Opportunity for Elearning Solutions in Third World Countries

Elearning and its specific solutions have been undergoing a constant and continuous process of development and revamping in order to meet the volume of arising needs that result from technology and society’s evolution. This innovation has usually been closely, and almost completely, associated with business and education in the western world. A few years back, it can be safely said that it was close to impossible to get a strong foothold on developing countries because they particularly struggle with endemic problems in communication and technology. However, the sudden explosion of computer and mobile technology in these parts improved the linkages between communities, thereby increasing the opportunity for learning support and solutions, and ultimately leading to a progression in education.

An example of a country in this situation is Africa, which has always been viewed in a negative light in terms of government, health, education, and so on. During the end of May 2009, the fourth elearning Africa summit took place in Senegal which covered a wide array of issues like offering themes, processes and systems in the country, their implementation, and potential impact on Africa’s education. In addition to this, the World Wide Web Consortium, an organization that is responsible with the development and maintenance of standards on the web, announced that they would be opening their 17th global office in West Africa. This emphasizes the fact that the country is already recognizing and utilizing technology for education, hence attracting the interest of these organizations who aim to reach to a global market.

It is evident that the internet, mobile technologies, and elearning solutions are slowly developing and settling well within in the continent. ‘M-learning’ (mobile learning) in particular, is increasingly popular amongst the people. Online education on the other hand, is still lagging behind because of the cost of computers and subscribing to an internet connection. But there are different organizations and companies that are coming up with solutions that may overcome certain hurdles in the successful implementation of technologically advanced learning delivery systems with the creation of different specialized applications and programs.

A good citation would be TEDECO (Technology for Development and Cooperation) Group’s contribution and twist on the well-known, Australian-developed, software program called Moodle. Traditionally, this is used by educators in the creation of online courses that are conveniently distributed to students online. But since in Africa, students do not have computers at home, for it is often that there is no electricity, they have to attend a teaching institution which may house computers, but unfortunately lack teachers for supervision. TEDECO’s solution for this problem is for these students to learn lessons from a local computer that is linked remotely to a teacher.

The firm establishment of elearning solutions in countries such as Africa would truly benefit millions of people who seek convenience and ease in attaining a certain level of education, because this is the way by which an individual increases the probability of getting a job that provides an adequate source of income that would be substantial enough to sustain himself, and his family if there is one.

Although the influence of technology is great, the sad reality is that its extension to third world countries is exponentially slower. This poses as a challenge to different developers and tool authors to come up with different programs, software and application that can suit the more outdated technology of these countries, but simultaneously deliver quality learning content in an efficient, progressive manner.