e-Learning for Development

		Course Introduction

		Why develop content in digital form?
		Examine the gap that exists between the extent of Internet connectivity in the developing world and the number of Internet enabled learning opportunities that are available.

Talking the talk		There is no shortage of talk about the promise of the Internet to increase access to knowledge for people in lesser-developed countries. Claims such as the following are made throughout the sustainable development community. Click each of the logos below to see what the following organizations have to say.

Connectivity		Though there are still great regional disparities with regard to Internet connectivity in lesser-developed countries (e.g. African is still far less wired than Asia), the Internet is becoming more and more pervasive every day. Click here to view maps showing the dramatic increase in global Internet connectivity between 1991-1997.
Where's the content?		All the Internet connectivity in the world is useless if there is no relevant content to access. While some progress has been made in creating partnerships that provide access to content, much of it is irrelevant, proprietary, and expensive. Consider agriculture. A quick Internet search will reveal remarkably few e-Learning opportunities for agricultural professionals. Click here to perform a Google search for the keywords, e-Learning for agriculture. Upon close inspection, you will find very little relevance to agriculture professionals in lesser-developed countries looking for professional development opportunities, or short courses on specific agricultural topics.
How do we close the gap? Walk the walk		Clearly, there is a large gap between the extent of Internet connectivity in the developing world and the amount of e-Learning content. How can this gap be closed? Organizations with a mandate to develop and extend sustainable development knowledge for the public good must add e-Learning to their knowledge management strategies. Consider the sustainable agriculture community. The research and training institutes of the Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR) maintain a crucial advantage in brokering the creation and management of agricultural knowledge. If it is to end up in the hands of those who need it most, knowledge pertaining to agriculture and food security must remain a public good. e-Learning can increase access to this knowledge in accessible and flexible ways.
Who is the audience?		To say that e-Learning is for farmers would be wrong. Most do not have the access or capability. Intermediaries, in the form of extension agents, do. Once trained via e-Learning, they can extend their training to farmers using appropriate technologies and methodologies.
Next lesson		So far we have discussed e-Learning from the point of view of effectiveness, economics, and need. In the next lesson you will take a closer look at some of the often-claimed advantages of e-Learning.