Towards an Internet‐based Education Model for Caribbean Countries

A Framework for the Integration of Technology into Curricula Development and Student Assessment

“…For instance, Jamaica now boasts a robust fiber optic network providing wired broadband internet service to most of Jamaica's major towns and urban centers, as well as mobile broadband internet through cellular providers which provides coverage to the majority of the island [24]. At the time of the writing of [23], such advances had not taken place, and so the potential is even greater now for such technologies to be used within developing countries to enhance the delivery of high quality education. The delivery of educational materials, according to Grant et al over the internet is almost commonplace in more affluent developed countries.…”

“…This segues nicely into one of the main motivating factor in [23] which is to ensure that there is the capability to provide consistent, high-quality educational materials to students across a wide geographical area, in a timely manner and with limited human and physical resources. Some of the benefits highlighted in the paper include:…”

“…In 2000, Grant et al published a paper entitled "Towards an Internet-based Education Model for Caribbean Countries" which looked into leveraging the usage of low-cost technology to offer Virtual Classroom environments to teaching institutions in remote areas via the Internet. The work in[23] is being mentioned here because it was important to the initial motivation that spawned this research. In developing countries…”

“…If one were to abstract away the details of the architecture of VCOIN it would be possible to replace it with the high level view shown on the left, with the only difference being the users on the left which are not directly students. The proposed framework in this paper shares with[23], the theme of reaching a wider cross section of students especially in developing countries through the seamless sharing of teaching and learning resources and the design of curricula that is sensitive to the needs and resources available to the target institutions. No proper tracking of deprecated and outdated topics as technology evolves and improves5.…”

Planning faculty development for successful implementation of web‐based instruction

“…The same constraints can, however, be viewed in a positive light when learning takes place in a setting and a time convenient to the learners. WBI also presents challenges for instructors and learners who require training in computing, internet, and multimedia skills (Grant et al , 2000). For instructors and learners who have access to and are proficient with the internet, the web can provide immediacy in information access and serve as a communication facilitator and a delivery medium (Crossman, 1997; Khan, 1997).…”