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The Australian Development Gateway (ADG) strives to support members of the development community in their efforts to reduce poverty and enhance sustainable development in the Asia Pacific region. The site has been created with participation from members of government, private, academia and non-government organisations. User feedback mechanisms have been incorporated to guide future directions of the site. The site is optimised for low bandwidth access to enable the widest participation throughout the Asia Pacific region.

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ICTs, e-learning & simulations: bringing knowledge-intensive management to Asian agriculture

This paper looks at how ICTs can be used to deliver knowledge-intensive management skills to agricultural professionals through e-learning.

In developing Asia, agriculture is one of the most important economic sectors as well as the principle employer. Currently, Asian agriculture is under pressure from growing populations, increasing affluence, a dwindling natural resource base, and globalisation. Asian farmers need to improve their economic performance, increase profits and production, and move towards sustainable agriculture.

Knowledge-intensive management (KIM) can improve profits, production, and sustainability in the agricultural sector. Until human resource development and Information and Communication Technology (ICT) infrastructure is sufficient to deliver knowledge-intensive management skills to farmers, the information and skills can be delivered to agricultural professionals, who in turn can help farmers access the information and skills they need for better management.

ICTs can be used to deliver knowledge-intensive management skills to agricultural professionals through e-learning. e-learning is a flexible form of education that allows participants with different schedules in different locations to interact and learn in a collaborative, online environment. One tool of e-learning is simulation, which allows real-world phenomena to be simplified and mimicked on screen. Users can experiment in an interactive environment in order to learn complex or difficult concepts.

 

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