Week 7, Distance Learning in Africa

E-learning is used a lot in Africa to educate students. It breaks down the boundaries in Africa’s education system, which isn't the most efficient. With this system, people in rural areas are still able to learn. This emphasises the idea of techno-determinism and the way that technology has advanced in order to shape people’s needs. In this case, the women and children needed a way of learning and so E-learning was created in order to fulfill this need.

Although E-learning helps a lot of people, questions about the quality of the education that the students are receiving could be asked. The internet throughout this course means the produser is able to build on the subjects as they wish. The idea of E- learning criticises this because the mass media are just being sent messages to do with education and are expected to learn them in order to pass a qualification. There is then the problem of whether the user questions the information or just learns it as it is written.
Another issue with E-learning is what if someone doesn't understand. How much help is available to them?
Despite these criticisms E-Learning for a country like Africa is allowing some people to have a quality learning which may not have been possible before. People in rural areas are now able to connect to the internet and learn, whereas before they had been over looked by the education system. I personally think that even though there are some criticisms and limitations of the system, it is still educating people who previously didn't have access to a decent education, making E-learning a successful scheme.