Beyond the Diploma Mills

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There are limits to how much technology can contribute to the efforts to close the education divide. Distance learning is proving not to be a useful model in primary education; for kids this young, interacting with a real, live teacher is irreplaceable. And "no one's going to want to read 'War and Peace' off their mobile phone," says Daniel. Computers, online wikis and open-source software and curricula are also not much use if teachers don't know how to use them. Sheldon Shaeffer, the UNESCO director for Asia, says several countries have fallen into the trap of investing in new gadgetry without thinking ahead about the costs and logistics of training educators to use it.

Nor has the problem of diploma mills that dupe students into paying for useless online degrees gone away completely, even as online education acquires a more benevolent image. International educators held a meeting in Paris at the end of November to discuss the spread of the online fraudsters and what to do about them. Online education "is not a panacea," says Shaeffer, "but it has huge potential." Despite the hiccups, international education experts believe the use of the Internet and other sorts of communication technology for education is likely to become the primary vehicle for education aid in a few years. Just as the developing world leapfrogged landlines and went straight to mobile phones, it now seems to be at the cutting edge of online education.

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Posted By: MichaelX @ 01/22/2009 5:16:26 PM

True about the corruption! Say, isn't the USA still a developing nation? Today's slacker gen-whatevers have had it too easy. Then they expect it to all be easy as adults. That's the problem, not doing the whole job, and trying to get out of doing as much as possible. We need to educate our young to go and educate others without the great expectations of high salaries. Not one graduating senior is worth anything more than minimum wage. Try educating those countries leaders before expecting the populace to be given anything.
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Posted By: nawawimohamad @ 12/17/2008 1:36:07 AM

The internet would not make any difference to the education scenario in the developing countries. The main reason of the literacy gap is CORRUPTION. Funds being allocated for education are being diverted elsewhere and it is not uncommon for money being paid for non-existence edcucation facilities, for example the computer laboratories or computer centres for schools. Some faciilites are poorly construction thus inhabitable and could not be used. Corruption is rampant and could not be curtailed due to other corruptions. So don't waste your time on this internet education thing!
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Posted By: amkaylor @ 12/16/2008 10:46:39 AM

Online education is quickly becoming the way for adults to advance their education in a time of economic turmoil. It allows them to work full time and go to school when it works into their schedule. Some universities, like Capella (which is accredited and NOT a diploma mill), even offer free online seminars so people can try distance learning to see if it works for them. http://www.capella.edu/online_learning/online_seminar_ugo99.aspx and for graduate school: http://www.capella.edu/online_learning/online_seminar.aspx