Designing of E-Learning for Engineering Education in Developing Countries - Web-Based Engineering Education: Critical Design and Effective Tools - page 13

6. IntErnAtIonAL PotEntIAL
for dESIgnIng E-LEArnIng:
SELEctEd cASE StudIES In
dEvELoPIng countrIES

the progress is slow, a framework for sustained
growth could be created through collaborative
efforts, especially among institutions in develop-
ing countries and partnerships with institutions in
developed nations (Magoha & Andrew, 2004).
The difficulties of e-Learning evolution in
developing countries can be counted as:

There are numerous e-Learning programs in de-
veloping countries. In Africa, for example, several
distance-learning projects have been implemented
successfully, the majority through collaboration
with institutions in developed countries; a com-
prehensive list can be found from the African
Distance Learning Association. Concerted efforts
through outside collaborations and partnerships
with developing countries and a number of African
universities have culminated in various distance
learning degree programs. The African Virtual
University offers a range of degree programs, most
of them in collaboration with Australian institu-
tions. For developing nations, the realization of
e-Learning, especially in engineering education,
is yet to be thought of. There are several obstacles
that developing countries have to overcome if e-
Learning is to be successfully implemented. The
first and major obstacle is the lack of technological
resources. While the Internet has been around for
over 15 years, it is only in the last few years that
most developed countries have had access or even
had networks on the Internet. While the Internet
is dependent upon a reliable telecommunica-
tions system, most such networks in developing
countries are either badly maintained or obsolete
and often do not have the requisite bandwidth to
support e-Learning activities. In many developing
countries, such networks belong to government
agencies and are usually underfunded. A second
obstacle is the lack of skilled personnel who
are capable of implementing and maintaining
an e-Learning environment. According to ILO
statistics, for instance, less than 1% of employed
workers in Africa are professionals with an IT
background. All these factors, together with the
lack of financial resources, have contributed to
the slow growth in e-Learning in engineering
education in developing countries to date. While

1. Lack of appropriate technological
substructures
2. Financial problems
3. Lack of awareness on IT and information
on the benefits of e-Learning
4. Problems in the way of communication,
which are primarily the language skills, or
Computer skills
5. Cultural consistency

However the developing countries have
potential propensities motivating the growth of
e-Learning:

1. The growing demand for knowledge and
technology
2. The easiness and cost-effectiveness compar-
ing to following the education in a developed
country, and encountering with living costs
and communication difficulties in these
countries
3. The expanding growth of Internet utilization

In the following sections a brief review on
the efforts and accomplishments of some Asian
countries on e-Learning for engineers is presented.

E-Learning Progress for Engineers
in Thailand; “A Brief Review”

E-Learning in Thailand like many other develop-
ing countries, deals with barriers such as culture,
organization, limited technology and availability
low household penetration of the ICT such as
telephones, Satellites, PC's, Internet connections,
broadband and etc. here again technologies avail-