Policies, Technologies or Pedagogy. Ways of Developing the Distance Education Field in Sweden.

Overview & Synopsis

Sweden has a long tradition of using distance education, because its inhabitants are widely scattered, especially in rural areas. Before the 1960s, distance education was well organized and centralized. During the 1960s, however, other types of continuing education were subsidized, but distance education was not, leading to a decrease in the number of distance education students and the decentralization and fragmentation of the system. Today, technology is bringing about a resurgence of distance education, usually conducted by the universities. Computer access is almost universal throughout the school systems, and about 15 percent of the households now have computers. Telephones, cellular telephones, and faxes are widespread. Picture telephones are available but not yet widespread, and video conferencing has been in use and steadily increasing for the past 5 years. Even with the use of such technology, however, the most prevalent methods for teaching students remain meetings either on or off campus. As the number of people continuing education after high school increases, technology is expected to play an increasing role by facilitating more widespread and more comprehensive distance education. (KC)