The Global Picture
Some issues highlighted in "Adult Learning in a New Technological Era," a recent report of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development on the opportunities, outcomes and challenges,⁹ are:

• The potential of technology to enrich individual and community life, e.g., people can write and perform music, develop and share family trees, re-design their own kitchen, publish their own writings.
  
  
• The potential of technology to increase accessibility to intellectual resources, particularly for learners working and studying off-campus which, in turn, points to the need for local networks and connections.
  
  
• The potential for instructors to keep abreast of new developments in their field.
  
  
• The use of techniques not otherwise feasible, e.g., using video cameras and digitized images to improve physical performances (in dance, sports), or using simulations to perfect skills.
  
  
• Using introduction of new technologies as a stimulus for re-examining existing teaching practice and course material to ensure that technology is not introduced simply because it is there.

Some Questions about Learning Opportunities
Learners, teachers, facilitators and planners should all be in a position to examine how new learning technologies are being used and what opportunities are being provided. The following questions address issues that commonly arise with new programs and new technologies:

• What new opportunity does it provide? To whom does it provide it?
  
  
• How is the opportunity provided: what systems does it use, what support, staffing, and so on?
  
  
• What are the prospects for sustainability?
  
  
• How durable or stable is the technology? How likely is it to change, and if it changes, will it displace the learning opportunity or require retooling?
  
  
• What are the "opportunity costs"? Are there trade-offs that might mean, for example, reduced funding for other programs or limited access because the technology is not generally available?

Endnotes for Section Five

1. Winvet Newsletter, August 1996.
   
   
2. Women's space, Vol.1, #4, April / May 1996, p.19.
   
   
3. APC Women's Networking Survey: Initial Findings, Sept. 1996.
   
   
4. Women's space Magazine, Vol.1, #4, April/May 1996, p.4.
   
   
5. Barbara Ann O'Leary, "Creating a Virtual Sisterhood Online," Feminist Collections, Vol.17, Winter 96.
   
   
6. Kaye Schofield, "National Training Reform in Australia: The challenge for women," Women's Education des femmes, Vol.11 #4, pp.36-41.
   
   
7. Ibid.
   
   
8. Lynne Alice, "Women's Studies and the Net Effect," Feminist Collections, Vol.17, #2, Winter 1996, pp.40- 41.
   
   
9. Proceedings prepared by the Centre for Educational Research and Innovation, 1996, pp.15-21.