Digital divide into digital opportunities: E-learning in the developing countries

UN Chronicle, Dec, 2003 by Marc Sehrt

Furthermore, most adult participants have been educated in a didactic manner and do not necessarily understand the instructor as a "facilitator" rather than as a "teacher" in the traditional sense. Studies in e-learning have shown that most programmes are likely to succeed with the constant involvement of the facilitator through e-mail discussion lists and individualized messages. (3) The facilitator's constant involvement and feedback are the most powerful support for the learner. Many online courses consist of nothing but instructional material (unsupported web-based trainings); others provide a forum for exchange. Very sophisticated courses combine all elements of online learning in one design called "blended learning" and are the best way to create educational environments.

One of the most successful providers is the "Tele-akademie"--an online training and further education branch of the University of Applied Sciences Furtwangen, in Germany, which has implemented the following four basic elements for their online blended learning: (4)

* Instructional material is important. Learners take online courses more seriously if they receive material to work with: e.g., books, CD-ROMs, which also save online time.

* Tutorial support provides motivation. Learners often need guidance and support from instructors, coaches, tutors or technical staff. However, this is also a question of costs--how much financial means an online course has.

* Communication. Using telecommunication tools like the Internet facilitates not only the distribution of information but also the interaction between learners and instructors, as well as among learners themselves. Giving them the opportunity to share knowledge, experience and perspectives is a central demand of instructional theories.

* Collaboration combines the demand for social communicative learning with the instructional demand for active learning. Working in small groups on assignments, examples and cases meets these demands.

For e-learning to succeed in the developing world, it needs to build on another important pillar: the existence of infrastructure, along with some degree of connectivity. A growing difference in market liberalization of the Internet- access supply is leading to another kind of "digital divide" on the global scale: many countries have introduced or are introducing telecommunications regulations that discourage the development of Internet-access service through competition. Granting monopoly to a national operator and charging high license fees for Internet-access service are examples of market barriers Such regulations, found mostly in emerging economies, are a serious obstacle.

Moreover, other technical constraints have to be overcome. The most common encountered are issues such as unreliable Internet connection and phone lines, slow access to web sites due to narrow bandwidth and limited numbers of computers connected to the Internet. Therefore, a key challenge is that technological requirements must be kept to a minimum in order to increase the participation of developing countries.