Access and Equity : Challenges for Open and Distance Learning/edited by H.P. Dikshit, Suresh Garg, Santosh Panda and Vijayshri. New Delhi, Kogan Page India, 2002, xii, 332 p., tables, figs., $39. ISBN 81-7554-180-6.

Contents: Preface. I. Trends and directions: 1. Access and equity in distance education: revisiting previously identified trends and directions/Fred Lockwood. 2. Open and distance learning, and concerns of access and equity/V.C. Kulandai Swamy. 3. Addressing access and equity through open and flexible learning: initiatives and challenges/H.P. Dikshit, Santosh Panda and Suresh Garg. 4. Access, quality and equity through diversity: Commonwealth perspective/Ved Goel. II. Institutional imperatives and responses: 5. The learning divide in distance education: myth or reality!/Jayati Roy. 6. Addressing the issues of access and equity in Indian higher education/K.B. Powar. 7. Access framework for under-prepared learners/Tshepiso Matentjie. 8. Access and equity in the context of the differently-abled/Rekha Sharma Sen. 9. Embracing the challenge: equity, accessibility and quality/Paulina Pannen, Naswil Idris and Subagjo. 10. Supporting economically disadvantaged students in Ireland: the Oscail experience/D. Bancroft and H. Johnson. 11. Gender and disability: focussing on blind women and girls/Prabha Chawla. III. Curriculum, pedagogy and programmes: 12. A pedagogical model for using virtual learning spaces/Otto Peters. 13. Asian students: are they really different?/Buddhini Gayathri Jayatilleke. 14. Learning attitude, motivation and preferences of older adults/Wei-yuan Zhang and Susan HA. 15. Poverty and access: the impact of language on online collaborative learning for Japanese learners/Paul Kawachi. 16. Global resource sharing vis-à-vis access and equity: some concerns/Vijayshri and Suresh Garg. IV. Management, evaluation and quality: 17. Access and equity in distance education: research and development, and quality concerns/Peter S. Cookson. 18. A model for evaluating distance education programmes/Maria Ana T. Quimbo. 19. A monitoring and evaluation framework for technology-based community learning centres in India/Judith Calder and Ila Patel. 20. Ensuring access and equity through measuring outcomes/Reehana R. Raza. 21. Constructing quality assurance for distance education: reflecting on what we have learnt and the potential impact on access/Anne Jelfs. 22. Assuring quality through institutional collaboration on study materials development for distance learners/Dele Braimoh. 23. Managing quality and accessibility in open and distance learning/Amin Zuhairi and Atwi Suparman. V. Appropriate technology: 24. Global technology and local culture: problematics of cultural lag in technological determinism/Debal K. Singha Roy. 25. Multimedia-based masters programme in business informatics/Karl Kurbel. 26. Community informatics : a role in emancipatory learning in distance education context/Wal Taylor and John Dekkers. 27. Enhancing peer-to-peer support through the internet/Michael Robertshaw. 28. Widening student access through online discussion/Leah A. Nillas. Index.

"The emergence of the system of open and distance education is an inevitable and phenomenal evolution in the history of educational developments internationally. While the formal system of education continues to be the mainstream of educational transaction, it has its inherent limitations with regard to expansion, provision of access and equity and cost-effectiveness. On the other hand, the growth of information and communication technologies has facilitated the expansion of distance mode of education. It is now possible to adopt flexible, constructivist, learner-friendly and multi-perspective approaches to teaching-learning, so essential for nurturing creativity, leadership, scholarship and integrated development of human personality.

"Access & Equity: Challenges for Open and Distance Learning crystallizes the emerging concerns of the open and distance learning institutions the world over. In the past few decades, a proliferation in the number of ODL institutions and courses/programmes offerings has resulted in exponential growth in student enrollment in the system. The system is poised for further expansion in the coming years as its virtually unlimited potential to impart education to anybody, anywhere and anytime is being recognised by educationists, policy makers and planners. There is however a large body of learners that have yet to be reached and providing access to them while ensuring equity poses definite challenges for the ODL system. The ODL system has the capacity to integrate the state-of-the-art technologies with the time-tested methodologies. It is, therefore, imperative to examine, threadbare, issues associated with the social, economic, political academic and technological aspects of the system in the emerging scenario.

"To address the issue of access and equity from four different, yet related, perspectives—ODL system: imperatives and responses; curriculum, pedagogy and programmes; research, training and quality assurance; and appropriate technology—international scholars met and shared their experiences recently in an international conference hosted by IGNOU. With their long experience in open distance learning, the editors have collated in the present volume, the best practices and experiences of distance educators the world over, for effective social intervention and national development. It is hoped that contemporary and future practitioners of ODL will benefit from the critical analyses of various issues and initiate further debate and reflections in all areas of concern."

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