Of course the implications of this news stretch far beyond those of online education. But, this is an educational technologies and distance education blog, so I’ll keep my focus narrow.
First, the news. According to the UK’s Guardian,
East Africa shed its tag as the only major inhabited coastline excluded from the global broadband map today when an undersea fibre-optic cable linking it to networks in Europe and India went live…
Aly-Khan Satchu, a financial analyst in Nairobi, compared its significance to the construction of the railway network in east Africa a century ago. “With the arrival of mobile phone and now broadband internet, we are leaping from the medieval age connectivity-wise into the 21st century in a very short period of time. This represents an enormous economic boost and a political game changer given how information is now going to be spread.”
Sure, there have been ways to deliver distance education to East Africa, but these ways have been stripped down versions of what could have been done elsewhere.
Significant technical challenges aside, it is difficult to ensure academic success when students are deprived of information, instructor feedback, and social presence. Gone have been the opportunities for students to explore the vast resources available on the Web, gone have been the opportunities for students to use online collaboration tools, gone have been the abilities to allow for webcasting, webconferencing, or videoconferencing. But, with one thin cable, that is all changing.
How are Africans reacting to the Seacom cable and the increased speed and lower costs that it will bring to East Africa? Global Voices, a community of international bloggers, highlights some of the debate that has been occurring around the blogosphere since the arrival of the cable. It appears there is both optimism and skepticism.
What do you think?
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