Using new technologies for communication and learning

This paper evolved during our efforts to implement distance education in a technologically impoverished region. Like other groups lost behind the so-called "digital divide," this constituency lacks both access and experience in using electronic devices. Even the most technologically savvy members of this audience, which is composed primarily of adult and continuing education graduate students, would be considered novices who have only basic computing access. Helping such an audience understand the technology and delivering useful educational experiences to them presents a significant challenge. The paper reviews how basic, perhaps rudimentary, designs were established and how they changed to accommodate emerging problems.