Dear GKD Members, Hello, I've been an occasional lurker on this List for years. I have a question to which I'd love a response. Can anyone give me good references linking 'Base of the Pyramid' (BOP) strategies with Distance Education (DE)? Forgive me if this seems too obvious for words, but here's my thought:
I just finished reading "Fortune at the Bottom of the Pyramid" by Prahalad, and "Captialism at the Crossroads" by Hart. It occurs to me that DE to the BOP would be one of the 'leapfrog' technologies of which they speak, both because of (1) hard institutional constraints in the 1st world and (2) huge cost savings of appropriate technology at the BOP. If non-obvious, points (1-2) are developed below. Point (1): There would be large pedagogical advantages, even in the 1st world, to having MUCH greater use of sophisticated DE. However -- and this is key to my argument -- the institutional constraint of Academic Tenure, at both the Primary-Secondary and University levels, make truly widespread adoption impossible for many decades. I have taught DE for a decade through a well-known US university, and know there are many such programs at similar institutions. But I believe we are just scratching the surface here in the 1st world. Sophisticated DE would combine: a) the best and most appropriate lecturers available in the WORLD, on video, b) intereactive and networked learning software, and c) real-time live interaction with the best availailable teaching assistance or 'clinical' faculty. Since this would lower the status of, or make redundant, MOST 1st world faculty, they will resist it to the death. At the BOP, however, there are few such insitutional constraints, especially at the Primary-Secondary level where DE is most needed. Point (2): Furthermore, the supply availability and cost advantages at the BOP make DE even more overwhelming. DE would be the ONLY way to feasibly deliver widespread teaching at the BOP. Developing such a DE program could also actually empower and leverage the resources of the teaching profession in many languages and cultures at the BOP. This seems like an idea so basic that many people must have thought of it before, and some may even be trying it? I'd like to do some research on it -- any reference help? I've looked in the GKD archives and didn't see much that was on point. Thanks, James Stodder, Ph.D., Economics Clinical Associate Professor Lally School of Management & Technology Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (Hartford) 275 Windsor Street, Hartford, CT 06120-2991, USA Phone: (860) 548-7860 Toll-free: (800) 523-6468 - extension: 7860 Fax: (860) 547-0866 www.rh.edu/~stodder, [EMAIL PROTECTED] ------------ ***GKD is solely supported by EDC, a Non-Profit Organization*** To post a message, send it to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> To subscribe or unsubscribe, send a message to: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>. In the 1st line of the message type: subscribe gkd OR type: unsubscribe gkd Archives of previous GKD messages can be found at: <http://www.edc.org/GLG/gkd/>
