The challenge of HIV/AIDS: Where does agroforestry fit in? - World ...

156World Agroforestry into the Futureare proving successful in developed countries,problems with communications infrastructureand access to computer facilitieshave made this approach more difficult indeveloping countries. This chapter highlightssome of the difficulties and takes a criticallook at the new CGIAR approaches towardsbuilding capacity and strengthening institutionsusing electronic-based ICT.ICT in training and educationWhen considering ICT, experienced educatorsknow that the characteristics of theaudience for whom the training is targetedand the content of the training, (for instance,will it close the knowledge gap?)are more important than the technologythat delivers the training. For over 50 years,training professionals have relied on theinstruction systems process as a guidingmethod for designing training (see Figure 3).organizations resembles that of corporationsin 2000/01. John Chambers, Presidentof Cisco Systems Inc. claimed in 1999that “the next big killer application for theInternet is going to be education. Educationover the Internet is going to be so bigit is going to make e-mail usage look like a‘rounding error’ in terms of the Internet capacityit will consume” (Chambers 1999).So what happened? Figure 1 highlights thecorporate e-learning experience from 1996to 2003.When the ‘dot com’ bust occurred in 2001,corporations began to realize that their corporateuniversity investments were not providinga good return and they started to dissolvethe mechanisms. Within six months,Electronic Data Systems, one of the world’slargest ICT service providers, cut their corporateuniversity from 245 staff to 25.Kruse (2003) states: “Then 2001 broughtthe harsh, steep slope of unfulfilled promises.Several high-profile providers shuttheir doors while many more announcedlarge-scale layoffs in the face of missedrevenue targets and crashing stock prices.E-learning advocates retreated to the moredefensible ground of ‘blended learning.’”The World Bank’s 1999 World DevelopmentReport suggested that advances in electronicand computer-based ICT would allow ‘unprecedentedopportunities’ for the world’spoor. “Advances in communications havetransformed society before: movable type,photography and telegraphy, the telephone,television, and the fax machine have allpushed outward the limits of our ability tostore and transmit knowledge. Now theconverging of computing and telecommunicationsappears ready to shatter those limits,Information and communication technologyis not new, nor is it limited to transferringlarge amounts of information at the speedof light across the Internet. Essentially, ICTis any technology that transmits information– whether it is cave paintings, smokesignals, kites, books, CD-ROMs, television,radio, or computers and the Internet. “Itis an expanding assembly of technologiesthat can be used to collect, store and shareinformation between people using multipledevices and multiple media” (Chapman andSlaymaker 2002). Despite the broad definitionof ICT, we focus on advances in electronicand computer-based ICT here.Development organizations working to improveaccess to information and educationseem to be intrigued by the possibilities ofICT and there are good levels of fundingfor ICT-driven capacity-building projects.It is interesting to note that the pattern ofinterest in e-learning from developmentVISIBILITYE-LEARNING HYPE CYCLE1996 1997 1998 1999 2000 2001 2002 2003TechnologytriggerSCORM 1.0 releasedLearning portal fad beginsAsymetrix becomes Click2Learn.comFocus changes from tools toenterprise wide management systemsMacromediaFlash 1.0NYU Online foundedSaba foundedFirst article on“Intranet-based Training”in Training MagazineOnly one “IBT”session at ASTDCBT Systems becomes SmartforceMasie launchesTechlearn 97Figure 1. E-learning hype cycle.Peak of inflatedexpectationsDigitalThink stock at US$89.44John Chambers declares“E-Learning is the next killer application”Headlight.com closesPensare closesCaliber closesPeer3 closesFocus on Blended learningLCMSs emergeNYU Online closesSCORM 1.2 releasedSmartForce and Skillsoftannounce mergerTrough ofdisillusionmentDigitalThink stock at US$1.34TIMEEnlightenment and productivityNote: Figure illustrates the wave of interest and investment in e-learning. The acronyms are not relevant inthis context.Source: www.e-learningguru.com/articles/hype1_1.htm