Eunice Ivala The Internet And Distance EeducationPapers Presented at the 1st National NADEOSA Conference Held 11

Papers Presented at the 1st National NADEOSA Conference
Held 11-13 August 1999

Author:
Eunice Ivala Graduate Programme in Cultural and Media Studies, Faculty of Human Sciences, University of Natal, Durban, 4041, South Africa.

Title:
The Internet And Distance Education

Abstract:
Few technologies have generated as much interest, paranoia, and hype as the Internet. Its significance has been recognised by most major companies and institutions around the world. Analysts suggest that it may lay to waste global giants that do not adapt to it and allow new companies to spring from nothing to take their place (Chaldwick, (1998).

Companies in industries like computing, television, publishing and retailing have been quick to see the potential threats and opportunities from this network. Many are pouring in tens or even thousands of pounds developing websites, with little return of that investment within sight. Others may be less sure of the Internet's potential, but still feel that it is too important not to have a presence there. Distance education has been around in one form or another since the 1830's, but if distance education ever had a "boom" era, we are in it now, and have been in it for remarkable advances in the delivery of technologies available to us. One of these, of course, is the Internet. This paper will attempt to explore where distance education fits into the picture, with particular reference to Internet connectivity and use in developing countries, what the Internet can offer for distance education learners, constraints which hinder Internet use for distance education and solutions to these Constraints.

Introduction

Few technologies have generated as much interest, paranoia, and hype as the Internet. Its significance has been recognised by most major companies and institutions around the world. Analysts suggest that it may lay to waste global giants that do not adapt to it and allow new companies to spring from nothing to take their place (Chaldwick, (1998).

The Internet is a global "network of networks linking thousands of computer networks together. The Internet was established at the end of the cold war by the United States military to ensure continued communications between the military and various branches of government. Now, however, its uses have far outgrown its creator's intentions (Tripathi, online).

Distance Education is defined as the existence of a time and /or a physical distance between the student and the instructor, with a form of telecommunication technology utilised to bridge the gap (Peterson, 1996).

The invention of the television and video recording is said to have had the most profound influence on distance learning (Govender, 1998). However, some people in the distance education field may say that personal computers and the Internet reinvented the face of education and how students may learn at a distance. Today, virtual classrooms are expanding in number due to common technologies like television and radio, as well as new technologies like desktop, laptop and network computers. It is safe to say that we are already within the "next generation" of distance learning. With the speed that technology is advancing and the abundance of personal computers and web technologies, people have already began to embrace distance learning in a digital world. By providing instruction via the World Wide Web, even business travelers or students in isolated areas can enjoy interactive virtual classrooms no matter where they are or what time zone they may be in! The digital world will help in providing distance learning opportunities for anyone, at any time, at anywhere in the world.

These attributes make the Internet valuable to the education community. Most immediately, it enables researchers to easily obtain and share information available worldwide, much of which is currently available free. Over the long term, it raises the prospects of the virtual University and the more flexible patterns of learning envisaged in a learning society.

Internet Connectivity and Use in Developing Countries

The earliest users and disseminators of Internet applications and technology were academic and research organisations and organisations belonging to the Association of Programme Communication, such as Greennet (London) and the Institute for Global Communications (San Francisco). These have actively supported and established networks in Asia, Africa and Latin America for years, and often provided their only link to the Internet. However, this is now changing as the Internet becomes more commercialised. The Internet sector in developed and developing countries alike is now highly competitive, profitable and likely to flourish with or without the help of the NGO'S or donor communities. According to the World Bank's InfoDev Programme (Panos Media Briefing No.28, 1998), "a key development of the last year or so is the accelerated use of the Internet as the network platform of choice of business, institutions and individuals in every part of the world".

Donor organisations and others investing in the Internet for development clearly face increasing scrutiny of what they are doing in education as well. But few deny that education systems in most developing countries suffer from a chronic shortage of information resources and the Internet has the capacity to play a major role in narrowing the information gap. However, Internet use for teaching is still less developed and in its infancy in developing countries. Some educational institutions are no doubt beginning to sense that they ought to 'be there', even if the immediate benefits are not clear cut.

The ITU (International Telecommunication Union) secretary general Dr Pekka Tarjanne said: "the Internet has a great deal to offer the people of African continent, with its ability to break the bouts of isolation and bring remote communities in touch with the rest of the world. Its vast store of information, along with distance learning and tele-medicine systems now being developed, has a real potential to transform the lives of many African inhabitants" (Shapshak, 1998). It is no wonder that Internet access and use is accelerating faster in developing countries than anywhere else. However, experts say that Internet access and use will continue to be available only to a tiny proportion of people in the poorest countries for many years to come. According to International Data Corporation (1998), the number of Internet web users in Africa, Latin America and the Caribbean and Eastern and Central Europe will almost quadruple from 7.6 million to 25.6 million in 2002. In Asian-Pacific region, Internet growth will be even faster, rising from 6.5 million users to 29.3 million in 2002. In the U.S, the number of web users will double from 51.6 million to 106.8 million. Growth in Western Europe will be similar, from 23.7 million to 56 million. Within these regions, several countries enjoy even faster growth rates. Figures from Argentina, Brazil, Paraguay and Uruguay suggest that new Internet connections grew by 352 percent between January 1996 and January 1997.

All but four African countries now have Internet connectivity and, if estimates are be believed, around 700 000 people on the continent (-about 0.1% of the population) are now using "basic Internet services". This is six times the number of Internet users that existed in all developing countries just three years ago. However, estimates of Internet use need to be treated with caution and, sometimes, with skepticism. Estimates of rapid Internet growth in Africa, for example, mask the fact that most Internet growth occurred in South Africa only. South Africa accounted for more that 48.000 of 50.000 Internet "hosts" number one on the African continent in 1994 and ranks 16^th in the world in terms of the number of Internet hosts (Panos Briefing No.26, 1998). The fact remains, however, that the Internet has already reached almost every country in the world and is spreading rapidly within those countries.

Many more people have access to basic Internet services such as e-mail than to the World Wide Web. According to Matrix Information and Directory Services, there were 36 million users globally of the "core Internet" (people who can e-mail, browse the web and put their own web pages) in January 1997 compared to 71 million users of e-mail around the world. E-mail has always accounted for most Internet use. This is especially the case in developing countries, where full Internet connection either may not be available or is unreliable and incapable of dealing with the volume of data needed for using the World Wide Web, or may be prohibitively expensive. Matrix predicts that there will be 827 million e-mail users and 437 million "core Internet" users by 2001.

It should be understood that Internet connections in developing countries are concentrated in the urban areas, leaving out the majority of the population that inhabit the rural areas. Exclusivity in access to the Internet has led to brand it as yet another technology that is available only to wealthy and powerful elite in developing countries. Despite the lack of uniform connectivity between urban and rural areas, the Internet and its related technologies offers valuable tools for enhancing distance education.

What can the Internet offer for Distance Education?

Internet related technologies that can and are of benefit to education in general and can be said to offer a boost to distance learning could be categorised into two delivery systems: asynchronous and synchronous. Asynchronous instruction does not require the simultaneous participation of all students and instructors. Students do not need to be gathered together in the same location at the same time. Rather, students may choose their own instructional time frame and gather learning materials according to their schedules. Asynchronous instruction is more flexible than synchronous instruction. Moreover, in the case of telecommunications such as e-mail, asynchronous instruction allows and may even encourage community development. Forms of asynchronous delivery include E-mail, bulletin boards (Listserv and newsgroups) computer conferencing and the World Wide Web.

The Electronic mail

E-mail is delivered by Internet software through a computer network to a computer address. Like postal mail, e-mail is used to contact and collaborate with others. This contact may occur across the hall or across the world. It is a very powerful tool for education, and generally under utilised. E-mail is categorised into two: private e-mail and e-mail distribution list. In distance education, private e-mail can be used to interact with students off the class discussion list. The instructors use private e-mails to relay important message to students, to prod students to post more often, comment on their work, encourage their efforts, answer students questions and otherwise keep in touch. Students can also use private e-mails to submit their assignments. An e-mail distribution list is a restricted -access distribution list normally used as the classroom equivalent environment, distance learners can post and discuss their responses to the assignments and papers. Updates and revision questions in the course are also posted here.

Bulletin boards

Two common public bulletin boards on the Internet are USENET and LISTSERV. USENET is a collection of thousands of topically organised newsgroups, covering everything from supercomputer design to bungle cord jumping, and ranging in distribution from the whole world to single institutions. LISTSERV also provides discussion forums on a variety of topics broken out by topic and an area of special interest. A listserv is an electronic mailing list utilised for email driven discussions. Each listserv has a topic or subject around which the discussion centers. This paper will discuss in details network newsgroups as an example of a bulletin board that can be utilised in distance education.

Network newsgroups are Internet features that allow people with similar interest to carry on a group discussion that does not require everyone to be present at the same time. As a member of the group, a distance learner can post a message to the discussion in the same way they use e-mail. All other members can see the message and anyone who wishes can reply to it. The instructor will often post a message, a thread of conversation will begin and subsequently replies will be organised around those threads. When distance learners view the messages, they will be able to identify, follow and add to the conversation. The conversation will serve as a good resource for review before exams and while doing assessments.

Using the newsgroups is similar to e-mail. Learners post new massages, reply to the group, or reply to individuals. If they reply to individuals, an e-mail message will be sent directly to that person instead of the group. To do so, however, one has to know their e-mail address. They can attach images and documents just as they would in e-mail.

In general, bulletin boards can be used by students and instructors to post important messages for all others students to see. They can discuss the material from their classes or post useful links they find in the Internet. Students can also access handouts for a course, policies, syllabus, instructors comments, lessons, reading and assignments. Bulletin boards allow for easy access to opinions of peers and encourage student-to-student interaction.

The World Wide Web

While the Internet, our world wide system of electronic mail was originally designed by the United States military, the World Wide Web was developed by particle physicists at the Centre for Elementary Nuclear Research (CERN) in Geneva in the early 1990s as an in-house means of communication- a sort of Internet. It spread from there. Officially the World Wide Web is described as " wide-area hypermedia information retrieval initiative aiming to give universal access to a large universe of documents" (Hughes, 1994 http://www.otan.dni.us/cdlp/distance/computers/internent.html).The WWW provides Internet users with a uniform and convenient means of accessing the wide variety of resources (picture, text, data, sound, video) available on the Internet. Popular software interface, such as Mosaic, Netscape, Internet explorer, and the existence of various web searching programmes facilitate navigation and use of the WWW communication.

For educators, the WWW provides a multitude of exciting new opportunities for distance teaching and learning. The educator can use the WWW to build a classroom homepage. The home page can cover information about the class including the syllabus exercises, literature references and instructor's biography. The instructor can also provide links to information on the WWW that would be useful to students in the class (e.g. research data on agricultural markets, global change or space mission). Other links can access library catalogs or each student's individual home page. The home page can link students to a discussion lists or "listservs" that are set up for student communication. The instructor could also incorporate database technology into the homepage. Students will therefore be able to participate in discussion groups and fill out online forms and questionnaires that could be sent to the instructor as e-mail messages.

Therefore, the advantages of the above discussed asynchronous delivery include student choice of location and time, and (in case of telecommunications such as email) interaction opportunities for all students. A disadvantage to consider with email-based interaction is the considerable written exchange, which could really pile up.

The second category of the delivery systems in distance education is Synchronous Instruction. Synchronous instruction requires the simultaneous participation of all students and instructors. The advantage of synchronous instruction is that interaction is done in "real time." A Form of synchronous delivery is chat forums (like Internet Relay chat, Cool Talk from Nescape and Microsoft Net meeting).

Internet Relay chat

This software is also called global chat. Each day or week at a designated times, distance education students and their instructors can "meet virtually" on the Internet. Basically Internet chat allows people to type messages to each other in real time. Distance education instructors can use chat sessions to recap the important points in the lectures and to answer students questions. Another example of chat software is, Cool Talk from Nescape. Cool Talk allows both the online chat with written word and with figure but also the ability to talk to each other without making a long distance phone call.

Constraints which hinder Internet use for Distance education and solutions to these constraints.

While the Internet and related technologies clearly offer developing countries an opportunity to overcome some of its traditional constraints to economic development such as distance from markets, lack of information on new trends in education, limited delivery systems for distance education and lack of information on market trends, there are many constraints to the development of the Internet in developing countries. Chief amongst these is the inadequate telecommunications infrastructure (and perhaps more importantly, the associated regulatory environment that controls it), high Internet access charges, the high cost of computers and telecommunications equipment, and a serious shortage of skilled technology personnel.

Inadequate Telecommunication Infrastructure

Many poor countries have limited telecommunication networks and the Internet is totally dependent on minimum level of telecommunication infrastructure for its existence. The number of telephone lines per 100 people, a measure known as "teledensity " is perhaps the largest constraint. The average teledensity among developing countries is just 1.5. In very low-income countries like Afghanistan, Guinea, Liberia, Niger and Somalia, the figure is 0.0002 or one telephone for every 500, 000 people. In Cambodia, Chad and Zaire there is one for every 1,000 (International Telecommunication Union, 1995; Aleobua, 1999). At global level, at least 80% of the world's population still lacks the most basic telecommunication. Africa has the lowest number of telephone lines per capita in the world and the existing telecommunication infrastructure is in very poor condition. In a world where information technology has become the engine of economic growth and power, this places Africa at a serious comparative disadvantage. According to a recent BBC broadcast dealing with the Internet in Africa (Wilson, http://journ.ru.ac.za/review/11/dave.html), a figure of one telephone per 100 people was given as being an average for the African continent. The teledensity (the number of telephone lines per 100 people) in Sub-Saharan Africa is currently estimated at 0.5. This equates to approximately one phone line for every 200 people. By comparison, the teledensity in United States is 65 (equivalent of one phone line for every two people) and 45 in Europe (the rate of Zimbabwe was estimated at 1.2 in 1994). Viewed in this context, terms like the 'information superhighway' become meaningless, and any form of Internet connection appears to be an attainable dream for the majority of African countries.

The few telephones that are there in low-income countries are typically concentrated in the more affluent urban areas; rural areas often enjoy virtually no access to modern telecommunications (Jensen, 1998). About 80% of Kenyan's people, for example, live in places that have no phone (World Bank Briefing Paper for the Board, 1995). Leonard Subulwa, Zambia's minister for the western province, points out that to communicate with officials in his district, "I have to drive 250 kilometers because the countries telecommunication network does not serve this district" (Panos Media Briefing No. 26, 1995 ). South African's President Thabo Mbeki last year pointed out to the G7 conference of wealthy countries that there were more telephone lines in Manhattan, New York than in the whole of Sub-Saharan Africa. "Half of humanity has never made a telephone call," he said. And in many parts of the South what telephone networks exist don't talk to each other. A call from Dakar in Senegal to Lusaka in Zambia are still routed from Dakar to Banjul, Banjul to London, and London to Lusaka (Panos Media Briefing No.26, 1995). This colonial pattern of communication means that revenue is drained from southern telecommunications companies to the North.

However, there are huge disparities in the state of existing telephone networks from one country to another. Those that have priotised telecommunications are installing digital switches with fibre optic inter-city backbones and the newest cellular mobile technology. Among the worlds most sophisticated national networks, for example, are in Botswana and Rwanda where 100% of the main lines are digital, compared with 49.5% in the United States (Aleobua, 1999). At the other end of the scale, countries like Madagascar and Uganda have unreliable analogue telephone systems and poor national links between urban centres. Some countries such as Mali, Niger, and Zaire have only one telephone line for every 1000 people (Aleobua, 1999; Jensen, 1998).

This disastrous state of telecommunications in developing countries and especially Africa is directly related to the model of telecommunications operation which is one of state monopoly and control. This model has stifled investment in telecommunications in Africa and prevented the private sector from participating in the development of this crucial area of economic development.

Perhaps one of the most promising opportunities for overcoming this deficit in telecommunication in developing world's lies in recent satellite technology developments. New telecommunication technology such as Low Earth Orbit (LEO) satellite, promises to significantly reduce the cost and extend the reach of telecommunication development by the turn of the century. Developing countries may actually be at an advantage in implementing this new technology as it does not have an extensive investment in existing infrastructures.

In ensuring that Internet accessibility is possible for all, the West has solved such problems by establishing low-cost calls that apply nationally for Internet access. In the US, AT &T has set up more than 200 Internet access points, allowing 80% of the US population to access the Internet via telephone calls. Similar initiatives are underway in a handful of developing countries in trying to spread Internet access beyond urban centres. In Senegal for example, the main telecommunication company, charges nationally a "fixed" local rate all over the country to encourage the spread of Internet nationwide. The country is developing a rural /provincial Internet "backbone". Metissacan, a Dakar and Ziguinchor -base Internet service provider and cybercafe is currently seeking funds to enable them to distribute computers to the more distance reaches of the country" (Panos Media Briefing no.28, 1998).

In mid-1997, for example a pilot project was launched in Arua, a small town in Northwest Uganda, to provide Internet services through a wireless radio system which was linked to a satellite system. The system, operated by Uganda Connect and the World Food programme, is designed to serve the needs of hospitals, agricultural projects and mission stations in the region (Panos Media Briefing No. 28, 1998). In South Africa, initiatives to provide more Internet access to the majority of the disadvantaged people are underway. According to the former minister of Posts, Telecommunications and Broadcasting, Jay Naidoo (Shapshak, 1998), "the government has made a strategic decision to make Internet access a major policy goal for the next 10 to 15 years." Naidoo see the Internet empowering the most disempowered people. He says; "the Internet will allow for the empowerment of the most disempowered people" This will be achieved through public access terminals or telecentres in rural areas. Moreover, initiatives towards connecting schools and hospitals are in place. Such include the Western Cape Schools' Network, a Pretoria Education Network, the Eastern Cape Schoolnet Projects, and the Maritzburg College in KwaZulu Natal.

Telecentres, the Internet equivalent of public telephone boxes have been promoted as the solution to making the Internet more accessible. According to World Bank, such centers "can provide residents, non -governmental organisations and businesses in poor rural areas and urban areas with economical, easy and ready access to needed information" They could, argued the bank, constitute "a powerful engine of rural development and a preferred instrument in fighting against poverty. They could be the hub at the community level, through which a large number of information services can be dispersed i.e. telephone and fax, local bulletins, document searches on demand, video libraries for entertainment and education, health and nutrition, training, government services, market prizes, self-paced learning and more. The centers would be multi-sectoral facilities and eventually self-sustaining through fees and contracts" http://www.worldbank.org/html/fpd/harnessing/).

Cybercafes could also promote Internet accessibility to more people. The first cybercafe in the world opened in 1984 and today it has spawned a couple of thousands around the globe. Cafes became popular at the start of the 20^th century in Vienna, Paris and Berlin. They are still places for people to meet their friends, read the newspapers, discuss the important events of the day, and to read and answer their correspondence. Artists and intellectuals and revolutionaries used to publish their manifesto from their favourite cafes. A typical cafe offers the user the comfort and ambience of a coffeehouse with the added benefit of virtual libraries, supermarkets, online shopping, etc. The foremost advantage undoubtedly is the fact that there are people to assist you navigate and seek out hard to find information, a feat which from the home or office may not be possible. Thus distance education students taking courses through the Internet can visit the nearest telecentres or cybercafe to retrieve what information the instructor may have posted or post their assignments.

The number of telecentres and cybercafes are growing rapidly. Nearly every national capital in the world now has at least one cybercafe or telecentre. Since may 1996, Peru has been experimenting through a scheme of telecentres based mainly in Universities, schools, local government buildings and private enterprises and crafts guilds...(Sangonet web site http://demiurge.wn.apc.org/africa/tanzania.htm). Similar efforts are underway in Senegal, Kazakhstan, Krygyzstan, Russia and Ukraine, where Internet sites are being established in libraries and Universities. Cuba has a network called Tinored, of 150 walk-in computer centres, 100 of which have e-mail accounts. In Tanzania, the Telecentre Fund, a joint co-operation initiative of the ITU, UNESCO and IDRC, is planning a multi-purpose community telecentre project. (Sangonet web site http://demiurge.wn.apc.org/africa/tanzania.htm). South Africa has the largest number of cybercafes in Africa, but a number of them have closed, probably because of inability to be self-sustaining economically.

However, there is little sign of telecentres being extended to areas where they cannot at least cover their own costs, and in most developing countries this means are concentrated in the urban wealthy areas.

Internet Access and Telephone Charges

The average cost of a low volume Internet account in Africa is a bout US$ 50 per month, using the lowest-priced services available in each country (in most cases just email). When the cost of the telephone call is added to this, the total cost of access is probably more than US $75 per month on average (Jensen, 1998). The average cost of a dial-up Internet connection in Africa is US$75 per month compared to US$10 in the United States and US$15 in England. Further, local telephone connection charges in Africa can be very significant whereas in the United States local calls are free. In some countries these high charges mean even if a computer and phone are available, the service is beyond the reach of all but the wealthy. Another factor limiting the growth of the Internet is the bandwidth (the high capacity international connections that make Internet use possible.) This is associated with the poor telecommunication infrastructure and prohibitive regulatory environment discussed above.

Computer Hardware and Telecommunications equipment costs

According to the International Telecommunication Union (Panos Media Briefing No. 28, 1998), "an inhabitant of a high income country is four times more likely to have access to a television set than an inhabitant of a low-income country; 25 times more likely to have access to a telephone, but 8,000 times more likely to have access to an Internet host computer". More basic still, one in three people globally lack access to electricity. Analysts agree that the cost of putting a computer in every home, of establishing the necessary infrastructure or, merely of providing electricity to every house is prohibitive (Mannisto, Kelly and Petrazzine, 1998). Business and educational institutions in Africa face substantially higher cost for computer and telecommunications equipment than their counterparts in developed economies. For example, a basic PC is at least 50 percent more expensive in Africa than in United States after government duties and taxes are applied. This makes computers a very expensive proposition for business and educational institutions in Africa, especially when one compares the relative cost of wages between the two countries. Adjusting for wage rates, a computer in Africa is approximately 6 times more expensive than in the United States. Looking at this from a different perspective, and computer in Zimbabwe is a bout 10 times the Zimbabwean per capita GDP, a computer is 15 times the per capita GDP of Ethiopia, (Mannisto, kelly and Petrazzine, (1998), whereas in the United States, it is approximately 1/10 of the per capita GDP.

Skills Shortage

The development of the Internet is seriously constrained by shortage of skilled human resources. According to ITU (1997), "if one excludes China and India, the number of people in developing countries with no access to secondary education rises to three quarters of the population. In high income economies by contrast, more than 97% of the population have access to secondary education". Most IT and related companies in the African continent face huge shortages of skilled personnel. Universities and technical colleges in Africa are often ill equipped to provide training on current technological developments and consequently provide training unsuited to the needs of the market.

The skills shortage results in high turnover of staff in technology related companies as staff are poached from one company to the next. This results in a significant loss of productivity. Further, companies are reluctant to invest in training for staff due to the likelihood that trained staff will be poached by other companies. This further limits the stock of skill in the continent.

Political restrictions and Tariffs

Political restrictions are common in many developing countries and several countries have a politically motivated policy of making the Internet access unaffordable to all but commercial users. Access to the Internet in China, which is subject to tight regulations, cost around US$70 a month, for example (Panos Briefing No.28, 1998). Tariffs on imported computers can also make Internet access far more expensive. In India, for example, tariffs on computers reach 120 percent.

The way forward

The approach to overcoming virtually all the negative factors outlined above is quite well understood and documented. In almost every case, the ball is in the hands of national governments and policy makers. Essentially, governments need to free up the telecommunications market and provide an enabling market to foster growth of technology and technology related industries in the economies of developing countries and especially Africa.

Countries and economies that have moved towards telecommunications privatisation and deregulation have reaped enormous benefits and are also in a strong position to penetrate markets in other countries as market opportunities arise (Aleobua, 1999). The obvious example of this is the United States, were information technology is the driving force behind the economic growth of the last decade. Other, perhaps more applicable examples include Latin America and Ireland, where telecommunication deregulation and privatisation have produced enormous economic benefits. Deregulation and privatisation of the telecommunications industry in Africa should be done completely and cleanly and not half heartedly through the setting up of semi-state companies or other similar government run or influenced bodies. Technological change in the telecommunications industry is rapid and often brutal and companies operating in this competitive field have to be completely flexible and innovative to survive. Government or government related organisations simply cannot operate effectively in this environment.

Privatisation does not necessarily mean giving over the entire industry to the multi-nationals. As has been shown in many countries in the region, local investors are more than happy to invest in a potentially profitable venture through the stock market and this could be a condition of any telecommunications privatisation programme. Naturally a significant level of foreign investment would be required. This investment would also bring new skills and technologies to the region, which would be an added stimulus to economic development.

The government policy should also focus on reducing the cost of information technology to the end user. Import duties and sales tax should be immediately removed from computer hardware and software (this is already the case in Mauritius). Special corporate and personal income tax deduction should be introduced to allow individuals and companies to offset the purchase of computer equipment against earnings, at perhaps two times the purchase price. Soft loans should also be made available to individuals to purchase computer equipment.

Training institutions should work with industry in developing courses that reflect the needs of the market place. The models for technical training must be reviewed and the experiences of other countries like Ireland, should be considered in developing an integrated technological approach.

For distance education to reap the educational potentials of the Internet related technologies, the instructors should be re-trained on how to use Internet related technologies. They should also assume a new role of a facilitator in learning and adopt a more learner-centred pedagogy in their instructions. In this perspective, Constructivist theory seems to be the right choice. According to Driscoll (1994), …constructivist theory rests on the assumption that knowledge is constructed by learners as they attempt to make sense of their experiences. Learner actively seek to make meaning of experiences, learning by doing activities in context, and developing knowledge over time. However, distance learners are required to learn how to manage their own time and to take responsibility for their own learning.

Conclusion

Athough the Internet related technologies no doubt are of benefit to distance education, integrating them with other media (print, video conferencing, radio, television, e.t.c) would form a new learning domain which would enable distance education educators and students to engage in learning interactions more effectively, and develop new and different forms of educational interactions. Because of this mix of media, and multimedia appeal to a variety of learning styles, students will learn more effectively than they would from one medium alone.

Knowledge is key to development " the new technology can't solve the fundamental problems we face as a global community; poverty, marginalisation, environmental deterioration. But it can be integrated in our strategies for solving these problems". (Marleau, 1997). Information and communication technologies have the potential for increasing access to knowledge for all (Marleau, 1997). Education, training, debt relief, democratisation, investment in infrastructures, improved and cheap telecommunications all have a part to play in an eventual narrowing of the information gap. But the opportunities offered by the Internet are also identified as positive elements in an already unequal world: clearly the South has much to gain form increased access to information and no time to lose.

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