The Association of Southeast Asian Institutions of Higher Learning ...

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achieved. As we struggle with the many obstacles and barriers that are constructed either in a realsense such as economics, political disagreements, or competence, or in a virtual sense with the constantand continual increase of technology--- We must always remember that more ICT, at times, is simplymore ICT and does not necessarily improve existing conditions and at times may well negativelyimpact those conditions you are trying to improve.E-learning, e-knowledge, e-economy- and e-government have placed all of us in a situationwhere we either critically address the outcomes of such ventures or meekly join the e-bandwagon andfollow the technologists to wherever they may lead us. Do you ever feel at your university that thetechnologists are directing the manner in which you, the professoriate, teach your classes or conductyour research? If you do, then you are not alone- Technology seems to be controlling most agendasacross universities from around the world. Our decision is how best to use ICT to assist in meeting ourresearch and instructional responsibilities. This may seem like I am sending a message that I am not infavor of ICT or e-learning. That would be false- I am in favor of any tool that will assist me indeveloping and or enhancing my teaching capabilities and my ability to conduct research and advanceknowledge to serve people who are denied access to education and human services.Therefore, my thoughts for today’s paper are how ICT can assist you the professor, researcher,or university administer in developing and or enhancing your ability to provide qualitative instructionalexperiences, research, and professional service at your university or in collaboration with colleaguesand students from other programs. In a short period of time, I intend to present some ideas andcomments that perhaps will assist your university in considering or at the very least to initiate dialogconcerning the use of ICT in fulfilling the outcomes of Vision 2020. I intend to present some ideasand comments that perhaps will assist universities across Southeast Asia in considering the use of ICTin fulfilling your mission and role for higher education among your citizens and meeting Vision 2020challenges.As the needs of higher education demand the development of creative and innovative educationalprograms, the application of appropriate and effective distance and e-learning methodologies provideopportunities to revisit Vision 2020 challenges. Regional as well as international trends arecontributing to the challenges of Vision 2020. The population of the world and Southeast Asia isincreasing at an exponential rate to exceed 7.2 billion people by the year 2015. Asia countries ofChina, India, and Indonesia are three of the largest countries in the world and their populationcontinues to escalate. Over ninety percent of global population increase will occur in developing ortransitioning countries (World fact Book, 2001). This places significant demands on countries’infrastructure, economy, and the ability to meet educational as well as human resource demands.With improved health care and medical sciences in Southeast Asia, people are living longer anddemanding improved educational services and a need for life-long learning. Human resource4
development is the primary personnel need for Southeast Asia. Many countries in this region areconsidering the use of ICT and e-learning to meet this increasing need for education especially at thetertiary level. It then becomes a responsibility of higher education and policy makers to identify andapply appropriate curricula design, development, academic support, and evaluation measures to ensurethat learners and their instructors experience an effective transition to a distance learning environment.As developed and transitioning countries consider the design and/or expansion of open and distancelearning, a concern for quality control and the necessary support systems to ensure programmaticintegrity requires concerted attention.Human resource development, access to higher education program, research and collaborativeassociations with higher education colleagues and programs from other regional and global programsare real needs in this region. The use of innovative e-learning applications can assist universities inSoutheast Asia to more comprehensively address the higher education needs of their students,professors, and country while addressing the challenges of Vision 2020.Historically, open and distance learning has meant providing access to instructional content inwhich learners and their instructor (s) are assisted to overcome the communication barriers of location,time, and most recently pace of learning (Churton, 2000; Juge, Hartman, Sorg, & Truman, 1997). Atits most basic level, distance learning occurs when an instructor and student(s) are separated byphysical distance. This distance does not have to be significant-it can be as close as within the samecampus setting or as far away as several time zone (Churton & Rejniak, 2001). Due to thedevelopment in education and the emergence of technological diversity and pedagogical designs, theelement of communicating in real time is now a reality. Tam (1998) suggested that distance learninghas transcended various chronological landmarks and transformations in nomenclature, format, style,delivery applications, and numbers served. This rapid and diverse expansion of open and distancelearning has led some to question the qualitative implications of such programs and have called forstandards or benchmarks to demonstrate programmatic quality and integrity (Churton, 2001)Given the recent international events of September 11, 2001 in New York and Washington DC;Bali in October of 2002, and the continual Israel and Palestinian crisis, increased focus must be appliedto education to support the tenets of knowledge, peace, security, freedom and the hope that all ourchildren will be raised in a secure and healthy environment. All countries, including the United Statesneed to examine and re-examine their beliefs and values and determine how they view the world andthe people with whom they live. Education will certainly be a key instrument for all countries toensure that its citizens are a learned society, one that understands and celebrates diversity amongpeople including religions. Educational access, paradoxically, is perhaps the greatest and most difficultchallenge for countries to comprehensively address. Serious revisions to traditional mindsets, policies,5
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Page 19 and 20: References1. Bates, A.W.(2000). Man
Page 21: 31. Steinberg, E. R., Cognition and

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