The global picture

In "Adult Learning in a New Technological Era", a recent report of the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development⁶⁴ , the authors present their position on the opportunities, outcomes and challenges. Some of the issues they highlight 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 of intellectual resources, particularly for learners working and studying off-campus which, in turn, points to the need for local networks and connections for this potential to become reality.
  
  
• The potential for instructors to keep abreast of new developments in their field of study .
  
  
• The potential to use teaching techniques not feasible otherwise, e.g., using video cameras and digitized images to improve physical performances (in dance, sports), or using simulations to perfect skills.
  
  
• Using the issues around introduction of new technologies as a stimulus for re- examining existing teaching practice and course material to look for the optimum way of improving learning, so that technology is not introduced simply because it is there.

Questions about learning opportunities offered by new technologies:

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 learning opportunity enhanced by the new technology- in what ways is it better?
  
  
• How does it provide it- 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 because of technology costs; or limited access because the technology is not generally available?

Endnotes for Section Five

56. Winvet Newsletter, August 1996
    
    
57. Women'space, Vol. 1, # 4, April /May 1996, p. 19
    
    
58. Preliminary Report APC Women's Networking Survey - Initial Findings (September 1996
    
    
59. Women'space Internet Magazine, Vol. 1, Number 4, April/May 1996, p. 4
    
    
60. J. Ackman, Feminist Collections, vol. 17, no.2 Winter 1996
    
    
61. Barbara Ann O'Leary, Creating a Virtual Sisterhood Online, feminist Collections, vol. 17, winter 96
    
    
62. Kaye Schofield, Women's Education, p.41, National Training Reform in Australia: The Challenge for Women
    
    
63. Lynne Alice. Women's Studies and the Net Effect (from Feminist Collections. vol. 17, no. 2, Winter 1996, - pp. 40-41)
    
    
64. Proceedings prepared by the Centre for Educational Research and Innovation (1996, pp.15-21),