One of the many problems of developing nations is the scarcity of the information required for development planning, its concomitant abundance in more developed nations, and the lack of a truly viable infrastructure to achieve its economic transfer. Political and administrative structures must be created that are responsive to the new scales of…

Changes in society and work have led to reconsideration of the role schools should play in preparing students to become technologically literate. Technological literacy is part of cultural literacy. Technologically literate people have common sense knowledge of technology, understanding how technology evolves to satisfy human needs. The role of…

Technology education should be part of the general education of all students for the following reasons: (1) technological literacy is important in preparing people for life and work; (2) technological literacy must be based on sensory as well as language-based learning; and (3) technology is unique in the school curriculum. The content of…

This paper describes the origins and early development of the Institute for Technology Assisted Learning (ITAL) at New Mexico State University, which was established to assist faculty with both resources and training to teach in a distributed learning model. ITAL held seminars for eight faculty during a 3-week period in July 1997 with the…

Results of an assessment of the needs of 136 countries for environmental communication, education, and information resources are reported in this paper. Following an overview of the procedures used in conducting the assessment, levels of needs for environmental education (EE) resources are reported for Africa, the Arab states, Asia, Latin America,…

Telecottages originated in Scandinavia in the 1980s in an attempt to reverse the decline of isolated communities by giving them access to information and services, facilities for training and distance education, and the opportunity to produce income through telecommuting. In 1992-1993, the Australian government began funding the Telecentre…

While the vocational instructor can play a major role in assisting the transfer of technology from developed nations, there are some major hurdles involved in training vocational instructors in developing nations. Included among these are the organization of the education system, the political climate of the country, economics, practice teaching,…