The deployment of the ICTs in rural areas is the single most important factor hindering the implementation of distance education in those locations. Evaluate this statement. There is wide consensus in government and non-government circles, both within individual countries and across many multilateral organisations that the information and communication technologies (ICTs) are critical to overall economic and social development and in particular to human development. With regard to human development, the ICTs are seen as playing an important role in expanding educational provision for all people, especially those sectors of the population that are normally considered as being disadvantaged and marginalised. In this regard, rural communities
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As mentioned earlier both governments and international agencies view the ICTs as a core requirement for development and it is this thinking that has provided the impetus for much of the development work in developing countries with some emphasis on the rural areas of those countries. Specifically, these initiatives are seen as bridging the digital divide between the ‘technological haves’ and the ‘technological have-nots’, between those who have access to and the skill to use the information and communication tools made available via the Internet and those who do not. In fact the United Nations, working through one of its agencies, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), has, over the last two to three decades invested considerable resources to advance development projects and programmes under the broad umbrella title ICT for Development and acronym ICT4D. However, notwithstanding all these initiatives, it is generally agreed that rural populations are not adequately resourced as far as the ICTs are concerned and that much more needs to be done to increase their access to these communication technologies. In particular, in the area of distance education, there is …show more content…
Many doubt the appropriateness of this approach and cite several other areas that warrant attention alongside the issue of the deployment of the technology. Further, there is the thinking that rather than think of any one as being more important than the other, all relevant factors should be addressed simultaneously. Three of these are discussed below. Some argue that educational development cannot be addressed in isolation and that it should be viewed in the context of the overall development of the people involved as well as the development of the socio-economic environment that they inhabit. Adults who live in an overcrowded household are going to find it very difficult to organise themselves to engage in self-directed learning. Parents who have been unemployed for a long time are hardly likely to be able to begin studies as distance students given the ongoing challenges of providing for the well-being of their offspring. Studying in a web-based environment is virtually impossible if one resides in a district where the electricity supply is unreliable. It is evident therefore that even as the authorities pay attention to opening up access to the ICTs to facilitate the education of disadvantaged populations, they cannot ignore the wider socio-economic needs of the people. A second factor that warrants attention is the
As mentioned earlier both governments and international agencies view the ICTs as a core requirement for development and it is this thinking that has provided the impetus for much of the development work in developing countries with some emphasis on the rural areas of those countries. Specifically, these initiatives are seen as bridging the digital divide between the ‘technological haves’ and the ‘technological have-nots’, between those who have access to and the skill to use the information and communication tools made available via the Internet and those who do not. In fact the United Nations, working through one of its agencies, the United Nations Development Programme (UNDP), has, over the last two to three decades invested considerable resources to advance development projects and programmes under the broad umbrella title ICT for Development and acronym ICT4D. However, notwithstanding all these initiatives, it is generally agreed that rural populations are not adequately resourced as far as the ICTs are concerned and that much more needs to be done to increase their access to these communication technologies. In particular, in the area of distance education, there is …show more content…
Many doubt the appropriateness of this approach and cite several other areas that warrant attention alongside the issue of the deployment of the technology. Further, there is the thinking that rather than think of any one as being more important than the other, all relevant factors should be addressed simultaneously. Three of these are discussed below. Some argue that educational development cannot be addressed in isolation and that it should be viewed in the context of the overall development of the people involved as well as the development of the socio-economic environment that they inhabit. Adults who live in an overcrowded household are going to find it very difficult to organise themselves to engage in self-directed learning. Parents who have been unemployed for a long time are hardly likely to be able to begin studies as distance students given the ongoing challenges of providing for the well-being of their offspring. Studying in a web-based environment is virtually impossible if one resides in a district where the electricity supply is unreliable. It is evident therefore that even as the authorities pay attention to opening up access to the ICTs to facilitate the education of disadvantaged populations, they cannot ignore the wider socio-economic needs of the people. A second factor that warrants attention is the