University Libraries & Learning Sciences Faculty and Staff Publications
Document Type
Book Chapter
Publication Date
2014
Abstract
Globalization, the Internet, and access to telecommunication networks have increased the demand for education and educational quality across the globe. The reasons for this demand explains Carnoy (2005) are two-fold: The first is economic, the rising payoffs to higher education in a global, science-based, knowledge intensive economy make university training more of a “necessity” to get “good” jobs, which in turn, changes the stakes at lower levels of schooling and the demand for high-quality secondary schools. The second reason is socio-political: Demographics and democratic ideals increase pressure on universities to provide access to groups that traditionally have not attended university. In this context, online distance learning (ODL), which can transcend local, state, and national borders, has the potential to reach out internationally to enhance learning for diverse learners in varied geographical and socio-cultural contexts and increase inter-cultural awareness and communication. In addition, demand is propelled by rising awareness of the potential for online education to provide services to nearly any location on the planet.
Publisher
Athabasca University Press
Publication Title
Online Distance Education
First Page
75
Last Page
107
DOI
10.15215/aupress/9781927356623.01
Language (ISO)
English
Keywords
Globalization, culture, online distance learning
Recommended Citation
Gunawardena, C. N. (2014). Globalization, Culture, and Online Distance Learning. In O. Zawacki-Richter & T. Anderson (Eds.), Online Distance Education: Towards a Research Agenda (pp. 75-107). Edmonton, Canada: Athabasca University Press.
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-Share Alike 4.0 International License.
Comments
This is a chapter included in an open source book that can be downloaded from https://www.aupress.ca/app/uploads/120233_99Z_Zawacki-Richter_Anderson_2014-Online_Distance_Education.pdf