Growth, Emphasizing Proven TechnologiesGrowth, Emphasizing Proven TechnologiesGrowth, Emphasizing Proven TechnologiesGrowth, Emphasizing Proven Technologies
If bandwidth is a problem even in the most developed coun-
tries, what kinds of Distance Learning implementation
strategies are possible in Africa, South America and Asia?
The answer lies in some of the insights from Figure 1 above.
Simple technologies gradually lead to higher usage rates and
ultimately to gradual leveraging of newer capabilities—a
progression from correspondence courses to radio/TVthree others joined, to pioneer distance learning development
in the country. By early 2000, the initial four pioneers had
grown to a consortium of over thirty universities and col-
leges, with considerable autonomy over admissions, pro-
grams and degree offerings. Nearly 200,000 students were
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offered seats in these programs.
Since less than one in ten graduating high school students
has a chance to enter college, there is increased demand from
that population to matriculate through technology-based
means if the campus-based curriculum is not offered. An-other large demand comes from students who are already
matriculated, including those in colleges, high schools and
primary schools. Millions need help with tutorials, focused
learning in a specific area of specialization or the opportunity
to take a course not offered at their school or region. A recent
report of China's Internet Development found that country-
wide there were 22.5 million people online, 69 percent of
whom used dial-up connections. Almost 30 percent of these
users were in the cities of Beijing, Shanghai, and
Guangzhou. About 60 percent of these users were between
18 and 30 years of age. Of six main Internet Service Provid-
ers in China, one, CERNET, has been designated as the pri-
mary provider for the academic community and is offering
14
links in the 500 kilobits-per-second range.
ConclusionsConclusionsConclusionsConclusions
China approach as an exemplar. Distance Learning is
destined to b原文请找腾讯752018766辣,文;论'文'网
http://www.751com.cn ecome a major contributor in the implementa-
tion of new models of teaching, worldwide. The Chinese
experience may be highly valuable as a pointer toward the
ideal approach. China has made effective, sequential use of
all the predecessor Distance Learning methodologies, from
correspondence courses to radio, TV, CDROM, Internet and
World Wide Web and is poised to leverage that experience
into a significant use of virtual universities. This suggests
several points that may be appropriate for developing coun-
tries that are not as successful so far as China has been.
Move slowly up the technology curve. The example of
virtual universities trying to succeed in Africa in spite of the
severely limited Internet technology infrastructure is a re-
minder that the predecessor Distance Learning technologies
need to be mastered and ramped up before attempting to leap
to higher technology levels
Invest more in people than in technology. In developing
countries the budget allocations often are tilted toward
equipment, infrastructure and content. A higher overall yield
is possible if the major investment is in facilitating users to
become fully indoctrinated and conversant with the ICT mi-
lieu, thereby assuring the highest return on technology in-
vestments.
Place strategy before structure. Often the acquisition of a
technology comes before the rational process of planning for
its use. A maxim taught in business schools is that the struc-
tural decisions, like buying teleconferencing facilities, should
be preceded by a strategic agenda, which can result in more
rational and efficient use of any technology. Such a process
would probably deter the early implementation of a virtual
university in a poor country until there had been much more
careful migration up the technology curve.
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