Educational Media in Asia

Abstract

Commonwealth Asia has often been a test bed for experimentation in, and use of, media for education. But this is a region of extremes. At one end are the "Asian tigers" - Malaysia, Singapore and India - that have successfully exploited the technology of the day for the purposes of education. At the other end are countries such as Bangladesh and Sri Lanka which are still at the nascent stage of deploying technologies for education and development. Recording experiences is critical if we are to understand the use of educational media and avoid costly mistakes made by others in the past. Until now, however, documentation of the Asian experience has been patchy. This is the first book to survey the region's use of educational media and summarise the experiences of different Commonwealth Asian countries in one collection. The book opens with a review of the key issues in using media for education. It then proceeds through five country studies, written by highly qualified and experienced policy-makers and practitioners of educational media. The country studies are followed by research reviews that synthesise the major findings of evaluations. A final section presents several case studies on harnessing technologies for distance-learning initiatives. The book is designed to serve as both a resource and a guide. It provides valuable background and the insights of leading academics, practitioners, researchers and students of educational media - while also offering a unique platform from which, it is hoped, new ideas and further developments will be stimulated. // Series formerly called "Perspectives on Teacher Education." Renamed to "Perspectives on Open and Distance Learning."