Potential of Online Education in Developing Countries
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Potential of Online Education in Developing Countries
by Mike Madin | Wed, 12/03/2008 - 00:02
While traveling through rural Mexico recently I couldn't help but wonder why the potential for online education, both academic and vocational training, is not being realized in developing countries. Browsing the Mexico Channel under Education their page of Online Courses contains no listings. While the use of technology is high among the youth with cell phones and text messaging popular in urban areas the digital revolution is still slow to make much progress in rural Mexico. With vital issues such as basic education, clean drinking water and available health care for the poor taking such a large portion of government budgets it is hard for developing countries to allocate needed funds for technology. The Gates Foundation Global Libraries Initiative must expand from awarding recipient grants for specific communities to using their leverage to help fund region wide online initiatives. Their grants do wonders for communities like Veracruz, Mexico (see the article at http://www.gatesfoundation.org/atla/Pages/2008-vasconcelos-program.aspx ) but let us hope for a future where all of rural Mexico can enjoy the benefits of online technology and without finanical help from the developed world the digital divide will online grow wider.
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AcademicInfo is an online education resource center with extensive subject guides and distance learning information. Our mission is to provide free, independent and accurate information and resources for prospective and current students (and other researchers).
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| Created by: Mike Madin 1998 | Last updated: 11/21/2009
Comments
I feel just like Karyn Romeis
I feel just like Karyn Romeis in the previous commet. Infrastructure is so over look in the advancement of any civilization it seems. Maybe it's due to the fear of change or the unknown. It's not just Mexico however, the United States, Europe, Asia, all over the world old & crumbling infrastructure is creating a lot of the problems today, like lack of proper education, even though technology allows for easy access, for example. The only solution to this kind if problem is for people to be aware, & take action, & accountability for the things they see around them. Then as a community, appeal to the governments for better...
Hi! Your article helped me to
Hi!
Your article helped me to understand all the possible options. Mexico can enjoy the benefits of online technology and without financial help from the developed world the digital divide will online grow wider.
Potential of Online Education in Developing Countries
I feel just like Karyn Romeis in the previous commet. Infrastructure is so over look in the advancement of any civilization it seems. Maybe it's due to the fear of change or the unknown. It's not just Mexico however, the United States, Europe, Asia, all over the world old & crumbling infrastructure is creating a lot of the problems today, like lack of proper education, even though technology allows for easy access, for example. The only solution to this kind if problem is for people to be aware, & take action, & accountability for the things they see around them. Then as a community, appeal to the governments for better...
Infrastructure
Although I live in the UK, I am a South African. I spent the first 36 years of my life there, and I still return on occasion to visit the many family and friends I have living there.
South Africa and Mexico have a great deal in common, but I confess that I am not certain as to how far that commonality goes.
I will say, however, that one of the major impediments to the implementation of online learning on a wider scale is the lack of access to sufficient bandwidth. The average American teenager probably enjoys more bandwidth than the average small to medium business in South Africa.
There are still parts of the country without electricity and efforts to address that have place the national grid under so much pressure that it is creaking and groaning under the strain.
There is also the poverty issue. Even where there is electricity, unemployment is so high (the official figure is 23.3%, but this does not include those who have given up looking for work, and the general view on the ground, is that the real figure is well over 40%) that few people have the money to buy the sort of equipment that would be needed to access online learning. It might be argued that access can be gained in places like public libraries, but the reality there is that local libraries no longer even have budget for new books, and must rely on donations of paperbacks from the populace. Even supposing they were able to provide learning terminals, the functional illiteracy levels in the country are still worrying, which makes the task of addressing digital literacy even more forbidding.
Schools are doing their level best, but the crime rate is such that equipment is often stolen. For an insight into what they're up against, I suggest you become a regular subscribed to Kobus van Wyk's (KWUH-biss fun VAKE) blog.
The problem is that (no offence) suggestions keep being made by those who are outside of the situation who are in danger of unwittingly saying "let them eat cake".
In spite of my insider knowledge, I fell into this trap myself recently when I suggested YouTube as a resource for my sister to use in addressing an issue my nephew was experiencing in maths. I was mortified when she reminded me that her (dial-up) connection didn't have the juice to stream a YouTube video, and that it was likely to take an hour to download... an hour that she would have to pay to remain connected to the Internet.
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