Australian Development Gateway

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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Rural access and telecentres

Making e-Learning work in the Asia Pacific: lessons learned

Agriculture is a key sector in the economies of most developing countries in the Asia-Pacific. However, most farmers in the region are still using outdated and potentially uneconomic agricultural practices.

This paper shows how e-learning can help improve agricultural education.  Several recommendations have been advanced as ways to improve agricultural education and one in particular - e-learning - appears to offer great promise. But most of the experience with this approach comes from the North and lessons learned there may not be applicable to Asia-Pacific online learners.

Several recommendations have been advanced as ways to improve agricultural education and one in particular - e-learning - appears to offer great promise. But most of the experience with this approach comes from the North and lessons learned there may not be applicable to Asia-Pacific online learners.

Some key lessons from experience in the region suggest that Asian students benefit more when courses are structured, step-by-step instructions are given, learners are constantly encouraged, facilitation is personalized, stereotypical student-teacher roles are broken down and facilitators respect learners' needs to maintain 'face'.

 

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