Distance education and adult learning
Dodds, T.
Development Communication Report 63: 8-10
1988
ISSN/ISBN: 0192-1312 PMID: 12315713 Document Number: 361030
It is argued that interaction plays a crucial role in any humane distance education program that aims to be widely effective. Thus far, nonformal education has been neglected in the development of distance education. The argument for expansion of nonformal education is 2-fold: much of the world's population has been deprived of formal educational opportunities as children, and, as adults their educational needs are practical, immediate, and life-related rather than certificate-oriented; and the ability to reach most adults with traditional class-based adult education is strictly limited, particularly in the developing world where the need is greatest. The advantages of distance education include economy, the ability to enter into students' homes, and the flexibility of time and place. There also are some problems. A large number of the educationally deprived also are illiterate, so print, the central component of distance education, is of limited direct individual use. Additionally, nonformal education often teaches practical skills for immediate application, but distance education methods have notorious difficulty teaching practical subjects. Consequently, if distance education is to be used, it should be used in group learning situations. 3 examples of nonformal educational programs that have used distance education in this way are cited as excellent illustrations. The program in Zambia has been in existence for several years. The Pakistan program has grown from a small research project into a university program. The Ghana program remains in the planning stage. In all 3 examples, the target audiences are educationally-deprived rural populations in developing countries. The subject matter in all 3 is of vital concern to their livelihood and well-being. The aim of each program is to reach large numbers of people scattered across wide areas with limited financial and personal resources. Different combinations of media and different organizational and materials development approaches are used, but all combine distance-learning media and group interaction. All use media and packaged learning materials to enable people in remote areas to organize and lead groups of illiterate and neoliterate adults to learn and study together. The subjects they study and the group-learning methods being used lead to group decisions and group actions.