Revitalizing Teacher Education through Distance Education.

Overview & Synopsis

Educational technology has changed the definition of classroom in terms of location, size, composition, learning environment, and teacher role. Educational technology in developing nations helps accommodate people in poor and rural areas. Distance education through open universities has increased in several countries. It includes two-way communication media that allow for direct interactions between teachers and remote students. It conquers restraints imposed on conventional education by time and space, and offers higher quality instructional design. Distance education can produce significant cost savings by allowing teachers to optimize existing resources. For example, teachers can use the Internet to gather information, and colleges can hold distance education in existing settings rather than constructing new buildings and classrooms. Distance education provides continuing education to practicing teachers in all settings. Multi-mode approaches using distance and conventional methods offer the most comprehensive teacher training. Distance education can address the shortcomings of conventional education (e.g., high costs, need for physical infrastructures, and need for full-time teachers). Conventional education can address the impersonality of distance education by providing practical training in actual schools and institutional summer schools. Recent educational reform movements in Asia have emphasized improved inservice and preservice training via distance education and nonformal education. Such application of technology to education and training is critical to economic wellbeing, particularly in Asia's developing countries. (SM)