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PANdora’s box: distance learning technologies in Asia

This article provides an international perspective on learning technology developments, with emphasis on the special challenges of designing distance learning technologies (DLT) in the developing countries of Asia. A commentary on the current achievements and problems of DLT designers is provided, based on the authors’ recent study tour of distance education (DE) initiatives in 11 Asian countries: Bhutan, Cambodia, Hong Kong, India, Indonesia, Laos, Mongolia, Pakistan, the Philippines, Thailand and Vietnam. The authors compare these initiatives with others they observed in their previous visits to DE institutions in North America and Europe, China and Japan. The prospects for collaboration among DLT projects and research initiatives are discussed and the emergence of a ‘Pandora’s box’ of educational possibilities is described—innovative, economical, and occasionally troubling in the challenges it provides to accepted DE practice.