Update on Larson-Murray joint China-Mexico research

October 26, 2006

LINC founder, Professor Richard C. Larson, and Elizabeth Murray have recently had their joint paper - Distance Learning as a Tool for Poverty Reduction and Economic Development: A Focus on China and Mexico – accepted for publication in the Journal of Science Education and Technology.

This paper uses case studies to focus on distance learning in developing countries as an enabler for economic development and poverty reduction. To provide perspective, the paper first reviews the history of telecottages - local technology-equipped facilities to foster community-based learning, which have evolved into ‘telecenters’ or ‘Community Learning Centers’ (CLCs). Second, the paper describes extensive site visits to CLCs in impoverished portions of China and Mexico, the centers operated by premier universities in each respective country. These CLCs constitute the core of new emerging systems of distance education, and their newness poses challenges and opportunities, which are discussed. Finally, the paper offers 13 points to develop further the concept and reality of distance learning in support of economic development.

In the Acknowledgements section of the paper, the authors thank two 2005 LINC Symposium speakers: Professor Feiyu Kang of Tsinghua University who sponsored their visit to China, and Dr. Laura Ruiz Perez of the Virtual University of the Tecnologico de Monterrey who sponsored their visit to Mexico.