This document discusses opportunities and challenges for using information and communication technologies (ICT) in education, particularly in developing countries like Ethiopia. There are four key areas for ICT application: 1) ICT-mediated learning, 2) Internet/intranet access, 3) education management information systems, and 4) distance/lifelong learning support. While ICT provides opportunities to improve and expand education, challenges include lack of infrastructure, resources, and readiness for technological and educational change. Overcoming these challenges could help developing countries better educate their populations and advance socioeconomic development.

1. InformatIon and
CommunICatIon teChnologIes
for eduCatIon
-
Education in Information Communication Technologies: Twin Opportunities
and Challenges!
I. Introduction
With the increasing capacity of information and communication technologies,
there is a rise in new learning opportunities beyond the traditional "book-
teacher" model. Globally, the nature of learning and teaching is changing rapidly
due, in part, to increasing interaction from more accessible global
telecommunication networks driven by the content of the Internet. New options
for distance education are driving the shift from traditional learning
communities (schools, universities and colleges) - constrained by proximity -
towards unrestricted lifelong learning possibilities. The shift from teacher-
centered to learner-centered learning means teachers at all levels need to
embrace new information and communication technologies and education and
training need to keep up with the advances of new technologies. As new
technology is being accepted as the catalyst for new learning environments,
access to communication has become crucial. Access to communication and
information is indeed a fundamental human right. This is easier said than done
in developing countries. The challenges to access to information and
communication are tremendous.
A substantive progress in implementation of information and communications
and for that matter progress in quality of life and development cannot be
achieved without preparing people for a knowledge society* [1]. This partially
involves making an environment amenable for diffusing computers to schools,
training the population in computer application and a building a solid national
computer and communication science education. Advanced university training
in computer communication systems, computer systems, information science,
parallel and distributed systems, software engineering, simulation techniques
and tools and telecommunication systems and creation of campus and nation
wide network and information systems in education have no substitute for
national development. The challenge here is not to put computers on the desks of

2. schools but also to create the conditions for bright students to emerge with
solutions to actual problems – perhaps this could lead to a national industry
comparable to current agricultural production. This paper discusses some of the
key opportunity and challenges facing information technology applications in
education and computer science education in developing nations with particular
reference to Ethiopia.
* [According to an excellent account by Manuel Castells, the impact of information and
communication technology and development in information society cannot be achieved
by rhetorical statements. It is important to create an enabling environment for the
information and communication technologies for them to diffuse into the social fiber of
the society. The "industrial society, by educating citizens and by gradually organizing
the economy around knowledge and information, prepared the ground for the
empowering of the human mind when new information technology become available."
Woefully, developing nations continued to grapple with poverty, war, population
explosion, etc. The irony is that developing nations are those that acutely need to
organize their people around knowledge and information to break away from debt,
destabilization, drought, desertification, demographic problems and dependency [2]!]
II. Challenges to information technology application in higher education
Education is full of challenges. Education costs, it is costly. Decision-makers
often find themselves caught between conflicting political and efficiency
objectives [3]. From political and social points of view they have to [4]:
• give priority to increasing public access to education by reconstructing
and enlarging school networks,
• ensure that there is a balanced regional development within a country,
• introduce improvements in the curricula,
• create equal opportunity of access at all levels of teaching, promoting
greater participation of women by means of incentive mechanisms of
curriculum and materials, and integration into the educational system of
all children of school age, and those in difficult circumstances,
• support initiatives of groups of associations, religious groups, private
organizations and other social movements,
• increase the budget of the sector and improve the quality of teaching by
the development of executable schemes of training, both initial and
upgrading of the teachers.

3. From the efficiency point of view decision-makers are required to ensure quality
education, better job prospects based on future workforce requirements of the
economy. Well-educated, well-trained, motivated workers can produce high-
quality goods and services at low cost, enhance productivity and
competitiveness, and sustain high living standards. However, striking a balance
between educational efficiency and social and political pressure is not that easy!
The consequence of political and social pressure on education in Ethiopia has for
example led to a declining quality. Under the pressure to educate all and at the
expense of limited financial resources, many schools have continued to operate
badly managed infrastructure, low quality and standards in teaching and
learning - resulting in ineffective and often less motivated workforce. As this
conflict between public access to education and need for efficiency deepens the
gap between quantity and quality will continue to widen. Unless actions are
taken by all stakeholders Ethiopia will continue to suffer from such a vicious
circle.
This vicious circle is similar elsewhere in Africa and is characterized by low
numbers of qualified teachers and large numbers of students per class;
inaccessibility and inflexibility of schools and universities; outdated and
irrelevant curricula and lack of quality educational materials. On another level,
there is a tremendous gap between relationships between schools and
communities, teachers and learners, and learners and learners as well as a lack of
interest in the endeavor of learning, critically thinking and reflecting. By all
standard such education is vulnerable to obscurity and obsolescence!
Already there are symptoms of lack of innovativeness in the current education
system. Schools and universities have remained conservative institutions slow to
adopt new practice and technology. They have remained less responsive to
actual needs of the society. The education system is largely textbook driven.
Absorption of textbook contents tends to be the measure of educational success.
Teachers and instructors use "chalk and talk" to convey information. Students
have remained bucket recipients of instruction rather than active participants in
learning. Obviously these cannot be problem solvers or troubleshooters in a real
life! There is limited link among schoolteachers except in a few cases. Although
distance learning tools such as radios and television have been introduced these
have not been used effectively. There is virtually no school with an elaborate
network in the country – telephones and computers have not been seen by over
half of the countries’ students.

4. While computers are becoming available in universities these are only available
in computer science classrooms and training sites; graduate students and
teachers usually use them simply as electronic workbooks. Interactive, high
performance uses of technology, such as networked teams collaborating to solve
real-world national problems, retrieving information from electronic libraries,
and performing scientific experiments in simulated environments are not in
practice!
The education crisis in Africa is deep and sometimes disturbing. All of these
problems are often attributed not to faults of the bureaucracy and those involved
in teaching and learning process but rather to severe shortage of resources. It is
not yet established whether lack of funds remains the major source of declining
educational quality!
Many governments in Africa, including Ethiopia, have recently responded to
these disturbing challenges. South Africa for example has chosen the following
strategies to deal with declining education [5].
• placing premium on lifelong and continuing education that enables
continuos production and dissemination of knowledge.
• promoting the roles of public and private organizations to share in
knowledge production with institutions of higher education.
• adapting higher education to changes and sustaining its role as a
specialized producer of knowledge
• shifting from closed knowledge systems to more open knowledge systems
that interacts with interests of 'consumer' or 'client' demands
• offering a greater mix of programmes, including those based on the
development of vocationally based competencies and skills.
• making educational system ready for new innovations and new forms of
accountability by linking higher education researchers to external
constituencies.
• improving interaction between researchers and intellectuals and
knowledge producers to promote accountability of education to
client/consumer regarding the cost-effectiveness, quality and relevance of
teaching and research programmes.
• responding to longer-term demands on education and retaining a sense of
the more universal, wide-ranging nature and role of knowledge within
human affairs.

5. • developing strategies for new forms of management and assessment of
knowledge production and dissemination specially in the areas of content,
form and delivery of the curriculum.
• promoting development, equity, quality, accountability and efficiency in
all levels of education and research.
The Ethiopian government has also taken various measures to reshape the
education system to meet pressing national needs and to respond to a context of
new realities. However, these initiatives seldom refer to global issues and new
ways of learning. The strategy subsumes information and communication
technology to a peripheral technical support activity instead of a central element
of the solution to the crisis in education [6].
Information and communication technologies have a major role not only in
improving existing learning but also extending opportunities for lifelong
learning. In many countries in Africa, there are few opportunities for second
chances, and learning is conceived of as a discrete activity that one engages in
only during the early years of life. Very little provision exists for lifelong learning
opportunities. Many learners are not reached by the system. Today, there are 900
million illiterates in the world and 130 million children unable to attend primary
school. Their access to education is limited by time and space, age, socio-cultural
environment, work schedules and physical or mental handicaps [7]. Information
and communications technologies could help to adapt teaching strategies and
modes of delivery to the needs of larger student intakes and the diversity of
lifelong learners.
However, information and communication technology is not a panacea.
Development should not be framed simply on access to technology and
information but rather on changing the attitude and preparing the population
and institutions for knowledge. Layering the new technologies on existing
processes or "old ways of doing things" and bureaucracies will not achieve
development goals. It is important to understand where the opportunities of new
information and communication technologies lie for national development and
grab those opportunities quickly.

6. III. Opportunities in Applications of Information and Communications
Technologies for Education
Successful in the past, the classroom model has reached its limits in a world
where knowledge becomes rapidly obsolete. It is also increasingly challenged by
new ways of learning, in particular new multimedia based on the merger of text,
sound, still pictures and video as well as virtual reality (CD-ROM, Internet,
software, video games, etc.)[8]. The use of information technology to offer
education programs over long distances is becoming an increasing necessity.
Generally there are four key areas for information and communication
technologies application in education. These include Information and
Communication Technology Mediated Learning, access to information and
communication via the Internet/Intranet, Education Management Information
System (EMIS) and education office automation to support the education
planning and management and the support of information and communication
technologies to distance and lifelong learning.
Information and Communication Technology Mediated Learning
Information and Communication Technology Mediated Learning (ICTML)
covers Computer Aided Instruction (CAI) for teachers and the use of multimedia
technologies for producing course materials and Computer Aided Learning
(CAL) for students. Computer assisted instructions have been in use elsewhere in
developed countries especially at early years of learning. They provide ample
opportunities for students to broaden their learning skills and for teachers to
develop better multimedia and interactive courseware. Studies indicate that
learning takes place through communication. This is generally poor in the
classroom model. Classroom models are largely "one-way teaching models" in
which the teacher plays the acting part whereas pupils and students are merely
reacting. Computer assisted instructions can greatly complement traditional
teaching techniques to help students to learn much more much faster.
Access to information and communication via the Internet/Intranet

7. Internet and Intranet have become a source of vast amount of information and
interactive tools. Intranet is a closed user-group Internet. An example of Intranet
could be a school campus network where students and teachers share to local
information such as teaching materials and course schedules while at the same
time accessing the Internet. The Internet is a set of linked computers
characterized by protocols that allow it to be used across a wide-range of
hardware platforms. Each machine on the Internet contains information to be
shared across the globe – (the content of Intranet is only available to a small
closed community such as schoolteachers and students). Information on the
Internet could be accessible from any location regardless of the type of computer
system being used. It also means one can have access to and/or publish
information regardless of the subject, location, age, race and time limitation.
Internet is thus an empowering tool for all that are involved in education. Denial
of access to the Internet to schools compares to denial of vitamins and proteins
but carbohydrates to someone!
A wide array of techniques have been developed to access to information on the
Internet ranging from logging onto a remote server, chatting over the Internet
with colleagues on specific subjects, sharing information via mailing lists and
user groups, file transfer protocol to get files on servers to the World Wide Web -
an interactive multimedia based information access tool. The World Wide Web
has now gained the momentum due to its ease of use and its multimedia
capability.
Other techniques have also been developed to work for those that do not have
access to the Internet. One such technique is the use of "offline browsers" where
the valuable information on the Internet is downloaded on high capacity storage
media such as Digital VideoDisk (DVD) and distributed to remote schools. The
Internet is accessible in around 150 countries including Ethiopia. However, the
Internet is being under-utilized for education in Africa in general and no use of it
reported in Ethiopia except by researchers at university level. The key obstacle is
lack of adequate communication infrastructure throughout the country. Lack of
resources, fear, apathy, lack of encouragement and ignorance are other
significant impediments.
Education Management Information System (EMIS)
Education Management Information System (EMIS/or EDMIS) is a multi-user,
interactive information system and a planning tool for storing and retrieving
education information on students, student grades, test results, courses,

8. personnel, finances at school, district or regional levels. Student information such
as demographics and attendance, subject, program, and performance, staff
information such as demographics, employment related data, classroom
schedule, vocational education course taken by the staff and staff performance
report could be gathered in a standard format and entered at school, district and
national level to inform decision-making. The EMIS financial data include
information on budgets, cash balances, expenditures, receipts, schedule of
indebtedness and miscellaneous financial reports for higher level management
and others such as building profile information. Although it has been in use
elsewhere in developed world EMIS use in developing countries is often limited
to offices of the Ministries of Education. Data on education planning is usually
gathered using manual techniques and is often prone to errors and inconsistency.
At school level EDMIS could allow its users to schedule educational events,
notify key personnel/organizations of the events and ultimate outcomes, print a
calendar of events, and schedule counseling sessions for classes. EDMIS provides
education staff members with a standard set of reports that can be used for
managing education activities or reporting to installation or external
organizations. Staff members can also perform standard and special purpose (ad
hoc) queries to obtain data not available through existing functions. Coupled
with office automation and networks EMIS promises efficient allocation of
resources and centralized planning as well as resources management at national
level. The application of computer as a tool for communication and problem
solving in schools would provide schools to see its continuous impact on
education and day to day activities of the staff.
Information and communication support for distance education and lifelong
learning
Information and communication technology support to distance and lifelong
learning is one of the most exciting opportunities to developing countries that
face two major challenges. These countries are facing a sociopolitical demand for
access from larger cohorts of school leavers, and from population groups and
social classes largely excluded from higher education and a socioeconomic
demand for highly trained human resources with wider ranges of skills and
competencies. Ethiopia for example is one of those countries that have been
facing considerable gap in refreshing school leavers and its trained workforce. A
quick observation shows that the majority of the workforce in the country is
highly ineffective partially due to lack of up to date training, refreshment and
inability to keeping up with new developments in their areas of expertise. At

9. extreme some "experts" have not touched or read books or articles ever since they
left schools or colleges. The problem of lack of refreshment is sever specially in
decision making process where middle and senior management have not been
able to keep abreast with new developments in their fields or other related areas.
Knowledge doubles itself faster than the capacity of an average person. Human
understanding of the area gets outdated within 2-5 years if this has not been
refreshed continuously – thus it is clear that Ethiopia has one of the most exciting
opportunity in using information and communication technology for distance
and lifelong learning. In the face of limited resources and time, distance
education seems the only alternative for bridging the knowledge gap of the
workforce that has limited time and convenience. Data in the most developed
countries shows that only two out of five college students fit the traditional
learning profile [9].
Problems facing the spread of distance education in developing countries are not
technical but rather political and administrative. Distance education faces a
number of difficulties such as, money, staff, equipment and time and a number
of underlying problems such as resistance to distance education by educators,
different learner characteristics and needs, the influence of media upon the
instructional process, equity of access to interactive education delivery systems,
and the new roles of teacher, site facilitator, and students. Its spread in Ethiopia
has been hampered by all these difficulties. A qualitative assessment undertaken
in 1997 [10] shows that in Ethiopia:
• the open learning concept is far less recognized and heavily depends on
correspondence courses
• policies regarding accreditation, students and learner support have not
been put into action although they have been "under-construction". This
has delayed expansion of distance learning and impaired activities of
institutions that have intentions to setup distance learning schools.
• until recently, there has been a high resistance to distance education by
educators - limited endorsement of distance education and overall
confusion about its effectiveness among traditional educators.
• broadcast radio and television have been in use for a long time, however
these media have not been fully exploited by learners and conventional
teaching institutions.
• there is limited understanding of the impact of new technologies on the
delivery education. Resource limitation and bad telecommunications
infrastructure are two main obstacles.

10. • the culture for motivation, limited incentives to growth, inadequate
reading culture have made considerable blockage to distance learning.
• there is considerable difficulty by the learning centers to develop more
interactive student-centered curriculum due to lack of experience,
incentive and limited understanding of new high and low bandwidth
interactive communication technologies.
Another concern of distance educators is the economic standards of learners.
Most learners cannot afford new tools and technologies such as computers and
telephones. These tools are not accessible to students in remote areas. However,
community-centered broadcast technologies such as digital radios and low cost
computer mediated communications such as the Internet and World Wide Web,
are opening new opportunities for distance education to reach students at a
distance and also to serve students who need flexibility. Compression
technologies combined with improved computer speeds at reduced costs are
making interactive, multimedia instruction readily available to the desktop.
Internet access (the WWW) has become the most popular media for distance
education. Telephone-based audio-conferencing; videoconferencing with one or
two-way video and two-way audio broadcast using cable, telephone, fiber optics,
satellite, microwave and closed-circuit or low power television are around as
menu of choices for distance education planners.
A mix of these technologies centered-around "multipurpose community learning
centers (telecenters)" will continue to dominate the next wave of distance and
lifelong learning in Africa. The following table shows some of existing
technologies and their suitability to Ethiopia.
Table 1. Various communication technologies for distance education and their
suitability to Ethiopia
Information and Areas of application and Feasibility in Ethiopia
communication components
Technology
Correspondence courses Traditional method where It is being applied in Ethiopia
students write or call their and believed to continue to exist
teachers until more high-tech methods
arrive
Computer mediated Computer sends materials, It is the easiest tool to implement
communication lectures notes and messages, in Ethiopia where-ever

11. computer conferencing, computers exist, low cost
electronic mail, bulletin communications opens various
board systems, phones, opportunities whether this is on
modems, computers are LAN or WAN
required, two-way
communication, costly.
Computer conferences can
be implemented in IRC
format, Multiple User
Domains, etc.
Interactive video network Video and audio being Except copper that has poor
transmitted on the same quality, it is very expensive to
network on ISDN, Fiber, T-1 have this in Ethiopia. Microwave
(cooper, microwave) connections are obsolete and
networks costly although they provide
comparable results to Fiber.
Low- power television Sending education materials This is being used by Ministry of
network using regular television Education, easy to implement,
signals, not interactive, requires more work towards
student often telephones packaging than infrastructure
Satellite Provides full motion video A one way audio and video
and audio, sometimes two mode is being implemented by
way audio the African Virtual University
project. Lacks interactivity
Audio conferencing Two-way telephone based Limited applications, easy to
discussion implement locally, international
implementation costs high
World-Wide-Web Interactive multi-media, Easy to implement in
communications can be universities, learning centers,
initiated to make it two-way, costly for individuals, requires a
possibility for on-the fly high speed leased line and
interactive pages (virtual development of local loop
classrooms)
Pool of low cost Relatively simple, but lacks Planned to be implemented by
technologies interactivity of the best the National Vocational
magnitude requires Correspondence Enterprise.
audio cassettes, CD-ROM,

12. DVD ROM, video
cassettes, telephone, fax
Broadcast radio Involves digital radios that World Space is planning to
incorporate both as text and launch these tools next year.
video Ethiopia has not signed
agreement for operation of
Very attractive for mass Worldspace in the country.
education
IV. Education in information and communication technologies
Computer education covers a wide range of areas from understanding the
computer itself (running it for day to day application) to using it for the
development multimedia teaching courseware using a fairly straightforward
graphic user interface tools to software development, software design and
engineering using complex object technologies. Education in information and
communication technologies covers branches such as hardware or inteface
design, assembly langauages, networking and a growing area of information
systems design in a complex organizational environment. While learing basic
application is very useful, the benefits of a solid computer, information and
communication science education remains fundamental for competitiveness in
the next centuray.
In Africa, education in computer application and learning to use it for day-to-day
activities has improved significantly over the last few years through active
participation of the private sector and improving user interface. Computer
support centers providing basic training in applications such as world
processing, spreadsheet, database management and electronic use of
communications technology have been growing. Qualitative assessment
elsewhere in Africa including Ethiopia shows that the impact of this training is
often limited due to little motivation of the students and inadequate teaching
techniques to impart basic concepts that help individual users to experiment and
expand their knowledge [11]. A current survey that analyzed African Regional

13. Informatic Networks states that " most people only use a tiny portion of the
available features of software packages and even do not know how to use the
help facilities [12].
Except in most advanced countries in southern and northern Africa the situation
of computer sciences education in the region leaves much to be desired. The
urgency of expansion of solid computer science education is significant for
countries like Ethiopia. Software development is one of a growing industry
worldwide and it does not require more than a few hundred thousand dollars
investment and solid training and focused brain to produce millions of dollars
worth industry. Anyone with good programming skills in new object oriented
tool can now get a job without moving from his home or lining up for vacancy
announcement. The world has a very few skilled programmers to cover a vast
array of problems ranging from maintaining network reliability to cleaning year
2000 bugs. The good news is that software development capacity does not
require economic strength. India for example is one of the most advanced
countries in exporting billions of dollars worth software. The success of India is a
result of the availability of high quality personnel, English-speaking technical
work force, low cost of labor and the presence of high quality satellite links helps
maintain strong communications links between India and foreign clients [13].
Ethiopia needs to broaden its research and development capacity in computer
and information science as much it needs better quality of education, health to
the community or telephone access in urban and rural areas. Communication
engineering, network studies, network design research are almost in non-existent
in the country and are very much desired to compete in the global information
society. It is as if the country has to start from a scratch.
A few strategies that would enhance computer education that would create a
new industry for Ethiopia include:
• Setting up computer and information science schools in major
universities and strengthening existing ones. This could be achieved
through the development of a comprehensive curriculum that brings
graphics, animations, and interactive visualization of algorithms and data
structures and object oriented design and programming into lectures, labs,
and into student projects. Although three intellectual paradigms: design
(of programs, algorithms, and hardware), theoretical analysis of
algorithms (and its supporting mathematics), and experimentation

14. interact in the practice of computer science, the current trend seems to
concentrate only on programming.
• Match computer science education to the realities of the market. This
could be achieved by (1) introducing students to key software
development concepts such as modularization, abstraction, information
hiding, separation of concerns, and software reuse, as well as object-
oriented concepts such as objects, entities, classes, inheritance,
encapsulation, polymorphism, and dynamic binding, early in the
programming sequence; (2) enable students to develop moderately large
and realistic group projects that emulate application development in
industrial settings; and (3) provide students with contemporary
application development environments and graphical toolkits,
appropriate to their areas of specialization. teaching of a new design,
analysis, and programming paradigm, integration of modern software
engineering principles at an early stage. Ethiopia is lagging generations
behind in this area.
• Furnishing computer laboratories with state state-of-the-art hardware
and software. The current laboratories in all universities are very much
outdated and inadequate. Students often queue for over 24 hours to touch
computers. All efforts should be made to build state-of-the art laboratories
for students to work together through a series of exercises designed to
encourage teamwork and brainstorming. Exercises should then be based
on large hardware/software systems, incorporating actual
industrial/corporate hardware and software problems into account.
• Introducing computer programming concept at high schools. High
schools could provide basics of programming that would allow students
to seek employment opportunity and participate in life long learning and
distance education and that could lead to a solid background for college
education.
• Restructuring of undergraduate curricula in universities to add
introductory computing courses for all students whether these are
attending social sciences, business and pure sciences or not. It is also
essential to acquaint the student with the fundamentals of digital
technology through the use of multimedia-based lectures such as that
advanced by the African Virtual University, electronic course ware, and a
highly interactive classroom structure.
• Mount a national computer Odyssey through the popular media. This
would help (1) to illustrate the major themes of computer science and
engineering using popular topics relevant to the activities of the society (2)
encourage students to undertake careers in computer science and

15. engineering; (3) foster technological literacy among the population; (4)
promote the concept that computer science and engineering are fields
open to minorities, women and the physically disabled.
However, the future of growth of digital technology and a national information
and communication industry cannot be realized without introducing computers
to the younger generations. Efforts should be mounted to encourage children in
elementary and high schools to use computers. A number of countries in Africa
including South Africa, Kenya and Mozambique have already begun to
experiment with school networks that bring elementary and high school students
from these countries together with their counterparts elsewhere. Although K12
networks in developed nations have show considerable impact on teaching and
learning, cultural and social exchange, globalization of concepts, infrastructure
challenges (human resources, adequate computers, content, etc.) make it difficult
to benefit from school network. The potential of school-nets and introducing
computers to schools is obvious even where basic infrastructure such as roads is
unavailable. Computers are one of the tools that empower both teachers and
students equally.
V. Conclusion
Obviously there will be high cost of these technologies that often lead to the
expression "we do not have chalks and proper bench, how do you dare thinking
of computers". Experts agree that although the cost of information and
communication technologies is high the cost of not applying them to social and
economic development is much higher [14]. The cost of not using information
and communication technology in education is by far higher because denial of
access to information, communications and innovativeness means keeping the
next generation in the same cycle of poverty, war, civil strife. It also means losing
one of the easiest ways of supporting employment. Since Africa is equidistant
between North America and Asia there is a possibility for employment to
process mundane data entry or complex tasks using high speed networks,
computers, hands and brains!
Various models have been developed to deal with raising cost of information
and communication technologies. These include using a mix of technologies such
low access to Internet and more reliance of CD-ROM, and the emerging Digital
Video Disc (DVD) format, setting up community access points for all to
contribute and benefit from new information and communication technologies
and use of low cost reconditioned computers.

16. Internet is a window to the world. It opens a vast store of information and
communications. Connectivity has become as important as building a new school
for community advancement. Schools that do not link to the Internet will
continue to be marginalized both in terms of resources to improve physical
infrastructure and in content of education. Universities, schools and businesses
should integrate new telematic technologies into their teaching methods.
Teachers and trainers should learn how to use and integrate the new
technologies. Teachers should be encouraged to develop curiosity in new
technologies. The best educational technology applications are the result of
collaboration among universities, businesses and government agencies.
Networking is here to stay and education has no choice but embrace it. The
primary barriers to the deployment of new learning environments such as
limited institutional inertia, recalcitrance of teachers, lack of appropriate
infrastructures, and lack of funding are also here to stay [15]. The beginning of
the next millenium is a time to strike a balance between opportunities provided
by information and communication to education and these challenges! It is time
to pay price for education and connectivity!
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