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Makale Özeti:
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Given the recognized ability of technology to transcend many of the traditional barriers of both space and time, the marriage of international education and informational technologies would seem a natural union, providing educators with opportunities for collaboration with colleagues and access to resources never before available (Philson, 1998).
Distance education on university campuses is growing exponentially in the United States - it is predicted that 2.2 million students will be taking online classes in 2002, and 85% of American colleges and universities will be offering those classes in the academic year 2002/2003 (Baydo, 2001). And although availability of the technical means for distance learning course delivery such as computers for web-based courses, video, and interactive television varies from one region to another in the world, it is commonly accepted that distance education is becoming a reality of educational environment not only in the US but also worldwide especially for higher education (Mason, 1998). Rumble (2001) notes that the development of e-education has enabled distance education to overcome lack of interactivity inherent in earlier forms of distance education based on correspondence and mass media, but it looks as if it is also pushing up the costs of distance education. This is particularly relevant for increasing cost to students.
Although an emerging reality, it is yet so new that “moving into technologically meditated instruction and course delivery remains akin to exploring uncharted territory,” according to Mitchell, Dipetta and Kerr (2001). In exploring this territory the authors of this paper wish to chart a course that increases access to education and provides socially acceptable approaches, including education that aims to facilitate democracy and the conditions for peace. Additional challenges for web-enhanced teaching include a disparity in countries’ economic and political development that leads to a “digital divide,” different languages of instruction, time differences, and “issues concerning higher technological skills required from students taking web-based courses impacting the students’ ability to gain value from the course” (Schell, 2001).
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