastructure and for problems of cultural and technological diversity (Baggaley & Ng, 2005). In these situations, the use of Internet methods may prove to be short-lived, and the uncritical transfer of Internet-based educational practices from developed to developing countries is likely to create a pandemic of problems, requiring urgent paradigm change.…”