eLearning on the Far Side of the Digital Divide

Abstract

Your theme at this conference is Open and Distance Learning for Sustainable Development. This time we have taken the title eLearning on the Far Side of the Digital Divide.// Our plan is to explore briefly the notion of the digital divide and argue that we cannot wait for it to be bridged before bringing some of the benefits of information and communications technology to those on the far side who are not now connected to the global internet. We shall then explore what is meant by eLearning and suggest that it can make an important contribution to reducing educational deprivation.// With that as background we shall then look at the practicalities of eLearning on the far side of the digital divide and address four obstacles in particular: connectivity, equipment, software and the training of people. In all this we shall draw on the experience of COL.